Parents - Support Pennsylvania's Promise for Children

As a parent, you are already an advocate for your child. Use that passion and power to advocate for all young children!

Here are some ways that you can support Pennsylvania's Promise for Children:

1. Sign our declaration to support Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children.
2. Learn more about why early learning is so important to a child’s future success in school and in life.
3. You are your child's first teacher. Learn how you can help your child grow in mind, body, and spirit.
4. Choose quality early learning programs for your child.
5. Ask questions of those who are providing early learning to your child.
6. Become a messenger - Educate your friends, family and colleagues.
7. Contact your legislators and let them know you care about quality early learning for Pennsylvania’s young children.
8. Become a public voice for quality early learning.

Help your child's early learning and development everyday

Here are some materials that help you make every moment with your child a fun learning experience:

• Kindergarten Here I Come! Activity Guide for parents of three and four year olds to get them ready academically and emotionally for kindergarten. The activities are based on the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards. You can download a copy online or request a hard copy for you and your friends!
• PNC’s Grow Up Great campaign provides more ways to make everyday moments a learning opportunity.
• The United Way of America has created Born Learning materials for parents and teachers, in English and Spanish.
• Zero to Three has “The Magic of Everyday Moments” Guide for children from birth to 36 months. Free registration to the website is required.

Choose quality early learning programs for your child

• Look for a Keystone STARS early childhood program. Keystone STARS stands for Standards, Training, Assistance, Resources, and Support, is a voluntary continuous quality improvement initiative for child care and Head Start programs. Child care programs may enter at the Start with STARS level and earn STAR 1 through STAR 4 ratings. You can find out the STAR rating of a child care program at www.pakeys.org/stars/centers.aspx.
• Learn more about Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts. Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts provides free full-day and half-day quality pre-kindergarten to children at risk of school failure. You should find out about enrolling your child the spring before school starts.

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Ask questions of those who are providing early learning and care to your child

You have a right to ask your child care program, schools, and after school programs what they are doing to make sure your child gets the quality early learning experience he deserves. Here are some questions you can ask:

1. Are you participating in Keystone STARS? If not, why not? You can get information and enrollment forms at http://www.pakeys.org/.
2. What is the educational background of your lead teachers?
3. What is your staff-child ratio?
4. How do you make sure that you are providing activities that are appropriate for my child’s development?
5. What sort of curriculum do you use?
6. How do you keep parents informed of their child’s progress?
7. How can you help parents be better teachers for their child? Gain access to other services, such as nutritional, health, etc?
8. How are you working with the local school districts/ child care programs to make sure that my child’s transition to kindergarten is a smooth one?
9. (for child care programs) Are you sponsoring any teachers to earn college degrees through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood PENNSYLVANIA Scholarship program?
10. (for after-school programs) How do you coordinate my child’s after school activities with what they are learning during the day?

Become a messenger - Educate your friends, family and colleagues

Think about ways to talk to your friends, family and colleagues about the importance of quality early learning opportunities for every child. Ask them to sign on to support Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children. Develop a short explanation in your own words of how quality early learning is vital to a child’s development and success in school, work and life.

Here’s an example:

All children need to learn and develop skills necessary to grow up healthy and strong. Research has taught us that the earliest years of childhood are critically important to children’s long term development. When children are thriving, their parents can provide for and support a more stable family. A solid workforce fuels economic growth across the state.

Quality early learning can open the doors of opportunity for every child to do well in school, in the workforce, and in life. It's our responsibility as good citizens to help all of our young children receive the quality early learning opportunities that they deserve.

You can also share your story online and tell your story to your state legislators.

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Contact your legislators and let them know you care about quality early learning for Pennsylvania’s young children

• Learn more about your legislators on the PA General Assembly website at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/. On the upper right side you can enter your zip code to find your legislators, then access their pages on this site and links to their own websites.
• Write a letter, telling them your story and how quality early learning has benefited you, your child and your family. Send them quick notes celebrating your child's milestones, such as when your child graduates from preschool. Learn more about how to tell your story.
• Visit your legislators. You can go alone, bring a friend, or link up with your county’s Community Engagement Group and go with them.

You can access contact information for your state legislators at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/.

Become a public voice for quality early learning

Everyone wants to hear from parents. Legislators, businesses, and community organizations look to parents and the general public to gauge the importance of an issue. You can be the voice for many parents and their children. Make yourself available to speak at public functions, to be interviewed by media, to sign letters to the editor and Op-eds for the newspaper. Your community engagement group can help you become that public voice.

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