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Wellness During the Holidays
There are a few simple things that we can do this holiday season to help our children stay mentally and physically well. Diet plays a critical role in our wellness and foods such as berries, green vegetables, and pumpkin seeds promote brain development and support immune health.
Fatigue, body aches, and feeling down can be a sign that your child is overdue for a wellness check, but don’t forget about their brain’s health! Mental health challenges can be overwhelming during the holiday season. This is to be expected when routines are off, family members you haven’t seen for a while are crowded in your personal space, and there’s tons of funny looking food without a chicken nugget in sight.
Here are some tips for helping your child combat stress:
- Plan ahead and consider creating a safe space for your children to express themselves in new places. Reflect and respond to your child’s thoughts, feelings, and needs which will create an atmosphere of understanding and acceptance for your child and help prevent problems.
- Pick your battles and try to use humor. Finding a way to laugh with your child will help relieve their body’s stress response and redirect from negative feelings.
While children pour into their caregivers for support this holiday season, it is important that we don’t forget to pour into ourselves. Self-care can replenish a parent’s energy, focus, and positivity. Whatever strategies you choose to keep you and your family well, be intentional and do it with love. For more tips on how to promote your child’s wellness during the holidays, contact our Help Me Grow team at [email protected].
Family Engagement Month 2023
November is Family Engagement Month which is a special time to recognize the vital role that parents and families play in their child’s education. After all, families are their child’s first teacher. This month is an opportunity for families to partner with the Early Learning Coalition and early learning programs to support their children’s learning and development.
What is Family Engagement?
Familes are engaged when they partner with early learning programs to promote their children’s development, learning, and wellness. Positive relationships between families and staff in early learning programs are the foundation for family engagement.
Family engagement has been shown to:
- Increase a child’s motivation to learn
- Reduce behavioral problems
- Support growth and development
- Foster school readiness skills, such as impulse control, attention, memory, and planning skills
The following checklist is a tool for your family to use to consider the level of partnership with your child’s early learning program. Ask yourself the following questions and check a box for your answer. For any items answered “no”, you may want to write a note on how you can begin doing that item. Consider sharing your responses with your child’s teacher and discuss ways you can be even more engaged in your child’s learning.
Family Engagement Ideas
Below are ideas of ways you can increase engagement with your children:
- Visit your local library and read together.
- Read your child’s daily note and talk about the activities they did at school.
- Explore and talk about different jobs or careers with your child.
- As a family, learn more about recycling efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
- Encourage conversation among family members at the dinner table.
- Invite your child to help you plan a meal, make a grocery list, shop, and help prepare the meal.
- Use ‘downtime’ in the car or on a walk to sing songs or teach nursery thymes to your child.
- During bath time let your child discover which objects will float and which objects sink.
- Draw a picture with your child from their favorite book.
- Use facial expressions and have your child guess the emotion you are showing. Are you happy, sad, or scared?
- Talk about things for which your family is grateful.
- Add some fun to everyday routines. Play music and dance together while making dinner, folding laundry, or cleaning up.
- Talk with your family about helping others and why it is important.
- Take a walk with your child and collect leaves to sort by shape and size.
- Establish a consistent bedtime routine with your child (bathing, brushing teeth, reading a story).
- Talk, read, and sing to your baby or young child every day. It helps your child’s brain development.
- Take a walk through your home and make finding counting activities part of a regular routine.
- Share five favorite things about your child with them.
- Talk! It’s the #1 thing you can do to support your child.
- Plan a day with no electronics. Read books, play board games, or do puzzles with your child.
- Help your child find numbers, shapes, or colors during the day.
- Ask your child what activity they would like to do today.
- Play your favorite music and dance with your child.
- Read with your child and make a list of things that they wonder about from the book.
- Visit a local park and talk about what they see.
- Snuggle up and read to your child for 15 minutes.
Family Engagement Pledge
Take the following pledge and let your child know you are committed to their success.
As a parent, guardian, or caring adult, I pledge to support my child’s education and healthy development to the best of my ability because I am my child’s first teacher. I have high expectations for my child and want them to succeed in school and in life. I pledge to stay involved, serve as a positive role model, and maintain open communication with my child’s teachers to ensure education remains a top priority in my household. I understand that it is my responsibility to stay informed and involved in all parts of my child’s education and health. Education is the key to success, and I will do everything I can to promote my child’s ability to learn.
At the Early Learning Coalition, we also have a Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) program that can connect you with resources to help support your role as your child’s first teacher. You may contact them at 850-747-5400 ext. 108.
First Friday addresses early learning
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) —- Whenever industries consider relocating to Bay County, they consider the quality of education that’s available for their worker’s families.
That’s one of the reasons business leaders with the Bay County Chamber of Commerce created a task force this year to address a shortage of early education resources.
The early learning coalition told chamber members at the First Friday event, that more than 50 percent of 3rd graders are reading below grade level.
Experts said the lack of early learning plays a role in those lower scores.
Early Learning Coalition Executive Director Suzan Gage also points out the long-term effects on the workforce.
“So child care and early learning specifically is like a coin two-sided,” Gage said. “You got to have child care so parents today can go to work, support their families. And you also need high-quality early learning child care in order to prepare the future workforce. So you got to have both of them can’t have one without the other.”
Free family program offers development screenings for children
By COLLIN BREAUX November 2, 2023
Parents of young and growing children may wonder if their child is on the autistic spectrum or if they are developing in a healthy way–and looking for assistance resources.
Help Me Grow Northwest Florida is able to provide such screening and referral services. The free and confidential program is available to families in Washington and Holmes counties–as well as Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, and Jackson counties.
Developmental screenings are available for children under nine years old. Parents can complete an online screening and learn more information at ScreeningsHelpMeGrow.org.
“We help families monitor their child’s development,” Help Me Grow Northwest Florida Early Childhood Care Coordination Manager Alyssa Gray said. “If there is a need, we make a referral.”
Screenings allow parents to see where their kids are on the developmental path and monitoring children can help parents see how their young ones are growing, Gray said.
Addressing developmental challenges early is important since much of an individual’s physical and mental formation takes place early, she said. A recent survey of registered voters in Northwest Florida found that 8 in 10 residents agree that developmental screenings are critical to making sure children are on the right developmental path, according to a news release.
A lot of concern is had regarding children being on the autistic spectrum, according to Gray. One of their screenings checks for autism in toddlers.
Several families who have used Help Me Grow have “walked through that journey,” Gray said. One mother in particular has learned to embrace “new parenting models” after learning her child was autistic.
“Some of our greatest success are giving mom and dad peace of mind that their child is developing well,” Gray said.
Help Me Grow is “parent-driven” and does not tell parents what they’re doing is wrong or how to handle their child’s unique needs, she said.
“Working with these families early on can change the trajectory of their child’s development,” Gray said.
The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida wraps up Operation Kaleidoscope
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – When Hurricane Michael devastated the panhandle in 2018, most buildings in its path were damaged or destroyed. Childcare facilities and classrooms were not spared.
Like many places, The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida knows what it was like to rebuild after Hurricane Michael.
So, in 2019, when the nonprofit received a $7.4 million federal childcare development grant, they created “Operation Kaleidoscope”.
“When we applied for the funds, we decided that we wanted to use those that several million dollars for a broad range of services to help child care centers you know, get back get back up and running,” said The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida Administrative Director Matt Bonner.
They spread the money out to more than three dozen damaged daycare centers and hundreds of classrooms across the coalition’s seven-county service area.
$1.3 million buys books, furniture, and other learning tools in 339 different classrooms.
“We were able to use that to replace all of those materials again as well as reimburse providers for either they didn’t have insurance or what insurance wouldn’t cover we were able to reimburse them for their repairs and renovations,” Bonner said.
The rebuilding process from Hurricane Michael was a high-stress time for people of all ages.
The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida spent $2.8 million rebuilding playgrounds at 42 different childcare centers.
Nearly every childcare center that got damaged or was forced to close is back up and running.
Now, that Operation Kaleidoscope is coming to a close, the coalition is planning a new venture called Help-Me-Grow.
“It’s a little bit of everything. It starts with a child screening. So, we have specialists that can go and walk it, walk through with a family. What we use is called the ages and stages questionnaire tool and we just gauge the development of the children,” Bonner said.
The program will measure a child’s development process to make sure they get the help they need as early as possible.
Any childcare facility in need of assistance can contact the coalition.
The hotline number is (850) 747-5400
OPERATION KALEIDOSCOPE FIVE YEARS AFTER HURRICANE MICHAEL
ELCNWF Restores Normalcy to Young Children Through Learning and Play
Panama City, FL – In 2019, the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida (ELCNWF) was awarded and used $7.4 million in disaster recovery funds to assist Hurricane Michael recovery. With this funding, Operation Kaleidoscope was launched by ELCNWF to rebuild childcare indoor and outdoor environments, provide mental health resources, and create growth and expansion opportunities for childcare providers in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, and Washington Counties.
Joyce’s Learning Center is one of many childcare facilities to benefit from Operation Kaleidoscope. The facility was brand-new in October 2018 and ready to welcome staff and children to the facility when they were dealt a crippling blow. “Hurricane Michael hit and everything was destroyed,” said owner Joyce Caldwell. “We had to rebuild everything, inside and outside. The funding we received from ELCNWF made our rebuild possible.”
Like Joyce’s Learning Center, many of the childcare providers in the region suffered damage to their outdoor playgrounds as a result of the storm. Playground equipment, shade structures, and trees were lost, resulting in a loss of outdoor play spaces for children. In December 2022, thanks to Operation Kaleidoscope, the playground at Joyce’s Learning Center reopened, better than ever.
Playgrounds are important for all children, but they’re critically important for children who need to de-stress and work through traumatic events. To meet this need, over $2.85 million has been spent to rebuild playgrounds at childcare centers. New outdoor play structures have been installed at 42 childcare centers in ELCNWF’s service area.
Of equal importance is restoring indoor classroom learning environments. Over $1.35 million was allocated to 339 classrooms that received books, furniture, and other tools to promote learning and over $524K has been disbursed to childcare centers for repair and renovation reimbursements. The funding also increased childcare availability and sustainability by creating additional spaces for children.
“The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida is proud of Operation Kaleidoscope and the sense of normalcy it brought to the children affected by Hurricane Michael in 2018 and then by the pandemic in 2020,” said Executive Director Suzan Gage. “It is vital for children to have spaces where they can bounce back from life’s challenges through safely playing, connecting, and learning. Supporting the mental health needs of children, families, and their caregivers is also a top priority for ELCNWF.”
With this mental health priority in place, a program called Help Me Grow Florida was brought to the Northwest Florida region to offer support and resources for child developmental screenings; and mental health services were expanded to meet the needs of children, parents/caregivers, childcare teachers, and childcare directors. The free screenings benefited over 1,400 children and more than 2,600 hours of therapy was provided.
“This initiative in rebuilding childcare classrooms and playgrounds in Northwest Florida is so important to our recovery,” said Jeanne Hitchcock, ELCNWF Executive Board member and owner of Along the Way Learning Center in Jackson County. “As a parent and Hurricane Michael survivor, I have witnessed first-hand the impact restoring normalcy to classrooms and play areas has on not just children, but entire families.”
For more information on Operation Kaleidoscope or for media availability contact Communications and Development Director, Tami Valdez at (850) 625-8882.
Save $50 on Florida Prepaid Savings Plan!
As your family settles into the first semester of this school year – juggling new routines, afterschool schedules and homework assignments – our partner, the Florida Prepaid College Board, is offering you a $50 incentive to save early for one of your child’s most important academic expenses – college and other postsecondary education.
Florida Prepaid will contribute $50 into new 529 Savings Plan accounts opened between September 5, 2023 and October 29, 2023. A Florida 529 Savings Plan is an investment account that provides a flexible and tax-free way to save for college expenses including tuition, fees, room, board, books, and supplies. A Florida 529 Savings Plan is an increasingly popular college savings vehicle because it offers so many options for how much families can save – and where they use their savings:
- Control. You can save what you want, when you want, and set up automatic payments for as little as $25/month.
- Simplicity. Open your account for free, choose your investment options, and start saving immediately.
- Flexibility. Use for college and qualified K-12 education expenses with tax-free growth.
With a Florida 529 Savings Plan, watch your money grow into a robust college savings fund for your child’s future. Take advantage of this new school year to get a head start on their future college savings.
Bay County officials work to fix childcare shortage
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — The nationwide childcare shortage is affecting Bay County families, but the Bay County Chamber of Commerce is stepping in to help.
“There’s waitlists. I mean, honestly, they’re having trouble finding a space for their child to go every single day,” Education Services Director for the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida Lindsey Holmes said.
Holmes said despite 8 new daycares opening since Hurricane Michael, Some families are still left without a place to send their kids.
“Parents are seeking alternative forms of child care that could be a family member,” Holmes said. “They might be hiring a nanny. I don’t know. But we know that those children don’t have a place to go right now. “
In anticipation of thousands of airmen and their families expected to move to Tyndall in the coming years, the airforce has built a childcare center that can hold up to 300 little ones.
It’s not open yet, but there’s already a waiting list.
“Both military bases leaders said, ‘Hey, we have a problem,” Bay County Chamber of Commerce Chairman Kyle Shoots said. “We need help and we’re there.’ They came to the chamber today. Is this something you guys can help us with?
Shoots said they’re working with both the public and private sectors to help make childcare more available.
“Think when you start dealing with childcare, you start dealing with a lot of different regulations,” Shoots said. “You start dealing with different organizations that monitor and set standards for that. And I think right now our focus is getting the right people to the table to figure out how do we cut that red tape.”
While it’ll take time for these changes to take effect Holmes said there are things parents can do in the meantime.
“Get on all of the wait lists. If they want to go to a childcare center every single day,” Holmes said. “They, they need to get on that list as soon as possible.”
Libraries receives $12,000 for early literacy
July 12, 2023
Featured in:
Notice of Public Meeting: ELCNWF Board of Directors, July 12, 2023
The Board of Directors of ELCNWF will meet on Wednesday, July 12, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. CT
Conference Call
Call-in Number: 1-646-558-8656
Meeting ID: 882 7908 0824
Passcode: 70332401
Purpose: TO REVIEW AND MAKE DECISIONS REGARDING COALITION BUSINESS
For meeting information, please contact Suzan Gage (850) 693-0808