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T.E.A.C.H. RI has increased education, compensation and retention of ECE educators
 Since 2010 when T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® RI first got under way, 91 early childhood educators have received T.E.A.C.H. scholarships to pursue higher education at the Community College of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College. These scholars have completed 1,398 college credits, and six have received their associate's degrees. The average increase in compensation for T.E.A.C.H. participants was 9.4 percent between Jan. 2011 and June 2012. And the average turnover rate of those scholars was 9 percent, far lower than the national rate of over 30 percent in the early childhood field. T.E.A.C.H. has serviced 65 early-care settings in Rhode Island. "Through T.E.A.C.H., I will achieve my dream of becoming a lead teacher," says an educator pursuing a bachelor's degree. For more details, click here. |
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Unique program at the libraries will help close achievement gap
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L-r: Michelle Novello (PCL), Bethany Carpenter (R2LP), Amy Greer (PCL) and Francisca Navedo (R2LP AmeriCorps)
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Children who have not participated in a formal early-learning setting typically start kindergarten behind their peers. To close that gap, the Providence Community Library and Ready to Learn are teaming up in a first-of-its-kind project called Ready for K!
With funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Ready for K! will give 400 Providence children crucial school-readiness skills before they enter kindergarten. These children, accompanied with a parent or caregiver, will attend programs at PCL neighborhood libraries and participate in play-based activities designed to develop skills outlined in the R.I. Early Learning and Development Standards. Families will be able to further strengthen these skills at home with literacy kits that include high-quality children's books and related games.
As part of this two-year project, Ready to Learn is providing professional development to children's librarians and specialists on topics such as early childhood development, early literacy, dual language learners and cultural competence.
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Providers fill R2LP classrooms every Saturday morning
Every Saturday morning you'll find about 60 Spanish-speaking family child-care providers at Ready to Learn taking professional development and GED classes. They are all members of the Comité de Proveedoras, which now has more than 260 members.
For information about the organization click here, or call Tania Quezada at (401) 490-9960.
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Pre-K classrooms are full of learning -- and fun
 Our pre-kindergarten classroom at CCRI (Liston Campus) and the new classroom we began operating this year with (and at) the Heritage Park YMCA Early Learning Center are off to a strong start. Check out some of the great things going on in these classrooms in these photo albums:
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Attacking early childhood obesity
Early childhood providers and teachers tell us they love using what they learned in I Am Moving, I Am Learning in their settings because it integrates movement and nutrition into their daily routines.
We began offering this program, developed by Head Start, to center- and home-based providers this past year. With money from Providence's Healthy Communities initiative, we translated the materials into Spanish and just completed a six-week training to Spanish-speaking providers in the city.
Research shows that young children who are physically active during the day are not only healthier, but they also learn better.
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An AmeriCorps journey
After graduating from college in Colombia, Yesicca Cranshaw worked in an accounting firm there. "Something was missing," she says. After emigrating with her American husband, something was still missing in her life -- her two young nephews. To fill that void, she volunteered to read stories at the Providence Public Library, and that's where she learned about the Ready to Learn AmeriCorps program. "Now," she says, "I know what I have been missing throughout my whole life." Read her story, written by fellow AmeriCorps member Pawan Pandey. |
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