Welcome to Pisces season
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As two Pisces in the midst of Pisces season, Liz and I have been feeling particularly attuned to moments of connection and alignment recently.
One example for me came from reading a perspective that EdNC published last week. In her reflection on 100 years of Black History Month, Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith wrote about framing education as “an act of collective care.” I read that phrase after spending a week working on our latest EdExplainer about Early Relational Health (ERH), and it resonated deeply.
ERH is all about the significance of relationships between adults and the infants/toddlers in their care. As the American Academy of Pediatrics explains: “Relationships, especially in the early years, are biological necessities to build a foundation for lifelong growth and development.”
What I keep coming back to as I approach 20 years of working in education — first as a local public high school teacher, and now as an early childhood policy expert — is that there is truly no separation between education and care. Educators care and caregivers educate.
One of the people I spoke to for the EdExplainer on ERH was Kelsey Smith, executive director of the North Carolina Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Association. In our conversation, she noted how strange it is that early childhood educators, the people who teach and care for children from birth to age 4, aren’t compensated on par with the people who teach and care for children ages 5 to 17.
As I’ve written about before — including in EdNC’s book — learning doesn’t start in kindergarten. And so much of what “kindergarten readiness” means is really about social, emotional, and behavioral skills, not academic skills.
Maybe that’s why thinking about education as an act of collective care feels so correct to me.
Or maybe it’s just Pisces season.
Either way, check out our latest articles on early care and learning, plus the news and research that’s on our radar.
More from EdNC on early childhood
EdExplainer | Early Relational Health and its connection to child care
If you’ve attended a conference or training related to infants and toddlers in the last few years, you’ve likely heard someone use the term Early Relational Health (ERH). “Early Relational Health is the state of emotional well-being that grows for...State task force visits child care center at Davidson-Davie Community College: 'We need to duplicate that on every campus'
Editor’s note: EdNC’s Alli Lindenberg Semon contributed reporting to this article. The child care center at Davidson-Davie Community College (Davidson-Davie) helps student parents stay in school, attracts faculty to the college, and provides hands-on learning to prospective teachers, college administrators...Check out this resource to help families prepare students for kindergarten
As families across the state navigate the kindergarten registration process, EdNC is sharing the Office of Early Learning’s (OEL) at North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) guide designed to help parents and caregivers support kindergarten readiness. The “Let’s Get...The big picture for little kids
News & Research
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National Child Care Finder Scale - From The Hunt Institute
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From Pilot to Policy: Lessons Learned from Five Tri-Share Models - From Buffett Early Childhood Institute
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The False Divide Between “Working” and “Stay-at-Home” Parents - From Capita
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Adverse Childhood Experiences Remain Stable, With Modest Declines Since the COVID-19 Pandemic - From Child Trends
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Babies Born During COVID Are Now in Kindergarten. Here’s What Educators Are Learning - From The 74 Million
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A Bizarro World for Infants and Toddlers and Their Teachers: Revised and Updated - From Center for the Study of Child Care Employment
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The History of Child Care Policies: Implications for Equitable Implementation - From Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center
Taking flight! Opportunities to spread your wings
Central Carolina Community College's Child Care Academy - From Central Carolina Community College
The college will be offering Intro to Early Education as a free, eight-week evening course starting in mid-March. The classes will be held at CCCC’s Siler City Center in Chatham County and Lee Main Campus in Sanford (where free evening child care is available), as well as at the Harnett County Partnership for Children in Harnett County.
Lee Main Campus and Siler City Center
Classes begin Thursday, March 12
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Harnett County Partnership for Children
Classes begin Tuesday, March 17.
Tuesdays, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Those who are interested in enrolling should call 919-718-7500 to register.
Thrive From the Start: Coming Together to Address Infant & Toddler Homelessness - From Thrive from the Start
Webinar: March 5, 2:00 p.m.
From the organizers: Thrive From the Start is comprised of leading organizations across the early childhood, housing, and homelessness systems dedicated to ensuring all expectant parents, infants, toddlers, and their families have the resources and opportunities to thrive. When families have safe, stable housing, safe shelter when they need it, access to high-quality early childhood development programs, and other supports that meet their needs, young children have a strong foundation to grow. Join us to learn more about the Thrive From the Start network in a one-hour introductory webinar that will cover what the network is all about and provide concrete steps for how you can engage in this work.
