Valley Impact

JLP Now Accepting Collaborative Partnership Applications

The Junior League of Phoenix is looking for collaborative partnerships to address family literacy and improve the quality of early childhood education opportunities. As I posted in Arizona's Risk: The Early Childhood Education Challenges, Arizona is struggling to successfully prepare our children for school readiness.  In a study by Children's Action Alliance, kindergarten teachers in Arizona reported that 48% of all children entering school do not have essential skills to succeed. The Junior League of Phoenix is focused on preparing children for kindergarten.

Since the initiation last year of our focused impact area of Early Childhood Education, we have identified the critical needs that we believe the JLP can effectively address in partnership with other local community agencies.  Our success in creating, launching and strengthening programs is based on positive collaborations with our community partners.  JLP can provide committed trained volunteers and funding to help a program move forward successfully while offering our members the opportunity to impact the community and improve their leadership skills. 

We are accepting applications up to 4pm (Pacific) on September 10th, 2008.  You can download the application at jlp.org.  Together- we CAN make a difference!

Early Literacy Does Not Mean Early Reading

Family Literacy, is a core area The Junior League of  Phoenix is addressing as we prepare children successfully to start school.  When I talk to people about our focus on early childhood education and literacy, I immediately get asked how are we going to approach getting kids to read by kindergarten.  Big aha moment!  Early Literacy doesn't mean you children need to be reading A Tale of Two Cities front and back.  Early literacy does not mean early reading.  So what literacy behaviors or "skills" should your pre-Kindergarten age children have to be prepared for school?

According to the NAYEC, there are four main behaviors to look for:  Book Handling; Looking and Recognizing; Picture and Story Comprehension; and Story Reading. 

Book Handling:  Do you continuously keep your infant from chewing on a book?  Stop and reconsider.  Infants physical manipulation of books which includes everything from turning pages, throwing and retrieving; and chewing pages are all positive behaviors.  This is the first step towards a love for books and reading.

Looking and Recognizing:  Infants and toddler should be able to recognize and point out pictures and images they enjoy from their favorite books.  My 18 month old loves Caterpillar Spring, Butterfly Summer.  I barely get the chance to read all the words on the page.  He turns the pages, points to the birds; pats the Caterpillar and then "oohs" and "ahhs" the butterfly that pops out on the last page.  We have to "read" the book every single night.

Picture and Story Comprehension: Toddlers should start to show some understanding of the book's story line.  My 3 year old tells me the story in "parallel".  Recently we have been reading Ain't Gonna Paint No More.  I read the beginning of the page, "I found some red so I'll paint my..." and he finishes the sentence by looking at the picture and shouting "head!!".  He doesn't know what the words are yet, but he definitely gets the story associated with the pictures. 

Story-Reading Behaviors: As a pre-school child nears kindergarten, there should be increased verbal interactions with books including imitation of reading and even running fingers along printed words.  These behaviors say they are ready to enter school to begin to read.

So how do you instill early literacy? 

Pick books that are geared toward the age of your child.  Make reading a part of your daily routine.  Read a short book before nap or bedtime.  Give them a book to read in the car while running errands.  Here are a few suggestions below:

1. For the book chewing 0-12 month old, choose cloth, soft vinyl  or stiff board books with simple pictures, familiar objects (balls, kitty) and bright colors.
2. The 1-2 year old likes books with children doing activities they like to do (i.e. playing, bathing, sleeping).  They also love simple rhymes (i.e. Brown Bear, Brown Bear; Dr. Seuss).  Give them books with animals and sturdy books they can tote around with them.
3. Preschoolers adore books with their favorite characters (Dora; Backyardigans; Mickey Mouse); books they can memorize (i.e. Ain't Gonna Paint No More); animal and vehicle books; beginning counting, alphabet, shapes and colors.

For all you parents out there, take a deep breath and save Steinbeck for a few years down the road.  Make age appropriate books available to your children and read together daily.  For those who don't have "little people" running around, give the gift of literacy. Donate books to early literacy programs and change out your standard birthday "toy" gift for a book instead.  Simple efforts can set the stage for early literacy and successful readiness for entering school. 

One Journey Ends While Another Begins

Back in 1986, The Junior League of Phoenix helped bring Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) to Maricopa Couonty.  The JLP recognized the growing problem of child abuse with a gap in advocacy for the best of interests of children in the juvenile court system.  A CASA is appointed by the judge, assigned to a case, and usually is the one constant throughout the child or children's life while they are "in the system".  For some children, that spans most of their childhood.  Research findings show that children who have been assigned CASAs tend to spend less time in the foster care system and receive more services than those who do not have CASA representation.  Judges have also observed that children with CASAs also have a better chance of finding a permanent home.

I became a CASA during the spring quarter of my senior year in college.  I trained and began my CASA "career" in Columbus, Ohio and have served as an advocate for children across four states and sixteen years.  I received my current case when I moved to Phoenix, seven years ago.  I was assigned four older children; all living in different foster homes or shelters across the valley and victims of physical and emotional abuse. I had challenging cases prior to this one, however this particular one was grueling due to the children's various locations; lack of permancy; educational & emotional challenges and the mere fact that they were older youth (usually means no hope for adoption).  In May, the youngest of the four children graduated from high school.  Next week, this child turns 18 and exits out of the system.  I feel proud.  Not of me- but of all of them.  They faced challenges early in life that most of us cannot even imagine.  All the while, they held out hope for a future and a different life.  The "system" isn't an easy place to be in, let alone being a child.  I know that I made a difference in their lives - they tell me that.  But I think they and my other CASA children made more of an impact on me, then I on them.  They have showed me that life is not so much about what happens to you, but what you do with what happens.

While my journey with this case and the child's journey in foster care comes to an end, another journey will begin.  That journey is for that child, once a victim of abuse, to rise out of childhood as an adult ready for success in the world.  This journey can be very tough for older youth aging out and typically on their own.  But I know that my foster children will shine.  Why?  Because they had a CASA that fought for their future; advocated for their best interests and never left them for the entire time they were in care.  What once started as a JLP program back in the mid '80's is now leaving an impact on hundreds of children in Maricopa County.

Littlest Critics Give Thumbs Up to Children's Museum

Today was the grand opening of the Children's Museum of Phoenix.  I took two of my toughest & smallest critics (my 16 month and 3 year old boys) to the ribbon cutting for a test drive.  The verdict?  It blew my kids away.  My three year said "It was fun!!"....even the birthday party with the petting zoo didn't get as enthusiastic of a post event review.

The museum is 70,000 square feet housed in the former historic Monroe school.  Fifty thousand square feet opened today, with the remainder scheduled to open by the end of the year. It has three floors and is filled with sensory, hands-on, educational fun.  My little guys first visited a giant "forest" of foam tubes hanging from the ceiling. They had fun getting engulfed and running through the tubes.  We next went over to a reading and crawling corner.  I love the little nook filled with books, bean bags, pillows and chairs for spontaneous reading. 

We next ventured to the third floor where we found the cooking stations.  The kids were very engaged in the pizza making.  My oldest spent time selecting his toppings, rolling out the dough and taking care to put the pizza in the brick oven to cook.  My youngest spent the majority of the time, decorating his head with the pizza makings.  None of the staff even blinked an eye...in fact, they encouraged his creativity by handing him more. Both kids then proceeded to the shopping center where they scooped and poured lentils into various buckets.  I couldn't peel my youngest away.  I even transplated him a few yards away and he made his way back to the lentil scooping...several times! Lastly my three year old checked out shoppers with their baskets of groceries.   You can shop for fruit, vegetables and canned goods with kid sized shopping carts.

Next door, my little guy was enthralled by the toddler area with flowers to "plant", another reading nook with books such as Brown Bear, Brown Bear and a small pit of balls. There also were play houses and baby dolls to care for too.

One of our last stops was the atrium.  It is a large area with a myriad of tunnels to crawl through and around.  Flickers of light reflected off the cd wall and placed "dancing" dots on the floor for kids to chase.

On top of the large selection of engaging activities for children , the museum is very kid and parent friendly.  There are "parking spots" for strollers; bathrooms with little people sinks and toilets; diaper changing stations with wipes and a diaper genie.  There is even a gift shop with educational and high-quality toys.

Overall, my little critics give it a big thumbs up.  After witnessing our kids occupied for 2 hours straight, then falling quickly asleep in the car, my husband and I said "where do we sign-up?"  We became charter members and plan to come back often.  It is a great way to get out of the Phoenix heat during the summer and keep kids engaged for hours on end.  I am proud to say that the museum has propelled Phoenix ahead by providing robust early education opportunities for it's youngest citizens. 

Note:  To see more pictures, check out the Children's Museum photo album.  Read more information on how the Junior League of Phoenix is supporting the museum as a core program here.  Coming soon - early childhood educational programming in the museum's "The Junior League of Phoenix classroom". 

New Home Needed for Arizonans for Children

I have personally worked with Arizonans for Children for almost seven years.  As a Court Appointed Special Advocate (C.A.S.A.) and member of The Junior League of Phoenix, I have had many opportunities to leverage and work with their awesome services they provide foster children.  I was dismayed to recently learn that they are losing one of their main homes in Historic First Church on June 30th.  This will substantially disrupt valuable services to kids in need.  They currently serve 1,900 people a month in this facility!

Arizonans for Children is a nonprofit committed to improving the fragile lives of foster children by providing opportunities to help them break out of the cycle of abuse and poverty.  In the words of Kaye McCarthy, "we focus on providing a safe, comfortable and neutral environment specifically designated for supervised visitations with non-custodial parents and other family.  We also work to develop and offer innovate programs which help foster youth improve academic success, develop self esteem and life skills, and make a successful transition to independent adulthood."  One of the valuable programs is Life Books, which the Junior League is actively supporting as a core program call Journey of Me. 

What kind of home do they need? They need at least 5,000 square feet to set -up in a home-like safe cozy space.  They currently have a game room with pool tables, living room settings, toddler room, nursery, kitchen, outdoor play ground and parking.  If you know of a school, charter school, church or some other facility that is willing and able to house these services, please give a shout out on this blog or contact Kaye directly at 480-838-0085 or kayemccar@cox.net.

Building Our Youth for the Future

As I referenced in Arizona's Risk: The Early Childhood Education Challenges, the challenges that make up Early Childhood Education and Development are immense.  Over the last year, the Junior League of Phoenix had to decide where we were going to jump in without boiling the ocean or diverging too far from our mission.  We wanted to stay away from quick fixes, yet at the same time find opportunities that weren't bogged down in legislative or policy issues.  We wanted to make an immediate impact.  We have finalized where we are heading over the next fiscal year (May '08-April '09).  I wanted to share the path we are embarking down.

What is our Impact?  We are preparing children to successfully enter kindergarten

How will we do this?  By focusing on improving the quality of early education programs and addressing family literacy

How is the League impacting Early Childhood Education today?  By engaging the minds, muscles and imaginations of children as a founding member of Phoenix's first children's museum - Children's Museum of Phoenix; and by facilitating high quality educational opportunities for low-income families at Phoenix Day, a child learning center.

Where are we looking to expand our programming?

• Increase the use of curriculum based programming in early education centers
• Provide teacher/center director with skills training & resources
• Raise public awareness of what children need to be ready for kindergarten
• Increase parental involvement in educational opportunities
• Improve the quantity and quality of reading with parents at home

In the very near future we will ready a Request for Proposal (RFP) to send out to potential collaborative, resource and financial partners to develop and launch future programming with us.  In the meantime, I welcome any feedback on the areas we have carved out for our focused efforts.   I also welcome any potential partners beginning conversations around where we can join forces.  As Franklin D. Roosevelt said best, "We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future."  I look forward to building our youth together.

Celebrate: Week of the Young Child

April 13th-19th is the official Week of the Young Child. It is sponsored by the National Association for the Educatoin of Young Children (NAEYC).  This is an important week for us to take time to reflect on the state of early childhood education and development.  Research has proven that children who attend quality early education programs enjoy a better quality of life, more likely to graduate high school, attend a 4 year college, hold down higher paying jobs and avoid a life of crime.  What can you do to celebrate the young child and make a difference?

*  Support Literacy in Young Children and families:  Donate books to Southwest Human Development's Reach Out and Read program or better yet, volunteer your time to read for the program.

* Voice your input to your elected officials:  Children's Action Alliance makes it easy for you.  There is a website that tracks legislation that impacts children and allows you to send a note.

* Partner, volunteer or support The Junior League of Phoenix.  You can have a direct impact together with an organization of trained volunteers dedicated to improving the Phoenix community for the past 72 years.

What ways are you celebrating?

Arizona's Risk: The Early Education Challenges

Research shows that from 0 to age 6 is the most important time in a child’s development.    If care and feeding of the child’s development does not occur, then children are at a higher risk for needing remedial reading and delinquent behavior.  The potential future ramifications will be a burden on all citizens of Arizona. Studies have shown that the future issues can cost Arizona taxpayers and impact our economic future.  For every $1 invested in early childhood education, Arizona will save $6 - $17 in future costs. 

Currently Arizona ranks 36^th in overall child well being out of 50 states (Source: Children’s Action Alliance). Arizona kindergarten teachers report that 48% of all children entering school do not have essential skills to succeed (Source: Children’s Action Alliance).  What are the gaps? 

Lack of affordable & accessible healthcare

Currently there are 250,000 children who are uninsured living in Arizona.  Arizona has the highest rate of uninsured children (source: Children’s Action Alliance).  The Pew Charitable Trust notes that it is important for care to begin in the womb.  Prenatal care plus early health care implemented in conjunction with pre-k programs is essential for successfully development of young brains.

Lack of high quality early education opportunities

Only 17% of child care centers in Arizona are NAEYC accredited (Source: AZ Early Education Funds).  This means that high-quality early education opportunities aren’t widely accessible.  In addition, there is limited access to state funded pre-school programs.  Arizona only has 1-9% of four year old children in state funded school programs (Source: Pew Charitable Trust).  Adding to the low availability of high-quality early education is the growing challenge associated with the ability to draw and retain early education teachers and staff that have a strong educational and training background.  Arizona’s early education industry provides little incentive for teachers to remain in the field.  Successfully early education programs adhere to high standards of quality (i.e. accreditation) and employee teachers with bachelor’s degrees with training in early education.

Low levels of Family Literacy

Quality early education and development requires that children are exposed to extensive vocabularies, reading, writing and counting.  This is severely limited if within the family unit, there are low levels of literacy.  In Maricopa County’s Community Vital Signs Report it was highlighted that in particular, Latino children at a higher disadvantage.  Latino children in the greater metropolitan area have a high percentage of parents who have not completed more than 9^th grade and English is not the primary language. Avondale, Buckeye, El Mirage, Gila Bend, Guadalupe, Phoenix, Queen Creek and the Gila River & Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian communities are the most at risk communities. 

What the Junior League of Phoenix is doing

The Junior League of Phoenix has adopted Early Childhood Education as our new focus area.  We are working with community leaders to solidfy program areas we would like to invest within.  In future posts I will be outlining where the Junior League will make an impact.  I would love to hear your thoughts in the state of Early Childhood Education and what can be done to make a difference.  The jlp website has more information too.