Get to know your candidates

If you haven't noticed, election season is upon us. Now is a great time to engage your candidates and tell them to make early care and education a top priority. One way to get to know your candidates is to hold a candidate coffee. This informal gathering is a job interview for who you will hire to represent you. (We pay their salaries, so we're the bosses.) You can find out where the candidates stand on the issues that are important to you. It is also an excellent opportunity to educate candidates so that whoever is elected will start their job one day one knowing what is important to you.

A candidate coffee is simple. You can read our Holding a Candidate Coffee tips page in the Advocacy Resources section of our website.

Keep the group small and the setting casual. The goal is to have an open conversation, not a political speech. The group should be made up of constituents of the district. Candidates like to talk directly to the people they will be representing and it is the citizens of the district who will be making their choice.

In the last election cycle, I attended a candidate coffee in the home of one of our advocates. The advocate invited some of his neighbors who also had young children. About eight of us were there and we chatted ahead of time to figure out what questions we wanted to ask and what issues to discuss. We had treats and other refreshments to share. Candidates from both major parties were invited to come visit with the group at separate times. One candidate came first and the group talked with the him for about 45 minutes. The second candidate arrived and the group had a similar conversation with that candidate for about the same amount of time. Before each candidate left, the group provided information and materials on early care and education as well as their contact information in case the candidate had any additional questions.

The candidate coffee was interesting and informative for all who attended. We were able to hear directly from the candidates and move away from scripted speeches. The candidates were able to engage constituents and begin building relationships with early childhood advocates in their district.

View the Holding a Candidate Coffee page for more details on how the steps for setting up a candidate coffee and sample questions. If you would like to hold a candidate coffee in your Minnesota house district, contact Ready 4 K and we will work with you to set one up.

Stepping up for quality preschool

Recently, the Wall Street Journal printed an opinion piece by Shikha Dalmia and Lisa Snell titled Protect our Kids from Preschool. The article took the position that early childhood education is not a good investment and can even be harmful to children. There are a number of inaccuracies in the piece that are pointed out in responses by Early Ed Watch, NIEER, Pre-K Now and others in the Journal. It is disappointing that the nation’s premier financial journal would allow such inaccuracies to be printed and to negate the strong investment that is early care and education.

Steven Barnett of NIEER and David Kirp from UC Berkeley had a counter piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, The War Against Preschool. They offer a strong point and counterpoint to the Dalmia/Snell article.

In a time of economic downturn, investing in the first five years of children’s lives is the smartest thing that we can do. Economists and policy analysts including Art Rolnick and Robert Reich agree that early investments are a key strategy to shoring up our long-term economic standing. As the election season kicks into the highest gear, it’s time to remind our candidates that strong early investments are the first step for our future.

photo by merebearlandon

Hopping on that school bus: Kindergarten transitions

The state fair has begun and I think I saw some yellow leaves on some trees today. The start of school is right around the corner. This time of transition can be stressful for children and parents alike. For young children, starting kindergarten is a significant time of transition and change; new setting, new schedule, new classmates, new teachers, new expectations. It's a lot! There are some great resources online for kindergarten transition, such as Terrific Transitions. Even for younger children, starting preschool or a new child care setting is just as stressful. It's not too early to start thinking about kindergarten, even with your preschooler.

Some tips from Terrific Transitions:

The week before…

• Get the supplies requested by the school (book bag, crayons, glue, nap mat or towel, etc.)

• Label all personal items with your child’s name in permanent ink (clothing, lunch box, book bag, nap mat or towel, etc.)

• Discuss plans for drop-off and pick-up in detail with your child. (If possible, do a “practice run” prior to the first day.)

• Take to the school nurse or office any prescription medicine that must be administered during the day.

• Plan a separation routine. If possible, include your child’s teacher or carpool partner in the routine. Select a series of steps that you will take every day. (Child puts belongings away, parent describes what they will do after school and says goodbye, child goes to her teacher/drive/walking partner and greets them, parent leaves)

• Discuss any fears or questions your child might have. (What if I have to go to the bathroom? What if I forget where you are going to pick me up?)

The night before…

• Review a school-day routine with your child (bath time, bed time, wake time, schoolwork time, etc.) Try and keep a firm bedtime to ensure your child is well rested for the next school day.

• Put lunch money in an envelope with your child’s name and what it is for on the outside. Put the money in a safe place (book bag, secure pocket of tomorrow’s clothes, etc.)

• Help your child select their clothes for the first day. Make sure your child will be dressed appropriately for the weather and the school setting.

The first day…

• Wake up in plenty of time to prepare for school. You don’t want your child to feel rushed on this day. The calmer and more relaxed the morning is, the more comfortable your child will feel with the situation.

• Have your child eat breakfast at home or make sure that she has money and time for breakfast at school.

• Review the drop-off and pick-up procedures with your child.

• Make sure your child knows his full name, address, phone number, and the name and number of an emergency contact. If he does not know this, write it down and put it with his personal belongings.

• Arrive before school starts, but not so early that there is no supervision available.

• Leave your child promptly, with a positive attitude, after you have completed your planned separation routine.

At the end of the first day…

• Greet your child at the planned time and place.

􀂃Ask your child specific questions about her day. If you simply ask, “How was your day?” the response will likely be “Okay.” Instead, ask questions such as, “What was the best thing that happened today?” or “Tell me about some new friends you met today.” etc.

Also, early childhood programs in school districts also have information and resources specific for your district. Find your early childhood program here. In Minnesota, all children need to be screened before entering kindergarten. Schedule a time with your district's early childhood program for your child to be screened.

Good luck!

photo by kevindooley

In the news

It was a busy week for Parent Aware and the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation. Stories appeared in both the StarTribune and the Pioneer Press about the progress Parent Aware is making in helping to connect low income families to quality child care. A great editorial was also published in the StarTribune. The MELF was also highlighted in an article describing the economic investment needed for early care and education.

Expanding Parent Aware, a quality rating system for child care providers, to be state wide is a key piece of Ready 4 K's agenda of helping kids start kindergarten ready for learning success. Stay tuned as we head into the election season for questions to ask candidates on how they plan to get kids ready.

photo by pragmagraphr

Education -"The Biggest Issue"

In his most recent column, David Brooks from the New York Times outlines the biggest issue facing Americans this election season. No, it is not gas prices, foreclosures or even the war in Iraq. The biggest issue is what he calls the "skills slowdown", that most of the growth in the US has been the result of an investment in human capital through education. But since 1970, the United States has been loosing it's competitive edge when it comes to educating it's citizens.

Indeed, Growth and Justice predicts that Minnesota will soon not have enough college graduates to meet the economic demand and stay competitive. This is a problem not just for the under-educated individuals stuck in low-wage jobs, but for all of us. We will all be affected when there are not enough doctors, teachers or other professionals to go around.

Of course, all this starts with investing in early childhood. As Brooks writes,

...big gaps in educational attainment are present at age 5. Some children are bathed in an atmosphere that promotes human capital development and, increasingly, more are not. By 5, it is possible to predict, with depressing accuracy, who will complete high school and college and who won't.

That is why Ready 4 K is working to promote investments in early childhood care and education. We need to let our elected officials know that this continued under-funding is not acceptable. Will you join us in making early childhood a top priority?

How you can participate in the election process now!

The election season is starting to heat up. All candidates have filed for office and are ramping up their efforts to get out into their communities. Ready 4 K is planning several summer election activities including candidate forums, informal “candidate coffees”, and distributing early education information materials to candidates and voters.

To help you raise early childhood issues in your local elections, Ready 4 K has developed sample questions for candidates. Keep these questions close to you. When you see your candidates at public events or at your door, be sure to ask:

• What is your plan to increase the number of Minnesota children who enter kindergarten fully prepared for learning success?

• How will you help parents afford and access high quality early learning experiences for their children?

• What will you do to increase the quality of early care and education programs?

• How will you support parents in their role as their child’s first and most important teacher?

• What will you do to support the professionals who educate our youngest citizens?

In addition to plugging into Ready 4 K’s election activities, here are some more things you can do between now and Election Day on November 4^th:

• Register to vote. Go to: http://www.sos.state.mn.us/docs/voter_guide-2006.pdf

• Find out who is running for legislative office in your district: http://candidates.sos.state.mn.us/

• Send a postcard to candidates in your district with a message about making early care and education for young children a top priority

• Attend a candidate forum in your community and ask candidates about early care and education issues (use the sample questions above)

• Talk with candidates at community events about the need to invest in early care and education (again, use the sample questions)

• Volunteer for or donate to the candidate of your choice, and let them know you care about early care and education. (Spending a couple hours door-knocking with a candidate is a great way to bend their ear on early childhood issues.)

• Vote in the primary election on September 9^th for candidates who support investments in quality early learning

• Vote in the general election on November 4th for candidates who support investments in quality early learning

Contact Kat at Ready 4 K if you have any questions or would like to get involved!

photo by rollerboogie

New Pre-K bill moving forward

Keeping our eye on federal issues, a bill sponsored by Rep. Hirono (D-HI) is making it's way through Congress. The Providing Resources Early for Kids (PRE-K) Act of 2008 would provide $500 million a year for a grant program to states, tribes, and tribal organizations for improving state-funded pre-k programming.

States must provide a portion of matching funds and set aside 10% for children birth to age 3. The federal resources cannot replace any current funding for pre-k programming. The resources are to first be used to improve the quality of programs, providing such things as increasing the number of teachers with BA degrees in early childhood, improve child-teacher ratios, and increase the hours or days of classroom time.

The bill was approved two weeks ago by the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Our friends at NWLC have a nice summary.

In Minnesota, we do not have a state funded pre-k program. Three and four year olds may participate in School Readiness programs through the public schools. But these programs do not have the resources to meet standards such as the number of hours per week and weeks per year that most other pre-k programs have. According to Dr Arthur Reynolds form the U of MN, currently about 2% of Minnesota 4 year olds participate in School Readiness programs through their school districts.

A growing number of states are implementing pre-k programs and no two are exactly alike. See our chart of state pre-k programs. There are some ideas floating around the Minnesota legislature to implement a similar voluntary program in Minnesota. Stay in touch with Ready 4 K over the coming months and let us know what you think. How would a voluntary pre-k program best fit in Minnesota?

photo by Dazed81