|
Dear Friends of Ready Ready,
As we work to build a connected, innovative system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families, we’re excited to see that the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) has created a new division with similar goals.
 NCDHHS says the Division of Child and Family Well-Being will work to ensure that North Carolina’s children grow up safe, healthy, and thriving in nurturing and resilient families and communities. The new division brings together programs and staff that support the physical, behavioral, and social needs of children under one roof.
We applaud NCDHHS for taking the step and look forward to collaborating with programs and staff in the new division.
At Ready Ready, we know parenting and caregiving can be a journey filled with both celebrations and speed bumps. But families don’t have to take this path alone. Making sure that all infants, toddlers, and their families in our community have equitable access to support strengthens both the family and our community. We must act now to ensure that children grow into socially, emotionally, and physically healthy kids who are confident, empathetic, and ready for success in school and life.
Sincerely,
Charrise Hart
CEO
|
|
|
Do you know someone who should be reading our newsletter? Please forward this email and encourage them to subscribe!
|
|
|
|
This month, we asked our Guilford Parent Leader Network (GPLN) members what parent leadership means to them. Here are their answers.
|
|
Parent leadership training
The Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) Phase 1 parent action team has wrapped up their meetings and completed a small project to show their appreciation for Guilford Child Development Early Head Start family support staff.
|
|
|
Would you like to join the GPLN? We gather on the third Monday of the month from 7-8:30 p.m. The next meeting is Monday, March 21, 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we hold these meetings via Zoom. When meetings resume in person, we provide child care to alleviate barriers to participation.
For more information, please contact Yuri Alston, Family Engagement Coordinator, at (336) 579-2977 ext. 2008 or yuria@getreadyguilford.org.
|
|
|
Ready Ready’s mission is to build a connected, innovative system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families. In the first phase of our work, we focused on children prenatal to age three. That work continues. Now we are adding our next strategies for children in Phase II – ages 3-5. If you’d like to learn more about these strategies, please review the executive summary about their development.
|
|
|
The Basics Guilford: Count, Group, and Compare
|
|
The Basics are bite-sized bits of information based on science that can help parents and caregivers promote healthy development. Becoming good at math begins long before a child enters school. You don’t need to be a math teacher to start preparing your child to be a problem solver.
Tips for infants:
- Play Music: We all have a natural love of music. Share this love with your child. Play gentle music or sing when you are together. This is a fun and easy way to expose your child to rhythm and patterns. Lots of nursery rhymes and children’s songs involve counting.
- Use Math Words: When you talk to your infant, use words related to math ideas like quantities and comparisons. For example, words like “more, less, big, small, tall, short, round, square.” You don’t need to set aside special time to do this. You can use math words whenever you are with your child.
- Fill Up and Dump Out: Give your baby a container to scoop and dump water in the bathtub. Use words like “in” and “out,” “full” and “empty.”
Tips for toddlers:
- Put Things in Order: Practice putting things in order. For example, your child could arrange dolls from smallest to largest, youngest to oldest, or heaviest to lightest. See what other categories they come up with!
- Find the Match: In the kitchen, give your child a container and two lids. See if they can figure out which lid fits and then put it on. Use size and shape words like “longer” and “wider.” If they get the hang of it, try more containers and lids.
- Helping Hand :Ask your child to bring you a specific number of objects. “Can you bring me two books to read?” Increase the numbers as they learn.
|
|
|
|
You can learn some great information about this Basic in 30 seconds by watching this video!
|
|
|
The Basics are five fun, science-based parenting and caregiving concepts that anyone can do. Learn more about them at www.guilfordbasics.org.
|
|
Would you like to be trained in The Basics Guilford?
|
|
|
As we share information about the Basics across Guilford County, we need your help. We’re offering virtual training on the Basics for teams of three or more at organizations that interact with young children. Each session lasts 30-45 minutes. To schedule a training session or learn more about Ready Ready and the Basics Guilford, please contact Literacy Coordinator Megan LeFaivre at meganl@getreadyguilford.org.
|
|
Staff profile: Megan LeFaivre
|
|
“When we consider that 80 percent of a child’s brain develops before age three, it’s important to have these intentional conversations with children,” LeFaivre said. “It’s not just the child in your house. It’s the children you interact with daily in your neighborhood, a co-worker’s child, or another family member. In any conversation you have with a child you can do these five easy, basic things to help their brains develop.”
Learn more about Megan and her work at Ready Ready on our website.
|
|
|
Partner Spotlight: Say Yes Guilford
|
|
Say Yes Guilford is an educational nonprofit committed to providing access to support services and scholarships designed to prepare Guilford County Schools’ students for success in college, career, and life.
“Our whole mission is centered around giving students access to support services and scholarships,” said President and CEO Wendy Poteat. “We’re trying to make sure Guilford County students are ready for college, a career, or life – whether they choose a four-year degree, a two-year degree, or a certificate program.”
Poteat joined Say Yes in 2019, at the time when it became a local nonprofit. During her time at the organization, she deepened its reach with Guilford County Schools to offer tutoring and other supports to promote success starting in elementary school.
“While Ready for School, Ready for Life focuses on prenatal to age eight and setting kids up for success, I see our work being part of that continuum,” Poteat said. “Say Yes Guilford takes up at that transition point in third grade to help make sure they are proficient in reading and supported through middle and high school. It’s a continuum of care.”
Learn more about Say Yes Guilford and how it helps students in elementary, middle, and high school in the full story on our website. |
|
|
Our mission
Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) is a collaborative effort to build a connected, innovative system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families.
Equity Statement
Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) promotes equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion, which are woven through our mission, values, and principles. We stand against racism in all of its forms. Ready Ready will work with our community to address the structural inequities that drive disparate child and family outcomes and work towards an environment where equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion are core values. When we are working to address these structural inequities, Ready Ready will be bold in our actions.
When Guilford County Black and Indigenous children and families of color (BIPOC) feel welcomed, heard, respected, safe, supported, and valued, all of our community and our society benefit.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
