Have you ever wondered how the Partnership determines what programs to fund, how children are selected for Early Head Start, or what to look for in a high quality early childhood classroom? The March 27th Early Childhood Bus Tour answered these questions and more for a diverse group of community and business leaders as well as elected officials.

The tour began at the Partnership offices, where attendees were briefed about the tour and expectations were set while enjoying healthy breads baked on-site in the Child Care Services Association kitchen. This kitchen provides nutritious food options for child care centers throughout Durham.

The group then set out for their first stop at Welcome Baby. Director Melva Henry gave a tour of their facility while speaking to their giving closet, car seat and crib programs, and parenting classes, which receive funding from the Partnership. The Partnership supports these evidence-based programs because equipping parents with skills like positive discipline helps them create a loving and playful environment that ultimately prepares their children for success in school. 

For our next stop we visited Little People Day Care, an Early Head Start site. Durham EHS provides child development and family services to families with children birth to 3 years of age. Children with disabilities and risk factors such as teen parents are prioritized for these services. After learning about EHS, our group was able to tour this five star center and its beautiful outdoor learning environment, recently completed in collaboration with N.C. State’s Natural Learning Initiative.

The final stop was at Christian Prep Academy, a long time NC Pre-K provider that was recently able to start services for additional children following the governor’s expansion of Pre-K. Director Pam Nichols talked to the group about the importance of play and how they should see signs of literacy and math in every area of their five star NC Pre-K classrooms. The classes sang songs which incorporated the alphabet, helping the children to build their literacy skills without even being aware of it.

This tour provided participants with the opportunity to see Durham’s early childhood system at work, and receive answers to many of their questions about the Partnership’s role in it. The Partnership would like to thank all of the agencies involved and their staff for welcoming our group and putting on informative presentations. We look forward to continuing to educate our community with future tours!

The Partnership and Durham Public Schools hosted more than 30 pre-k and kindergarten teachers at Saturday's Teachers Talk Forum that was organized through the collaborative Transition to Kindergarten Initiative.

Teachers talk events help to 1) strengthen the role of early childhood educators in crafting successful transition activities for children and their families, and 2) support kindergarten educators as they learn and adopt ways to effectively communicate with families about the importance of kindergarten.

With so many committed educators gathered together in one space, a passion for helping our youngest learners succeed bred vibrant discussion around what children need to be ready for success in kindergarten. Here is a list of priority needs developed by the teachers:

1. Social Skills
2. Confident Parents
3. Self help skills
4. Family involvement
5. Exposure to books
6. Life experiences (exposure to diverse objects, people, places)

It is no surprise that social skills were named as the top need for children entering kindergarten, followed by self help skills. Together, teachers discussed in depth the need for parents to support and foster social skills that include sharing, conflict resolution, and taking turns. Children's independence was a hot topic as well. Kindergartners need to arrive at school equipped with self help skills such as putting on jackets, shoes, etc.

Another critical point of discussion: What challenges do children and families face when transitioning to kindergarten? Teachers highlighted the following frequent struggles:

1. Schedules, getting into routines
2. Class ratio
3. Structure and rules in the kindergarten classroom
4. Socioeconomic issues and differences with families
5. Expectations (of both teachers and parents)
6. Change and fear of the unknown
7. Who is there to help me? - Support for parents

Brining pre-k educators and kindergarten teachers together to discuss these critical elements of transition helps to smooth some of the challenges that young students and their families face, while enhancing transition strategies. Future Teachers Talk events will center on discussion and training for teachers about how the pre-k early learning standards and the K-12 standards can and do align.

The Transition to Kindergarten Initiative is supported through funding from the Morgan Creek Foundation and the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Does your child qualify for NC Pre-K?

Your child might qualify to participate in 2012-2013 Durham County NC Pre-K if:
• Your child is not currently enrolled in a preschool program
• Your child turns 4 years by Aug. 31, 2012
• Your child has health concerns or special needs
• Your family qualifies for financial assistance
• English is your child's second language

How to Apply
Beginning January 30, 2012, you may call 919-403-6950 ext. 6820 to set an appointment time between February 6 and April 6, 2012. 
You may also visit one of the following Durham County Head Start offices beginning February 6, 2012, where a family counselor will assist parents in filling out the application.
• 215 Seminary St. (across from McDonald’s and the YMCA)
• 1313 Halley St. (Lyon Park)
• 908 Liberty St.  (Leathers Meacham)

Click here to download the NC Pre-K flyer for more information. [En Español]

For more information about financial assistance for child care, contact Child Care Services Association at 919-403-6950 or contact Durham County Social Services at 919-560-8360.

Durham County’s NC Pre-K program is working to provide high-quality early educational experiences for 4-year-olds who are not attending preschool for various reasons. The program is community-based, voluntary, and designed to prepare 4-year-olds for kindergarten. The NC Pre-K program operates in private class rooms, Durham Public Schools, and Head Start.

The Durham County Universal Pre-K Application project is supported in part with funding from Duke’s Doing Good in the Neighborhood giving campaign. This process ensures that at-risk four-year-olds are matched to proper pre-kindergarten education services.

 

The child care industry in Durham County is big – with good reason.  Locally, more than 7,000 children are enrolled in licensed child care settings.  Families in need of these services utilize a great deal of resources to find the perfect early care and education provider for their child.  With so many children in need of care, it is no wonder that families begin their search early. 

Join Child Care Services Association during one of the following free Choosing & Using Child Care Information Sessions. During the sessions you will learn about:

• What steps to take during your child care search
• North Carolina licensing regulations for child care programs
• What quality child care looks like
• Different financial assistance resources for help paying for child care
• How to access other community resources that are available to support your family
• How Child Care Services Association can help you during your child care search

January 23, 1:00pm-2:00pm (Webinar with an infant/toddler care focus)
Durham County Health Department
Register by phone (919) 560-7771or by email to request a registration link: wrobinson@durhamcountync.gov

January 24, 12:30pm-1:30pm
UNC Women's Hospital, 101 Manning Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Register by email: Stork@unch.unc.edu

February 8, 6:30 - 7:30 pm
Teer House, 4019 North Roxboro Road, Durham, NC 27704
Register on-line at http://teerhouse.dukehealth.org or call (919) 416-3853

Just ask a classroom of 4-year-olds if they have ever been to a pumpkin patch and the enthusiastic responses will come flooding forth.

“I like the orange ones best.” 
“I don’t like the bumpy ones.”
“I’ve seen a scarecrow with a pumpkin head.”
“I eat pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.”

This question was asked of 36 preschoolers at two high-quality child care centers in Durham during a harvest-themed corporate volunteer morning coordinated by the Partnership. BASF volunteers and the Partnership worked together to create a literacy and engagement event as part of BASF’s corporate leadership program.

The volunteers were able to learn about the importance of high-quality early care and education as a foundation for continued success in school and life as they engaged preschool children through reading, discussion, crafts, and exercise during the event.

"These contributions of time, energy and resources are shining examples of how the business community can support early learning for our young children,” said Laura Benson, Executive Director of Durham’s Partnership for Children. “Everyone benefits! The children learn about agriculture and bioscience at their own level through an exciting lesson; the volunteers see a high-quality pre-kindergarten classroom first-hand; and the centers enjoy new books and educational materials.  We are literally planting the seeds for future scientific thinkers.”

Little People Day Care Center, a high-quality child care center in Durham, hosted a community open house on Monday, October 24 to showcase the center’s new outdoor learning environment. The playground renovations are part of NC State’s Natural Learning Initiative in participation with the Durham Early Head Start (EHS) Program.

The purpose of the Natural Learning Initiative is to promote the importance of the natural environment in the daily experience of all children, primarily through environmental design. The newly renovated outdoor learning environment at Little People Day Care Center is designed specifically for infants and toddlers and is one of four planned projects in Durham this fall. The ribbon cutting ceremony for the playground at Early Start Academy will be held on Saturday, November 5th from 10 am to 2 pm. There will be pony rides, a moon bounce, zumba, games, and refreshments to celebrate the grand opening.

Durham EHS is a free, comprehensive child development and family support program for low-income families with children aged birth to three years old and to pregnant women. It is a collaboration between Durham’s Partnership for Children, Chapel Hill Training-Outreach Project and Healthy Families Durham.

While Durham is undeniably home to a number of well-equipped parks, recreation areas, nature trails, and community play areas, many of our preschool and early learning outdoor play areas mirror a nationwide trend in which playground equipment has been stripped down to nothing.  Because of an overenthusiastic movement to remove all risk from playgrounds, we have gone overboard in protecting these play habitats. Such protections have left us with many outdoor play areas that simply do not foster learning and curiosity. 

Beyond the typical checklist required for regulated child care centers (including teacher/student ratio, teacher qualifications, and indoor curriculum), additional attention needs to be placed on the outdoors. Children spend several hours in the day playing outside and some of the most exploratory learning often takes place in the natural outdoor environment.  According to Dr. Karen DeBord, retired professor in early childhood and NC extension specialist, there are five main areas of focus for outdoor learning:

1. The physical outdoor environment – Relates to both the context and layout of the physical environment.
2. Interactions - Negotiation, language development, and cooperation are all skills that develop through diverse opportunities that invite children to explore and ask questions.
3. Play and learning settings – Defined spaces such as an active play area, a storytelling circle, sand and water play, a tricycle path, or a vegetable garden.
4. Program – Curriculum that mirrors effective use of outdoors as a learning space.
5. Teacher/caregiver role – Application of knowledge to create effective outdoor programs and to improve the physical environment based on individual child need.

Fortunately, strides are being made locally.  Marking the culmination of a weeklong Durham Early Head Start (DEHS) training, teachers and professionals attended a workshop focusing on this very topic as they prepare to have the playgrounds at their child care centers transformed into rich outdoor learning environments by NC State’s Natural Learning Initiative.  Early childhood consultant Betsy Thigpen shared plans for new outdoor learning environments to be constructed this fall at four DEHS child care centers.  Thigpen was direct about the need to move children outside and highlighted what is being done at local child care centers to give value to the outdoor experience.

Aside from the well-known benefits of outdoor play – such as obesity prevention, learning from sensory experiences, and enhanced school readiness – bringing the learning environment outdoors for young children encourages development, albeit through sometimes “reasonably risky” situations.  The outdoor play space can ignite a child’s learning and imagination in a way that is difficult to replicate in the classroom.  Transformation of these outdoor playgrounds will have far-reaching benefits for the children served.  Check back in for progress on the project’s planning and construction.  These playgrounds will be unique to Durham and should serve as models in the area. 

DEHS is a collaboration between Durham’s Partnership for Children, Chapel Hill Training-Outreach Project and Healthy Families Durham. The free, comprehensive child development and family support program is for low-income families with children aged birth to three years old and to pregnant women.  DEHS serves 120 children and their families in two program options: center-based and home-based.

As early childhood professionals, we know that young children who attend high-quality child care receive long-lasting benefits beyond learning their letters and shapes.  Research shows the many positive and long-term outcomes for these children, including better school performance, higher graduation rates, increased earnings in adulthood and higher rates of home ownership. 

To showcase these long-term outcomes, we tracked down a former student (enrolled from ages 2 to 5) of Brown’s Day Care, a Durham based, 5-star child care center.  Today this student – Delecia Utley – has the highest GPA of her freshman class at Hillside High School in Durham.  Delecia was happy to share a few minutes of her busy day with us for the following Q & A.  Many thanks to Delecia and Cheryl Brown, site director and owner at Brown’s Day Care!

What exciting plans do you have this summer?
I just returned from a 10-day National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine where I got to watch a live knee replacement surgery.  [NOTE: Delecia was nominated for participation in the forum based on a high PSAT score].  I also have flute practice and band camp for the Hillside Marching Band, as well as softball practice, and dance during the evenings.

Viewing a live surgery is a rare experience and not for the faint of heart.  How did you handle it?
It’s no big deal.  At Hillside we dissected a frog, a sheep’s heart, and a cow’s eye.  I also participate in the summer SMASS program through North Carolina Central.  There we dissected a shark and a pig during our morning science sessions. 

Any great summer reading?
I have required summer reading – The Metamorphosis – through the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Hillside.  Besides that I am taking Spanish II over the summer.  The IB program requires students to take five Spanish courses by graduation.  Summer courses are part of the program and the workload is hefty.  It’s easy to fall behind.

What was your favorite childhood book?
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Mrs. Cheryl [of Brown’s Day Care] has a picture of that tree from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on the preschool wall.

Do you feel like you were prepared for high school?
Yes.  I had great teachers in middle school and always made straight A’s.  Learning how to read music in middle school helped me prepare for life in the marching band at Hillside.  The best way to stay focused is to keep on top of my schoolwork.  The strict assignment deadlines at Hillside are a plus.

What do you like most about high school?  Least?
Band is definitely my favorite part of high school.  I have so much respect for my band teacher. 
My least favorite part of high school is lunch.  They serve the same thing every day.  The worst part is the free and reduced lunch line.  Everyone knows what that line means.  The line is so long it winds outside the cafeteria door.  And that doesn’t include the people who are too ashamed to stand in that line.

The IB program at Hillside prepares students for college.  Are you already thinking about which college you’d like to attend?
If offered a scholarship, I would attend NCCU.  But I truly want to go to college further from home.  Howard and Spellman are my top picks.  And I really want to focus on getting an academic scholarship, not an athletic or music scholarship.

You now volunteer at Brown’s Day Care.  What made you come back to help?
I came back to spend time at Brown’s because I like it here.  I was volunteering here during middle school, before it was required of me through the IB program.

You’ve been involved with Brown’s since you were 2 years old.  What is your earliest memory of those experiences?
A birthday party with a moonbounce, our nature walks, weekly visits from Mr. Marsh that included singing and dancing, and the Book-Mobile.

Do you remember your teachers and any of what they taught you?
Mrs. Cheryl and Mrs. Francis.  They taught me the joy of music, and how to snap.  [NOTE: According to Cheryl Brown, Delecia was always dancing.  She has loved music since very early on].

What qualities do you think make a great teacher?
Patience.  Learning happens at different rates for different students.  A good teacher knows how to manage a classroom and earn the students’ respect.  A good teacher is in control of her classroom.

Tell us, is it hard to stay out of trouble as a teenager these days?
Not for me. I hang around with the right people.  But I see students breaking the rules, sneaking around all the time.  They are so good at hiding it.

What is the best advice you were ever given?  Who gave you that advice?
My band teacher has been a big inspiration.  He always encourages – and demands – us to get our school work done before anything else.  He is like the father I never had.

What advice would you offer to other students?
Don’t fall into peer pressure.  Don’t get behind in your schoolwork.  It’s really hard to catch up once you’re behind.