Why Support Quality Early Care and Education? Purposeful play builds lifelong skills. And communities, too. Trusting relationships, safe environments, learning opportunities, healthy growth and wellbeing. The care and learning opportunities our children receive between birth and age five shape their growing brains. And that can impact how they’ll learn, grow, and connect with others — everywhere they live, work, and play — for the rest of their lives. Purposeful Play Fact Sheet Download the Fact Sheet Links to Learn More Why child’s play is serious business in early education Play Promotes Early Development: It’s Time for Play! 5 Ways to Play... News You Can Use: Play Studies point to more play for young children Now you know the purposeful playtime we spend with kids today can shape our community for years to come. So, what can you do? Support quality early care and education where you live by working with your whole community to help our kids start strong in every way. See how strong early care and education impacts you To start strong, Wisconsin’s children need all of us. And our communities need them, too. Young children who get high-quality learning opportunities and caring attention from parents and other adults build a foundation of social, emotional, physical, and mental health that can last a lifetime. As adults, they’ll share those skills with their family, neighbors, and communities. For Families The whole family thrives when they have a supportive network of early care and education professionals who can help nurture safe, healthy, and social kids. For Educators Quality early care and education sets the stage for classroom success at every grade level by preparing children to learn, handle emotions, and interact with others. For Employers Building tomorrow’s workforce while giving employees the support they need to excel on the job and at parenting pays off for employers. For Health Care Providers Early care and education can improve a child’s access to services they need and helps kids build good habits as a foundation for healthy minds and bodies. For Social Service Professionals Early guidance from caring adults helps ensure children thrive in safe and stable environments and learn to build healthy relationships with others. What Can You Do? Make their first five years great. Check out these simple tips for supporting early care and education in your community. Share them with family and friends with just a click. Remember, everyone can make a difference. Early care and education needs our help right now. Let’s all email a teacher or program director to ask what we can do! Quality early childhood education is really important to me. I’ll tell you why in the comments. What are the family support services in your community? Share a story about all the ways they help below. Discuss: How does your employer support parents and families? Are they interested in supporting a local early care and education program? Today I’m going to donate time, money, or supplies to a local program for children and families. Will you join me? I support community leaders who invest in early care and education initiatives. I can help build a network of caring, knowledgeable support around the kids in my life. Early care and education teachers: what topics are you most interested in learning more about to support children and families? Stories of Support Find out why early care professionals and others from every corner of Wisconsin are doing their part to support children, families, and educators. Inspired? Use #strongece to tell us what quality early care and education means to you. Follow DCF on Facebook Follow DCF on Twitter Follow DCF on Pinterest What does #strongECE look like? It’s calm, loving, playful, interesting, sometimes noisy and silly, but always safe. It’s all about trusting relationships: child to teacher, teacher to family. And building a #strongfoundation for the future and #strongcommunities, too. When the pandemic hit, it became so obvious that working without school or child care was nearly impossible. So many of us struggled to balance everything and are still uncertain. We need businesses, non-profits, philanthropists to come together to maintain #strongECE across WI! I’m fortunate to work for a very supportive employer where many teammates have young children. I can’t imagine what it’s like to work inflexible jobs without reliable early care and education. Or worse, to not trust that your kids are safe and happy. #strongECE is everything! Resources Free Materials for Caregivers, Child Care Providers and Others Wisconsin Child Care Resources and Organizations Early Childhood Programs and Initiatives for Wisconsin Families and Students Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners The Wisconsin Child Care Information Center Library Wisconsin’s Preschool Development Grant Downloads Tips for Supporting the Mental Health of Our Children Download the Flyer Early Care and Education: How Business Leaders Can Help Download the Fact Sheet Understanding Wisconsin’s Preschool Development Grant Download the Flyer Acknowledge an Early Care Educator Thank an early care educator today! Use this simple form to send a note of thanks to your child care educator or an early care educator who inspired you. Thank a Provider Explore Wisconsin ECE Programs We are proud to collaborate with the following organizations and initiatives for the good of Wisconsin's kids. WI Department of Public Instruction Education for Homeless Children and Youth Wisconsin Head Start Association YoungStar Child Care Quality Rating and Improvement System Wisconsin Shares Child Care Subsidy Program Family Foundations Home Visiting Program Wisconsin Office of Children’s Mental Health Wisconsin Alliance for Infant Mental Health Mental Health Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Board Supporting Families Together Association Birth to 3 Program Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) supplemental nutrition program Medicaid Programs for Children, including BadgerCare Plus Wisconsin Early Childhood Association Wisconsin Registry ECE careers resources Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners Follow our progress We're working with early care and education stakeholders and Preschool Development Grant partners across Wisconsin to increase quality, build networks of support, and empower children, families, and educators. 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