2012
Funding Priority: Promoting Early Learning & Intervention
The
Issue:
Many Knox County residents undervalue the importance
early learning has in the life of a child. Babies
are born learning and this learning occurs during
the children's interactions with caregivers in everyday
experiences, and can be facilitated through responsive
care giving, extending children's language, and
promoting early literacy. Parents and caregivers
can build their child's early learning foundation
as part of everyday life. Simple everyday activities
like talking with the child, singing songs while
driving in the car, counting the number of cans
that are being placed into the grocery cart, and
interactively reading stories as part of the bedtime
routine will help the child become interested and
engaged in learning.
The
following factors are significant in the importance
of community awareness, education and intervention
strategies:
For every $1 spent on early intervention, a community
saves more than $17 in future intervention costs.
Some
46% of American kindergarteners are coming to school
at risk for failure, according to the US Department
of Education.
Knox
County low-income parents report not being able
to find child care that is both quality care and
affordable care.
Strategies:
Investments can be made in the following areas to increase promotion of early learning and intervention:
Increase community awareness of the importance of early learning through the Born Learning campaign;
Increase competence of local child care providers in supporting healthy social-emotional development;
Increase the number of resources and services for children and primary caregivers with social-emotional problems in Knox County;
Increase training opportunities in Knox County for child care providers and parents on social-emotional well-being;
Improve social-emotional well-being of young children and their primary caregivers;
Improve child care quality for infants and toddlers;
Improve school readiness skill levels of 3- to 5-year olds.
