|
Mind in the Making gets high praise from participants
 |
A MITM graduation: This was the first group of family members to complete the course this spring. See more pictures here.
|
"This course has taught us so many positive things to put into practice in our homes and in our community," said Virginia Carmona, one of the more than 100 parents and grandparents in the Mind in the Making classes we've been offering this spring. These families all have children who will be attending a Providence public kindergarten in the fall. Many of those children and their siblings attend the free child care we provide while parents are in class.
|
|
It 'always feels good' to walk into this classroom
 Last fall the classroom of T.E.A.C.H. scholar Tammy Bourgeois received a 6.3 on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. If you're not familiar with the ECERS, that score is huge.
 | | Tammy, left, and Mary Varr |
Tammy is a Head Start teacher at Woonsocket Head Start Child Development Association, Inc., and teaches in a classroom at The Karen Bouchard Children's Center. "I love coming into this room," says Mary Varr, the association's executive director. "It's like sunshine and hugs. It always feels good."
Tammy, who has been with Woonsocket Head Start for eight years, is currently working for her bachelor's degree at Rhode Island College with a T.E.A.C.H. Early ChildhoodŽ RI scholarship. She is part of a T.E.A.C.H. cohort at RIC, a group of early childhood educators who will stay together through graduation, taking up to six courses each year until they earn their BS in early childhood education. "I could never have afforded this without T.E.A.C.H.," says Tammy. "My oldest child will be going to college herself in a few years, and it would have been impossible to pay for this out of pocket right now." |
|
Moving More = Learning More
 | |
AmeriCorps members at one of their IM/IL classes.
|
With a grant from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI, two groups of 20 family child-care providers and one group of 15 center-based providers have been getting trained this spring in I Am Moving, I Am Learning, a program developed by Head Start to stem
 | |
Facilitator Grace Diaz at an IM/IL class for providers in March.
|
childhood obesity. All of our AmeriCorps members completed the training in March and are now playing a crucial role in implementing the program at child-care settings.
Providers tell us they love how easily the movements and nutritional education fit into their daily routines.
|
