Start Early

Hear from Early Childhood Practice Consultant for Start Early Michelle Lee at The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) conference at her session Fostering the Three C's through a COP (Community of Practice) - Collaboration, Connection, & Community. Learn how to implement a community of practice to foster peer support for improved implementation, to gather lessons learned from the field, and to move policy agendas forward. Sign up here to find out where we'll be speaking next and access upcoming professional learning opportunities for the early childhood field: https://lnkd.in/gwXJciYc

Join Start Early Senior Manager for Professional Learning Kristie Norwood at The National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC) conference at her session Building Community through Equitable Behavior Management & Nurturing Relationships. Understand and discuss the difference between punishment and supportive behavior management, share strategies to mitigate harm and increase equity in classroom settings and much more. Sign up here to find out where we'll be speaking next and access upcoming professional learning opportunities for the early childhood field: https://lnkd.in/eRS-Dubc

An article by The 19th explains how the child care crisis has affected small business across the country – owners are struggling to retain employees who can’t find affordable or quality care. A recent survey by Goldman Sachs found that more than 1/3 of small businesses owners say that the lack of child care in their communities is preventing them from operating or expanding their business. The cost of child care has been steadily rising for years and in 2023 child care cost families on average $11,582. Small business owners also Goldman Sachs they’d like to see government support for improving their options, with as many as 77% saying they would support an increase in federal funding for child care. Read more: https://lnkd.in/er92pc2Z

Don’t miss out on savings - discounted early bird registration fees are available through October 31 when you register for the 2025 National Home Visiting Summit! Join us in Washington, D.C. February 12-14 for our annual home visiting conference with 25+ workshops, 3 plenary sessions, Capitol Hill visits and MORE! New this year - we’re thrilled to offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) included with your registration fee. Register to secure your spot today: https://bit.ly/3VE3CcS

Your voice is needed at the 2025 National Home Visiting Summit in Washington, D.C. The Summit seeks workshop proposals addressing systems change within the home visiting field and early childhood system of care. Content areas of interest for the 2025 Summit include but are not limited to: ✅ Expanding Ideas About Best Practice & Innovation ✅ Exploring a Continuum of Home Visiting ✅ Intersections of Home Visiting ✅ Sustainable Financing Strategies ✅ Workforce Well Being from a Systems Change Lens Learn more and apply by August 30: https://bit.ly/3zfpDaj

Join us this fall for an engaging six-part webinar series introducing ACSES - a practical, action-oriented framework for creating more equitable early childhood classrooms. The ACSES Introductory Series kicks off with a FREE webinar: Beyond the Talk: Creating Racial Equity in the Classroom on Thursday, August 29, 2024 at 12-1 p.m. CT. Stay tuned for more information about how to register for the remaining webinars in the series, earn CEUs and count sessions towards your CDA. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/g7FQu9b6

In May the Illinois General Assembly finalized its Fiscal Year 2025 Illinois state budget, which included only a $6 million increase for Early Intervention (EI) – an amount well below the level that advocates across the state tirelessly pushed for. In a recent op-ed published in the The State Journal-Register, longtime Start Early partner Jen Crick, President of the Illinois Developmental Therapy Association, explores existing and growing challenges facing Early Intervention and what additional, substantial funding would mean for families and the workforce. Read more on why increasing EI funding is crucial in our home state of Illinois: https://lnkd.in/dXrZV85F.

As a proud partner, Start Early is able to provide classrooms at Educare Chicago, a program of Start Early, and our friends at Educare West DuPage with Tonieboxes to promote language development, literacy and social and emotional learning for young readers and pre-readers. Their screen-free design and library of familiar characters make it a treasure trove for imaginative play, in the classroom and beyond! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gYKzhvCZ

“We were asking those with very low pay … to do these extraordinary things,” Martha Christenson Lees, former director of the Smith College Center for Early Childhood Education said. An article by The Hechinger Report asked two early childhood professionals about their experiences and journey to rebuild 4 years after the pandemic. Both providers share the major financial burden the pandemic caused and admit they are still recovering from it to this day. Lingering health struggles from contracting Covid as frontline workers and difficulty paying bills are just a few of the problems many early learning and care workers continue to deal with post pandemic. Read more about the long-term effects of the pandemic on the early childhood field: https://lnkd.in/gmxPFNDi

A new blog by Judy Reidt-Parker outlines how recent the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) rule changes will provide a new opportunity to improve families’ access to child care. Child care remains inaccessible and unaffordable for too many families across the country. Ensuring access to high quality child care is an imperative for parents and children, providers, communities and the economy. Making eligibility determination and application process easier and faster for families, leveraging application guide for best practices in benefits application design and processes and clarifying how states can implement presumptive eligibility are some of the ways to utilize the new rule changes. Read more highlights and considerations for state child care leaders and advocates as they update their CCDF plans: https://lnkd.in/gfW4w8gF