Linda Lembke, Director
Lakes & Prairies Child Care Resource & Referral
Early learning in focus
Published Monday, April 14, 2008
Published Monday, April 14, 2008
Fargo Forum
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This week is nationally recognized as the Week of the Young Child. Early care and education has become a priority across the country as mounting research tells us that the years children spend in these settings is a time of fantastic brain growth and development that sets lifelong learning patterns. The Federal Reserve has convinced us that investments in early learning have a higher rate of return than traditional economic development strategies.
Initiatives in Minnesota and North Dakota are gaining momentum to broaden support for early care and education. Quality rating and improvement systems can offer parents easy-to-use information about child-care programs and can serve as a road map for programs to meet quality standards. Efforts to attract, train and retain people to work in child care and preschool programs are being expanded.
Locally, United Way of Cass Clay is leading the way with its Success By 6 early childhood initiative to provide children the best opportunity to succeed by the time they enter school. Imagination Library puts books into young children’s hands, Countdown to Kindergarten helps build the skills of 4- and 5-year-olds, and the Born Learning awareness campaign inspires us all to turn everyday moments with young children into learning moments.
Our region has a higher percentage of working parents than anywhere else in the country, so these families rely on a stable supply of quality child care and preschool opportunities. While parents are and will always be a child’s first teacher, it only makes sense to take advantage of the time children are in child-care settings to maximize their learning.
Week of the Young Child is a time to recognize the importance of early learning and early literacy, and to celebrate the teachers and policies that bring early childhood education to young children. Please join Child Care Resource and Referral in thanking the teachers and caregivers who spend their days with babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Imagine hosting a
10-hour birthday party five days a week and you can begin to appreciate what their work is like. They do this day in and day out, without the compensation and respect they deserve.
The Week of the Young Child is a time to reflect on what we want for our children in the future and also what we can do now to make sure that future is bright.
Lembke is director of Lakes & Prairies Child Care Resources and Referral, Moorhead.
E-mail lindal@lakesandprairies.net
Initiatives in Minnesota and North Dakota are gaining momentum to broaden support for early care and education. Quality rating and improvement systems can offer parents easy-to-use information about child-care programs and can serve as a road map for programs to meet quality standards. Efforts to attract, train and retain people to work in child care and preschool programs are being expanded.
Locally, United Way of Cass Clay is leading the way with its Success By 6 early childhood initiative to provide children the best opportunity to succeed by the time they enter school. Imagination Library puts books into young children’s hands, Countdown to Kindergarten helps build the skills of 4- and 5-year-olds, and the Born Learning awareness campaign inspires us all to turn everyday moments with young children into learning moments.
Our region has a higher percentage of working parents than anywhere else in the country, so these families rely on a stable supply of quality child care and preschool opportunities. While parents are and will always be a child’s first teacher, it only makes sense to take advantage of the time children are in child-care settings to maximize their learning.
Week of the Young Child is a time to recognize the importance of early learning and early literacy, and to celebrate the teachers and policies that bring early childhood education to young children. Please join Child Care Resource and Referral in thanking the teachers and caregivers who spend their days with babies, toddlers and preschoolers. Imagine hosting a
10-hour birthday party five days a week and you can begin to appreciate what their work is like. They do this day in and day out, without the compensation and respect they deserve.
The Week of the Young Child is a time to reflect on what we want for our children in the future and also what we can do now to make sure that future is bright.
Lembke is director of Lakes & Prairies Child Care Resources and Referral, Moorhead.
E-mail lindal@lakesandprairies.net
