 |
|
In Our Communities
Allegheny: On May 25, 2016 Allegheny County held its 6th Annual Hi5! Kindergarten Transition Celebration at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. Guest speakers from six school districts shared suggestions on how to: improve school attendance in kindergarten, include early care and education professionals on school district transition teams, provide professional development to kindergarten teachers and early care and education staff, and include technology and community resources to enhance the transition to kindergarten process. Learn more.
Clearfield: Families with children ranging from infant-toddlers, preschoolers, grades K-1 and 2-3 experienced a wonderful family literacy event on May 12, 2016. It featured dinner, a library tour, four age-appropriate story time stations, story-related art activities, and book and resource giveaways. Learn more.
Erie: The 10th Annual Success By 6 Early Learning Expo was held in April for over 500 children and families. Representatives from various early learning centers offered free educational crafts, and organizations serving families were in attendance with giveaways and learning stations. During May, the 7th Annual Erie County Pre-K Counts Awareness Day was hosted at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, with 584 children attending from PA Pre-K Counts sites, representing seven lead agencies and respective partner site locations. All PKC children received an "I Count Because PreK Counts" t-shirt with PKC logo. (See below.)
Indiana: Children's Advisory Commission will host the annual Family Nature Palooza in August, featuring fun, new activities, as well as live animals, hiking, fishing, biking, nature crafts, demos, vendors, giveaways and more. Learn more.
Northumberland, Snyder & Union: Through the June Every Baby Needs a Lap Top event, families will explore how talking, singing, and reading to their baby helps them grow, learn and thrive. Learn more.
Northwest Region: Congratulations to Erie County's World of Care Christian Child Care and Armstrong County's NYCE House, First and Second Quarter recipients of Bright STAR awards from the Northwest Regional Key. The Bright Star award is a quality recognition program for Keystone STARS sites within the 20 counties of the Northwest Regional Key (NWRK). Early learning and school-age programs that demonstrate exemplars of quality are nominated for the award. Learn more.
Statewide: Libraries throughout Pennsylvania have kicked off their summer reading programs. This year's theme On your mark, get set, Read! has activities for children and adults of all ages. Readers can track their reading and many libraries have the opportunity to enter for prizes. Visit PA's Promise website, select your county, then check with your local library for more information.
Westmoreland: The Derry Area School District held its second Infant Story Time on May 17 at the Caldwell Library. This event was one of the initiatives of the Community Innovation Zone Grant for the district. Eighteen parents and babies participated in this event which was designed for Infants 0-23 months. Learn more.
Share your outreach on PA's Promise for Children website!
|
|
Missed the Family Engagement: The Home-School Connection webinar?
Get info about Pennsylvania's outreach resources to link home and school for families of young children, and find out how you can use them in your efforts.
View the recorded webinar.
|
|
I'm not scared to visit mommy anymore. Now we can play.
- 4 year-old child of an incarcerated parent, from the
Child Development Centers of Venango County partnership
|
Establishing and Sustaining Comprehensive P-3 Approaches
All children need access to high-quality, affordable early care and education, physical and mental health, and family support services.
According to ZERO TO THREE, programs and services that address these areas are critical; however, they are only as strong as the infrastructure that supports them. To be effective, programs must be organized within cohesive systems that coordinate and align a broad array of services. To support the healthy development of all children, states and communities must provide comprehensive, coordinated, well-funded systems of high-quality, prenatal to grade 3 (P-3) services that foster success in school and life.
Getting Others on Board
To establish and sustain comprehensive P-3 approaches, it is necessary to get more than just the support of policymakers, key stakeholders, and the public, but also get their active engagement in local efforts.
To accomplish this, make compelling and persuasive arguments about the far-reaching benefits of P-3 approaches. Check out these resources to help make the case for P-3 in your communities:
Successful P-3 Stories
According to the University of Washington, P-3 is not just a state-level endeavor, not just a district-level concern, and not just an interest for classroom teachers. P-3 alignment must occur at multiple levels:
- State;
- District;
- Community;
- School; and
- Classroom.
While alignment is a common element at each level, alignment looks different and requires diverse strategies depending on the level of effort.
Ready to take this on? Where to begin.
No matter where you are on the journey, the Community Systems Development Toolkit from the BUILD Initiative supports the hands-on implementation of collaborative systems work at the local level. Tailored to the needs of community-based collaboration and organized in systems change theory, the Toolkit is designed to provide accessible, comprehensive resources supporting the changing stages and needs of communities engaged in collaborative work. Tools include: - Forms;
- Examples of community level strategies;
- Questions;
- Guidance;
- Samples;
- Processes; and
- Articles.
Local P-3 Success Stories
The following are examples of groups in Pennsylvania who have demonstrated successful P-3 Partnership approaches.
Penn Manor School District - Aligning Standards
- After participating in the 2015 Governor's Institutes, Penn Manor School District began to identify the early learning programs that feed their schools - an effort they hadn't considered before. They realized that many children were being served in faith-based early learning programs. Through outreach efforts and a shared vision the school district partnered with the various programs to align curriculum to the Early Learning Standards.
Child Development Centers (CDC) of Venango County; Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC); United Way of York County - Community Engagement
- CDC has successfully partnered with the local prison to improve visiting hours for children and families.
- PAEYC has partnered with a local barber shop to host reading programs.
- United to Way of York County has partnered with school libraries to offer after school and summer hours to address out of school learning time and increase family engagement efforts.
The Delaware Valley Association for the Education of Young Children (DVAEYC) - Highly Qualified Teachers
- DVAEYC has partnered with a local museum, The Franklin Institute, to deliver professional development and coaching on Inquiry Based Learning.
|
|
The surge of parents we are seeing with their kids in the library is highly encouraging. We have even talked about bringing the Literacy Council in to do literacy work with illiterate parents while we are doing work with students in the after school time.
- Librarian, regarding the partnership with United Way of York County
|
|
Why am I getting this email?
OCDEL recognizes that many community based groups across the commonwealth are doing similar work and are comprised of similar team members. This newsletter can be used to help promote collaboration and awareness of others across the commonwealth. The goal is that as groups become aware of each other, events can be coordinated, resources shared and leveraged. Check your email's in-box for future editions!
|
|
|
PA's Promise for Children | www.papromiseforchildren.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
