Parents & Partners, TFEC’s early childhood initiative has had a very busy spring and summer is just as exciting! Parents & Partners provides support for the whole family, broadens community resources by giving children and their families the tools they need to be successful, and builds strong partnerships between the community, early learning providers, and schools.
In May, Parents & Partners hosted a Community Day with Hamilton Health Center for families in the capital region to provide information and resources on how to register their children for Kindergarten. The event was fun, entertaining and educational with planned activities to engage children and help develop gross and fine motor skills, social and emotional development, nutrition, creativity, and school readiness. Families enjoyed music and food, in addition to a raffle for two delicious chocolate candy baskets provided by The Hershey Company, a summer fun basket and a school supply basket. In addition, more than 100 school supply tool kits, books, kid’s activity calendars and informational materials about the Early Learning GPS initiative to help parents map their child’s educational milestones were provided!
In July, Parents & Partners held a community conversation with families that have children ages 4 -5 that are not enrolled in any pre-school services to gain information and insight on how we can improve our program to deliver the resources and services they need. Families enjoyed a free meal while child care was provided on site as they participated in the interesting and informational discussion. Families received a VISA gift card and will have the ability to win one of two raffle baskets donated by The Hershey Company! Parents & Partners will use all the great information gathered to coordinate with the Center for Schools and Communities to develop a community asset map that will identify gaps in services so that we can better tailor Parents & Partners to meet families’ needs. Two additional community conversations will be held with early education professionals and parents of kindergarten children.
