Early Childhood Initiative
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| Can you help me be ready to love, learn and thrive? |
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The Southwest Initiative Foundation is engaged in an initiative to ensure that all of our youngest children thrive, and have a healthy life of learning, achieving, and succeeding. The statewide program – the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative – is a network of coalitions focused on quality care and educational opportunities for children ages birth to five.
The Southwest Initiative Foundation, along with the other five Minnesota Initiative Foundations, The McKnight Foundation and Ready 4 K, have pledged to bring vitally important early childhood care and education to the forefront of public discussion.
The Guiding Principles
- Every child must have the opportunity to learn, be safe, and be loved.
- Parents have the most important role to play, but need and deserve the support of the broader community to be successful.
- All children must enter school ready to learn.
- Investment in our youngest children leads to valuable economic impact in our communities.
- The best interests of our youngest children must be a priority for local leaders and all policy-makers.
The Project and Goals
- Recruit diverse stakeholders to engage in coalitions.
- Raise awareness about the importance of quality early childhood experiences.
- Stimulate leaders to create responses to local needs.
- Create a unified voice to influence public and private policy.
The Foundation accomplishes these goals by working with selected coalition communities located throughout the 18 counties of southwest Minnesota. In addition, limited grants funds are available to pursue partnerships on early care and education projects that have a region-wide scope.
Funding Partners
The Southwest Initiative Foundation gratefully acknowledges the following Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative funding partners:
Statewide:
Buuck Family Foundation
Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation
Mardag Foundation
The McKnight Foundation
Otto Bremer Foundation
Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi L.L.P. Foundation for Education, Public Health and Social Justice
Sheltering Arms Foundation
Regionally:
Remick Charitable Trust
The Schwan Food Company
Thrive Funders:
Bush Foundation
Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation
Mardag Foundation
Medica Foundation
Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi L.L.P. Foundation for Education, Public Health and Social Justice
Sheltering Arms Foundation
Events:
- Storyland: A Trip Through Childhood Favorites
Exhibit open June 10 - September 25, 2011
Created by Minnesota Children's Museum, Storyland is an exciting, hands-on learning opportunity for children ages 2-8 to fall in love with beloved childhood books while building valuable early literacy skills. Bring the whole family to check out this exhibit and travel into the three popular stories of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Where's Spot? and A Snowy Day.
Exhibit hours:
Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sunday 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Location:
West Learning Center - Room 102
117 11th Ave., Worthington
ECI News
CICC Consultants Available
Early Childhood Minnesota report
New Report Illustrates the Impact of the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative Coalitions in Greater Minnesota Communities
 The Minnesota Initiative Foundations (MIFs) have released a new report that describes the findings from a key stakeholder survey administered to 252 early childhood coalition members involved in the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative. The report, “Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative Impact and Insights” was produced by Wilder Research on behalf of the MIFs.
The report highlights numerous key achievements of the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative. Across the state, dozens of community-based coalitions have increased and improved:
- Partnerships and collaborations among programs serving young children.
- Advocacy for early care and education involving a broad range of sectors, including business.
- Media coverage and community energy and enthusiasm for supporting early childhood issues.
- Opportunities for training and networking among informal providers, licensed early care and education providers, and early childhood education school teachers to improve child care quality and access to materials and resources.
- Awareness about and referrals for early childhood screening.
- Awareness about the importance of reading to young children and access to books for them.
- The transition to kindergarten through engaging young children and families in fun, learning activities and programs.
Download the report here.
Willmar ECI publishes one-of-a-kind book
Serving half the population of the United States, more than four out of five fire departments use on-call and volunteer firefighters, rather than full-time career employees depicted in most children’s books. Given this reality, the Willmar Early Childhood Initiative, in partnership with SWIF, decided to publish a new firefighter-themed book for their fourth annual Read Aloud at the Fire Station event held last October and attended by more than 500 children, families and community members.
This book tells about a community's on-call firefighters, provides fire safety information for children and families and is written in both English and Spanish on each page. Photos were taken by Kelly Welch, Willmar, and feature local firefighters and their families.
Books are available to purchase for $10 each. All proceeds support the Willmar Early Childhood Fund at SWIF, working to ensure all children ages birth to 5 in the Willmar community have the best possible start to life. To purchase this book, download an order form here.
Meeker County Community Resource Directory
The purpose of this directory is to assist agencies and individuals throughout Meeker County in locating appropriate resources and to increase awareness of agencies and services that are available in the immediate area. No endorsement of service or quality is being implied or promoted. We have tried to identify organizations or agencies that may be of use to Meeker County area residents. Please contact amy.brustuen@co.meeker.mn.us if we have excluded an agency so that we can include them in the next update. In an effort to conserve resources, we have attempted to list each contact only once, instead of in each category applicable.
Download the Meeker County Community Resource Directory.
"Building Nurturing Communities of Thriving Children"
The Minnesota Initiative Foundations (MIFs) have released a new report that examines strategies and outcomes of the Minnesota Early Childhood Initiative and links them with existing research on early care and education. The report, “Building Nurturing Communities of Thriving Children” was produced by Wilder Research on behalf of the MIFs. In it, 18 of the nearly 400 projects and programs implemented thus far by the 64 Early Childhood Coalitions were assessed. The featured programs represent model or exemplary strategies in their respective regions, including southwest Minnesota.
Click here to view a PDF version of the complete report, "Building Nurturing Communities of Thriving Children."
Consultant Services for Early Childhood and School-Age Providers and Programs Available through the Center for Inclusive Child Care
The Center for Inclusive Child Care (CICC) provides on-site and phone consultation free of charge to early childhood care and education programs, school age programs, family child care and education programs and preschool programs that are including a child with special needs. The definition of special needs includes Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD, physical disabilities, cognitive disabilities, and challenging behaviors. Consultation services can also be used if you have a concern about a child’s development.
The funding to support this program is provided by the Department of Human Services and the McKnight Foundation. The goals of the program include assistance in the retention of a child in the current child care setting, provision of transition support for a child starting a new program and the enhancement of the services you offer to children and their families. Inclusion consultants collaborate with programs, providers and parents offering technical assistance, specific strategies, recommendations, resources and other types of assistance to help children be successful.
Expert Inclusion Consultants, coordinated by Dea Anderson through CICC, are available. If you have questions or are interested in the use of this service, please contact Dea at at (612) 767-5159.
Early Childhood Minnesota: Indicators and Strategies for Minnesota's Early Childhood System
According to a new cost-benefit study from the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, children entering kindergarten unprepared to learn cost Minnesota's K-12 education system $113 million annually. Funded by the Bush Foundation, the report, The Cost Burden to Minnesota K-12 When Children Are Unprepared for Kindergarten, found that the state incurs a $42 million net loss of per-pupil aid to school districts as a result of students dropping out before graduation; $28.9 million in teacher-related costs and $24.4 million in costs associated with special education and grade repetition. The report also found that it would cost the state about $377 million to provide two years of targeted evidence-based early education for all low-income three-years-olds who are not currently being served.
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