Providence Talks, the innovative program aimed at closing the word gap among the city's youngest children, is now available to Providence early childhood educators as well as families.



Teaming up with Providence Talks, Ready to Learn revised the curriculum and model used for parents to meet the needs of educators. We piloted this model with eight providers in the spring, and this month began holding classes at Ready to Learn and the East Side YMCA for center- and home-based providers. Offered in English and Spanish, the program includes 15 hours of class time and another five hours of individual work with facilitators over the course of two months. Participants receive 20 hours of professional development, which has been approved by the Center for Early Learning Professionals.



This is one of the few offerings for providers that targets the language development of babies and toddlers. Providence Talks is funded by a $5 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

  

The classrooms at Ready to Learn and in Warwick are bustling this summer with early childhood educators taking classes through the state's Center for Early Professionals. Shown at right and below are participants in "Supporting Social and Emotional Development in the Preschool Years."



Although most of the summer courses filled up quickly, there's still space in a few of the offerings. Go here to learn more.



Ready to Learn is a key partner in the operation of the Center, which has served more than 2,000 educators through its professional development, technical assistance, and quality improvement grants since its inception in 2014.

  

	L-r: Kristin Read, Geovanny Ramos and Magda Ortiz

Since August 2015, Ready to Learn's AmeriCorps members have performed some 22,860 hours in child-care centers and professional development activities. In that time, they have helped prepare 160 children for kindergarten, and have worked with more than 500 parents and educators in the Mind in the Making classes we offer in the Providence Schools.



On June 30, we honored this work at a celebration held at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which generously donated the space for the

Gloria Ramos-Santos, right, poses with her mother, Glorayma Ramos, center, a former R2LP AmeriCorps member. At left is R2LP Director Leslie Gell.

event as well as the food. Eight members of this year's team will be returning in August to be part of our 2016-2017 team, and several others have already secured positions in the early childhood field. We wish all of them the best of luck in their future endeavors.



Click here to see more photos from the end-of-the-year celebration and here to see photos of the team on the day of their June outing.