Early Learning Coalition Briefs

The Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County

The Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County presents "Turn Up The Learning," a free family concert featuring Jack Hartmann. Join Jack as he presents music and movement activities that promote phonological awareness, reading, math, science, social skills, and physical fitness. Jack's songs engage children in active learning while singing, moving and building brain connections. The concert will be held January 27 at 7 p.m. at Gateway High School Auditorium, located at 93 Panther Paws Trail in Kissimmee. For more information, please visit www.elcosceola.org

Attend the 8th Annual Osceola County Early Educator's Conference "Ready, Set, Grow!" Hosted by the the Early Learning Coalition of Osceola County, the conference will enhance educators' professional development through sessions including several local and nationally acclaimed presenters. With a variety of new session topics and presenters, there will be something for everyone! The conference will be held January 28 from 7:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at Osceola School for the Arts, located at 3151 N Orange Blossom Trail in Kissimmee. For information and to register, please visit www.elcosceola.eventbrite.com

The Early Learning Coalition of Flagler and Volusia

Community Café Parent Leaders pictures from Left to Right: Camille Holder-Brown, Corey Best, Omar Brown, Sheryl Bell

The Early Learning Coalition of Flagler and Volusia (ELCFV) is a primary partner in a new project called the Community Café that is dedicated to using a strengths-based approach for families and their local social service agency needs. The Community Café was developed through dialogue at a Parents and Youth Reaching Amazing Milestones with Initiative and Dedication (PYRAMID) Summit that was moderated by Georgetown University and sponsored by the Thrive by Five/One Voice for Volusia partnership this past spring. Community partners, ELCFV and Healthy Start, applied for and received funding to start three Community Cafés located throughout the county. Through the Café, families are assigned to a Counselor and/or Parent Advocate who work with them to gain social supports, develop goal setting needs, access social services, strengthen their family unit, and become contributing members of the community. Families have immediate access to intervention and support services through peer advocates who are trained to help families navigate the social service system. The Café also offers a meeting place to develop relationships with other families for support. Additional information on child care and parenting resources is available. Café staff are trained in the Parents as Teachers™ and Parenting Wisely™ programs and special attention is given to the topics of Parent Resilience and Social/Emotional Competence of Children.

The Early Learning Coalition of Polk County

Helios Training with Family Child Care Home providers

The Early Learning Coalition of Polk County is pleased to announce the addition of more than 30 new sites in the 2011-2012 Quality Counts Program that is Polk's Quality Rating Improvement System. This brings the total number of participating providers to 70. The program is going into its fourth year, and with the support of the Coalition Board, local child care providers, and other community members and local agencies, it continues to succeed. Participating providers have the opportunity to make quality improvements through a system of support services, training, and resources provided by the Coalition. In addition, parents and families can now find information related to Quality Counts on the Coalition's website, or by contacting the state's Child Care Resource & Referral department.

In other news, the Early Learning Coalitions of Polk, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties were awarded a literacy grant in the late summer of 2010 from the Helios Education Foundation. The grant enables the Coalitions to work specifically with Family Child Care Home providers to enhance the literacy skills of the children and families in their care. The participants take part in a variety of large group trainings and mentoring activities that involve not only literacy activities but literacy skill building activities as well. This is a 2-year grant program, designed in 6-month phases. Initial participation is limited to 10 providers, with an additional 10 providers added every 6 months.

Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County

The Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) project continues to be a gift for participating providers in St. Lucie County. A total of 184 teachers and directors at 52 childcare centers have been and will continue to be trained in all aspects of the HMH curriculum and assessments. Four-year old pre-k classrooms at the various centers received a Core Program packet including curriculum and 10 themes, a Professional Development Handbook, Benchmark Assessment, Letters and Language Kit, Sing and Share kit, Math Extensions and Manipulatives Kit, and a Little Hands Library.

To paraphrase the Professional Development Handbook, pre-k classrooms are laboratories where children discover the most important work young children can do. The learning children accomplish in the classroom will form the foundation for a lifetime of success in school and in life. This is the Coalition's goal, to ensure that all children learn to the best of their potential in a safe and welcoming environment and become successful and fulfilled members of society. Together with the St. Lucie County School Board and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, we are well on our way.

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Early Learning Coalition Briefs