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Early education on the radio

Posted in Business and economy, Child care, Cost and affordability, COVID-19, Federal, Funding, Head Start, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children, tagged #ece, #SolveChildCare on October 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Photo: RODNAE Productions from Pexels

This month, WHMP, a Northampton, Mass., radio station featured a discussion on early education on its podcast, “The Afternoon Buzz,” hosted by Ashfield attorney Stewart “Buz” Eisenberg.

This podcast episode welcomed three guests:

• Donna M. Denette, executive director of Children First Enterprises

• Keira Durrett, director of the Williston Northampton Children’s Center, and

• Clare Higgins, executive director of Community Action Pioneer Valley

All three are also regulars on Strategies for Children’s 9:30 calls, where we share the latest news on early education advocacy. Be sure to check out our 9:30 call webpage and sign up to join the call.

On the podcast, Donna Denette talked about the importance of child care as infrastructure, noting, “When we hear that we have to invest in roads and bridges, because people can’t get to work without roads and bridges — Covid made it very clear that people can’t get to work without childcare either.” (more…)

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It’s the Massachusetts Head Start Association’s annual fall conference

Posted in COVID-19, Developmentally appropriate practice, Early educators, Family engagement, Head Start, Health on September 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

This Thursday, the Massachusetts Head Start Association (MHSA) will launch its virtual fall conference, “Adapting to Change: Head Start in 2020 and Beyond.”

“2020 is a time for change and adaptation for early educators,” Michelle Haimowitz, MHSA’s executive director, says. “Our conference offers short professional development opportunities throughout October to help address our changing environment.”

The conference features eight virtual workshops that will take place from October 1, 2020, to Tuesday, October 20, 2020, and touch on the challenging issues of the day.

Kristin Tenney-Blackwell, a psychologist will kick things off with a workshop called, “Wellness: Taking Care of Yourself.” This workshop will “focus on understanding the importance of health and wellness of adults in a child’s life. Educators and program leaders will explore strategies and approaches to enhancing adult resilience,” the conference website explains.

Another workshop, “Supporting Children to Embrace Race: How we can & why we must,” led by Melissa Giraud and Andrew Grant-Thomas, two parents who co-founded the organization Embrace Race, will feature a “presentation and Q & A that considers some of the evidence for racial bias and steps we can take to push back against it – in our children and ourselves.” (more…)

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Updates and updated resources from Strategies for Children

Posted in Child care, COVID-19, Federal, Funding, Head Start, NAEYC, National, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children on April 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Here at Strategies for Children, we have been inspired by the early education and care community’s collaborative spirt.

We are in this together.

People at the local, state and national level are all fighting for children, families, educators, providers and the early education and care system.

To contribute to this effort we have created a new page on our website that we will update frequently with information and resources.

We also want to update you on what has been happening so far:

On Friday, March 27th, 2020, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act was signed into law. This legislation will provide critical help for the early childhood education sector, including these highlights reported by NAEYC: (more…)

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Advocacy Day Recap

Posted in Dept. of Early Education and Care, Early educators, Funding, Head Start, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Pre-kindergarten, Professional development & preparation on March 10, 2020| 1 Comment »

Last week, 350 people (many of them strategically wearing red) came to the Massachusetts State House for Advocacy Day for Early Education & Care and School Age Programs.

Caitlin Jones and Leishla Diaz of The Guild of St. Agnes in Worcester

The morning started with speeches from legislators and the commissioner of Early Education and Care – as well as remarks from a parent and from another parent who became an early educator.

Afterwards, attendees went to meet with the legislators. Here’s a recap of what the speakers said. (more…)

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Today is Advocacy Day!

Posted in Cost and affordability, Early educators, Family engagement, Head Start, MA Legislature, MA state budget on March 5, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Today is Advocacy Day 2020 for Early Education & Care and School Age Programs and there are TWO ways to participate.

You can come to the Massachusetts State House. Here’s the schedule:

9:30 a.m.

Registration in the Great Hall

10:00 a.m.

Speakers – including Early Education and Care Commissioner Samantha Aigner-Treworgy

11:15 a.m.

Meetings with Legislators

Or you can participate right from your program by:

• finding your elected officials and their contact information by going to www.WhereDoIVoteMA.com

• following them on social media

• taking pictures of your program and share them with your state representatives and state senators on Facebook and Twitter. Use the hashtags #ValueEarlyEducators and #ValueAfterSchoolEducators

The next step? Keep the advocacy going! In the coming weeks and months you can: (more…)

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In quotes: high-quality pre-K benefits multiple generations

Posted in Head Start, Pre-kindergarten, Quotes on December 6, 2019| Leave a Comment »

“In 1962, 58 African-American 3- and 4-year-olds, all from poor families and likely candidates for failure in school, enrolled in Perry Preschool in Ypsilanti, Mich. This was a novel venture, and parents clamored to sign their children up.”

“By now, many of the children whose parents signed up decades ago have had children of their own. And scholars have begun asking whether advantages conferred on one generation are passed on to the next.

“The answer is a resounding yes. Public investments can break the cycle of poverty.

“The Perry preschoolers’ offspring are more likely to have graduated from high school, gone to college and found jobs, and less likely to have a criminal record than their peers whose parents lacked the same opportunity. As for Head Start, more of the second generation graduate from high school and enroll in college, and fewer become pregnant as teenagers or go to prison.”

— “How to Break the Poverty Cycle,” by David L. Kirp, The New York Times, November 27, 2019

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The Massachusetts Head State Association’s annual conference

Posted in Head Start on October 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Mark your calendar. The annual conference of the Massachusetts Head State Association is later this month.

The details for this year’s conference – “A Vision for Early Education: Advocacy, Leadership, and Reflection” – are:

Tuesday, October 22, 2019
9 am – 4 pm
Devens Common Center
31 Andrews Parkway
Devens, Massachusetts

“The conference focuses on tangible tools that the early education workforce can use to help move our field forward,” Michelle Haimowitz the executive director of the association says.

“The conference will offer high-quality workshops on effective advocacy skills, leadership through change for individuals at any level of management or direct service, and reflective practice.

“Anyone can register at www.massheadstart.org/upcoming-events.” (more…)

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Life after Preschool Expansion Grants: Springfield takes the lead

Posted in Federal, Funding, Head Start, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten on August 13, 2019| 3 Comments »

Photo: Kate Samp for Strategies for Children

Even though its federally funded Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG) has run out, Springfield, Mass., is continuing to grow its preschool program.

“We win or lose the game at the preschool level,” Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Daniel Warwick said when his city won the federal grant.

The PEG grant supported 195 children in 11 classrooms through a mixed-delivery system that included the nonprofit organizations Square One, Holyoke-Chicopee-Springfield Head Start, and the YMCA of Greater Springfield.

Now, building on the catalyst of PEG grant funding, Warwick is ensuring that young children will keep winning.

“After a successful pilot program last year,” MassLive.com reports, “Warwick said the preschool programming will be extended to include 19 schools for a total of 643 seats, representing a district investment of more than $1.5 million.”

“Research shows that high-quality preschool provides a substantial head start for young students,” Warwick says in the article.

For children, the payoff is huge: (more…)

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In quotes: Massachusetts Congresswoman Lori Trahan

Posted in Child care, Cost and affordability, Federal, Head Start, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Quotes on June 21, 2019| 1 Comment »

Congresswoman Lori Trahan; Pat Nelson, Executive Director of the Concord Children’s Center; Amy O’Leary, Early Education for All Campaign Director at Strategies for Children. Photo: Eric Stein

“I was honored to speak briefly at the Kathy Reticker Forum’s screening of No Small Matter. The film addressed the question ‘Why, when the importance of quality early care is so widely accepted and known, do we continue to fail so many children?’

“It is an important question to ask. Our children are America’s most valuable resource, yet across our country, too many families don’t have access to high-quality, affordable early learning and care that will help them thrive without breaking the bank. Programs like Head Start and grants like Child Care and Development Block Grants (CCDBG) are investments that bring real and positive results to our communities. That’s why I fight hard in Congress to support and grown them. These programs have a proven track record of success in Massachusetts and around the country, and are exactly the type of investments our federal government should be making when it comes to the children and families that are most in need.

“I’m also proud to be working on a number of other pieces of legislation like the Universal Child Care and Early Learning Act, which dramatically expands access to quality, affordable child care for all families. Congress can and must make progress on this important issue. There’s work to be done.”

– U.S. Representative Lori Trahan (D-MA 3rd District)

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How children in Worcester’s Head Start program became featured artists at the Worcester Art Museum

Posted in Family engagement, Head Start, Massachusetts Cities and Towns on June 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Preschool programs are often in classrooms, except when they’re not.

In Worcester, Mass., children enrolled in Head Start go beyond the classroom to the Worcester Art Museum, where they make art, and where that art is part of an exhibit — “World of Provocation: Making Learning Visible” – that closes tomorrow. (more…)