News

December 15, 2017

It’s Time For Pittsburgh To Make An Investment In Early Education

Read the full article here.

Pittsburgh Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak hopes to boost the quality of preschool in Pittsburgh with a $2 million allocation next year that would go to providers in the city.

Rudiak of Carrick said less than 20 percent of Pittsburgh’s 205 preschool facilities have received “high quality” rankings through the state’s Keystone STARS system. The money would be granted to public and private facilities to help them boost their performance.

Rudiak said city foundations, which she declined to name, have given her “confident assurance” they would be willing to provide matching funds. She said the city also plans to seek a state grant.

“This is an investment by City Council where we could leverage this money for millions of more dollars,” Rudiak said. “This fund and the leveraging of these funds will significantly improve the quality of childcare facilities in the city of Pittsburgh, which then actually improves educational outcomes for children, and those are lifelong gains.”

Read the full article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review here.

News

Survey Opportunity for Early Childhood Educators and Providers

“The Center on Media and Human Development at Northwestern University is conducting a brief survey about early childhood educators’ technology use and are interested in how you use technology with the young children you work with.

If you are 18 years or older and work with children ages 0-8 in an early childhood setting (e.g., family childcare, center-based care, HeadStart Center, Preschool, etc), please consider taking the following survey. The survey will take approximately 20-30 minutes.” (via NAEYC)

[circle link=https://commstudies.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cUTvTany4qxSjd3 target=”blank”]Take Survey[/circle]

News

December 14, 2017

How Child Care Providers Can Stop The Spread of the Flu This Winter

Prepare your family for winter by preparing to combat influenza. Flu season is often times more serious than the common cold. Each year, millions of children get sick with the flu, resulting in hospitalizations or death.

The annual influenza vaccine is recommended for all people 6 months of age and older. Children younger than 5, but especially children younger than 2 years old, are at an increased risk of hospitalization and complications due to influenza. Since infants younger than 6 months are too young to get their own flu shot, the best way to protect these very young children is for all family members and caregivers to get the flu vaccine. Parents and caregivers can help protect more vulnerable children by vaccinating both the children and themselves.

Take steps TODAY to help your child care program prepare

  • Get your flu vaccine NOW. Encourage all staff, children, and parents to get the flu vaccine. Everyone needs a flu vaccine each year! Next year, plan to have the vaccine by October.
  • Examine and revise your program’s written plan for seasonal flu.
  • Invite a pediatrician or child care health consultant to provide influenza prevention education to your staff.
  • Use CDC posters and handouts to educate caregivers and staff about proper hand hygiene and cough/sneeze etiquette.
  • Update family contact information and child records, so parents can be reached quickly if they need to pick up their sick child.

Plan ahead to prevent the spread of germs. Policies in child care programs can limit the spread of the influenza and should focus on encouraging vaccination and implementation of everyday preventive actions such as:

  • good respiratory etiquette;
  • hand washing;
  • cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting;
  • and excluding children and caregivers who have respiratory symptoms (cough, runny nose, or sore throat) and fever.

Learn more HERE.

News

December 13, 2017

Governor Tom Wolf Announces 1.4 Million Dollar Grant to Support Early Learning Professionals

PAEYC believes all educators deserve to feel valued.

Governor Tom Wolf today announced a $1.4 million grant to increase the quality of Pennsylvania’s early childhood learning professional workforce.

The Higher Education, Early Child Care, and Community-based Partnership Working to Implement Innovative and Sustained Pathways grant will enable early childhood education staff to participate in and complete a credit-bearing Child Development Associate (CDA), associate degree, bachelor degree, and/or Pennsylvania PreK-4 teacher certification.

‘My administration is committed to expanding access to quality pre-kindergarten programs so our children have a positive start to their education,’ said Governor Wolf. ‘Having educated and knowledgeable early childhood educators creates quality classrooms, supports positive relationships with children, and advances the argument for increased compensation – early childhood teachers make an average of $9-$12/hour, even with a degree.’

The competitive grant, made available through Pennsylvania’s Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant, will support currently employed early childhood educators pursuing higher education. Drexel University, Carlow University, and Shippensburg University were successfully funded to build cross-systems partnership opportunities to identify and reduce barriers to access early childhood education degrees for currently employed early childhood educators.”

To read the full release from The Office of the Governor, click here.

News

December 12, 2017

Why Infant Mental Health Matters

The PA Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health recently released a new infographic, “3 Reasons Good Infant Mental Health Matters”. This provides relevant info and impacts of:

  • brain architecture;
  • body & health;
  • and behaviors & relationships

News

Make Your Voice Heard – Head Start Program Requesting Public Comments for Proposed Changes

“Since 2011, Head Start programs that fail to meet certain performance standards have been required to compete for continued federal funding.

The competition process, known as the designation renewal system, is intended to weed out low-performing grantees in the federal early-childhood program. But soon after it was established, providers started complaining that the process for identifying low performers was sweeping up high-quality programs as well. Head Start serves more than a million infants, toddlers, and young children in every state and territory.

The Office of Head Start, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is now considering making some changes that would address those complaints. In a request for comments to be published in the Federal Register on Dec. 8, Head Start is proposing adjusting some standards of the designation renewal program, with the goal of zeroing in more closely on Head Start programs that really need to improve.”  (via EdWeek)

To make your voice heard, submit your comments on proposed changes.

News

December 7, 2017

Public Policy Associate Shares Insight on New Pre-K Report

“Pittsburgh educators and community leaders are part of a growing movement in cities across the country committed to improving access to high-quality pre-kindergarten programs as fundamental building blocks for a lifetime of learning.

Benefits for kids range from improvements in literacy, language, math and social skills, to decreased grade repetition and special education placement and increased rates of high school graduation and college enrollment.

The Pittsburgh Association for The Education of Young Children (PAEYC) recently released a comprehensive report – “Increasing Early Care and Education Opportunities in Pittsburgh: A Review of Pre-Kindergarten Expansion in U.S. Cities” – which compares pre-k programs among 17 cities to identify challenges and highlight opportunities for advancement.

Emily Neff, PAEYC public policy associate, served as lead author and editor of the report that she says will be helpful in planning next steps for Pittsburgh’s Early Childhood Education Task Force.”

Kidsburgh sat down with Neff to discuss results of the report.

Read the Full Article Here.

News

Pittsburgh City Council Limit on Tax Hike Can Directly Benefit Early Childhood Education

“Pittsburgh City Council is scrounging for every spare dollar to limit a potential tax increase.

City leaders including Mayor Bill Peduto have eyed adding a percentage point to realty transfer taxes, now at 4 percent, to fill an affordable housing trust fund that council approved last year. Others balk at the idea, fearing it could discourage home buyers from settling in the city.

On Wednesday, four council members backed a hybrid approach that would draw on other city sources to help cover the trust fund and improvements in early childhood education. Supporters said the move should draw the prospective tax hike below one percentage point.

‘We’re metaphorically turning over the couch cushions and trying to find every spare piece of change that we can,’ Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak said. Early childhood education marks ‘the highest return on investment for our citizens,’ she said, with research showing the programs reduce crime, drop-out rates and drug use.”

Read the Full Article at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

News

December 6, 2017

#PittsburghECEWins With $2MIL Add to FY18 Pittsburgh Operating Budget

Thank you to the following Pittsburgh City Council Members for introducing an amendment to add $2MIL to Pittsburgh’s FY18 operating budget supporting ECE capital improvements and quality:

– Corey O’Connor

– Natalia Rudiak

– Deb Gross

– Darlene Harris

We look forward to City Council voting on this next week. Thank you for your support!

– Theresa Kail Smith

– Bruce A. Kraus

– R. Daniel Lavelle

– Dan Gilman

– Rev. Ricky Burgess

#PittsburghECEWins for:

Allegheny County Department of Human Services | Allegheny County Family Support Network | A+ Schools | Child Care Works | Council Of Three Rivers American Indian Center | Hug Me Tight Childlife Center Inc. | Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh | Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visit Program | The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) | One Pennsylvania | PA Early Learning Investment Commission | Office of Child Development & Early Learning | Partner4Work | PennAEYC Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children | Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers | Pittsburgh Public Schools | Pre-K for PA | Project Destiny, Inc- CCAC | TekStart

News

December 5, 2017

PA’s Promise For Children Offering Family-Friendly, Web-Based Resources

PA’s Promise For Children is offering a variety of family-friendly, web-based, outreach information.

Take advantage of the many resources available in both English and Spanish: