http://buildingbrightfutures.org/lamoille/about/
April 18, 2015
IMPORTANT:
The Playroom in Morrisville will be closed Tuesday, April 21 and Thursday April 23 - Open Friday. 
This is really interesting:

Building Bright Futures just released their annual report: How are Vermont's Young Children and Families. Download it here.


 

If you want a hard copy of the report, contact me!- Steve


 

The report presents the facts, data and issues affecting kids and raising kids in Vermont. 


 

At the Building Bright Futures monthly Council meetings (at the Playroom on the Second Tuesday of each month) we meet together to talk about childhood issues. You're welcome to join us! Parents, Center leaders, Health Department folks, and many others are in attendence.
Kids
Basics: Act 166:

Last year, the Vermont Legislature passed a new law that required the Agency of Education to provide free pre-kindergarten to any Vermont child aged 3, 4 or 5 (if the 5 year old was not already in kindergarten). 

The law says that the State must provide 10 hours of free pre-k per week for 35 weeks of the year to any child who wanted it. It is NOT required. Some Supervisory Unions already do this, some will start in September of 2015 (Lamoille South) and some will phase in pre-kindergarten (Orleans Southwest and Lamoille North). Want to know more? Click here for lots more details!

The rules are not actually complete yet, so there remains some ambiguity about how the law will roll out in different areas!
Dabble Days and our Kindergarten Readiness Workshop
Dabble days this year in Johnson and Morrisville were a great success with more than 500 kids and parents coming to play on cold spring days... Many thanks to all the presenters - this was my first time at a Dabble Day and it was awesome. 
Expert Panel Recommends New Sleep Durations

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF), along with a multi-disciplinary expert panel, issued its new recommendations for appropriate sleep durations. The NSF convened experts from sleep, anatomy and physiology, as well as pediatrics, neurology, gerontology and gynecology to reach a consensus from the broadest range of scientific disciplines. The report recommends wider appropriate sleep ranges for most age groups. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150202123716.htm
Lamoille Family Center and Lamoille Valley Building Bright Futures now part of a National peer learning community!

 

We're excited to announce that we've joined the Family Center as part of a learning community hosted by the Center for the Study of Social Policy. This new role reflects on the years of significant and innovative work done by BBF and the LFC for the benefit of kids and families in the Lamoille Region. Here's a link to the site that describes our collaboration:

http://www.cssp.org/reform/early-childhood/early-childhood-linc

Supporting Outdoor Play and Exploration for Infants and Toddlers

As the weather warms up, opportunities to move outside increase. Here's a great resource on the many benefits of outdoor play and exploration, coupled with opportunities and options, including how to take advantage of "loose parts."

http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/tta-system/ehsnrc/docs/ehs-ta-paper-14-outdoor-play.pdf
Kids activities - got some? Need some?
Don't throw away the Transcript!!! Check out our ad!

Each month we run an ad in the Transcript that lists great events for young children and families. If you know of any event that should be on the list, send me a note with the details!

The May first Transcript will have our next calendar!
In This Issue
Links to important sites about kids:



  
Vermont Birth to Three

Become a Changemaker for Children- 

Let's Grow Kids is holding three trainings in May to help folks become great advocates for children. I've taken part in one of these events and learned a lot. Check out the trainings at their website here. They're free, and the closest two are in Burlington (May 16) and Newport (May 20)

 
What we're up to: 
As you know, Building Bright Futures supports Playgroups in Wolcott, Morrisville, Stowe, Johnson and Cambridge... sponsors Baby Chats, distributes Welcome Baby and Well Child info at Copley and at Doctors offices throughout the Lamoille Valley, and serves as your mouthpiece to State Agencies and the Governors Office about issues relating to Children from age 0 to 8.  Feel free to send content and questions to me anytime! Here's a great description of Building Bright Futures and it's role in Vermont: Multi page PDF about how Building Bright Futures fits into Vermont's Early Childhood system...
- Steve
Lamiolle Valley Building Bright Futures  | SAmes@buildingbrightfutures.org  |
Text or call Steve directly at 802 279-7558
About Lamoille Valley BBF
Building Bright Futures (BBF) serves a dual role as both the Vermont Early Childhood Advisory Council and 501(c)(3) statewide network, aligning local solutions of 12 Regional Councils with policy at the state level in order to make improvements in access, quality, and affordability of early care, health, and education for families and young children birth to eight-years-old. Lamoille Valley Building Bright Futures is one of the 12 Regional Councils in the BBF statewide network.

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