The Commission will not meet in October.

Saturday, October 7, 2006
Young Children’s Issues Forum
 
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Diablo Valley College Diablo Room
A panel of elected officials, including Supervisors Mark DeSaulnier and John Gioia, and Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, will discuss preschool issues, before and after school programs, and child nutrition and obesity. For more information, contact Ruth Fernandez at (925) 942-3413 or click here.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Program and Evaluation Committee
 
1:30 p.m.
1340 Arnold Dr., Suite 125, Conference Room, Martinez

Saturday, October 14, 2006
Super Saturday Family Fest
 
11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Richmond Civic Center
2600 Barrett Avenue
First 5 Contra Costa’s West County Regional Group is hosting its fifth annual Super Saturday,
a free fun-filled event that offers valuable information for parents on health and safety, parenting, finding child care, nutrition and more. Free children’s activities include arts and crafts, a petting zoo, prizes, children’s entertainment, face painting, a jumpee structure, carnival games, and storytelling.

Monday, October 16, 2006
Executive Committee
 
9:00 a.m.
1340 Arnold Dr., Suite 125, Conference Room, Martinez

Monday, November 6, 2006
Fourth Annual Volunteer & Grantee Celebration
 
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Pleasant Hill Community Center

Childhood Matters schedule
 
Tune in to Childhood Matters Sundays from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on 98.1 KISS-FM
for parenting information and advice. Visit
www.childhoodmatters.org
to learn more and listen to past shows.

10/1/06:
Getting Ready for a Baby

10/8/06:
Your Preteen’s Desire for Independence

10/15/06:
Domestic Violence Hurts the Whole Family

10/22/06:
Protecting Children from Lead Poisoning and Other Toxins

10/29/06:
Children of Privilege

Nuestros Niños Topics
 
Childhood Matters’ Spanish-language counterpart, Nuestros Niños, airs every Sunday at 8:00 a.m. on KLOK Cumbia 1170 AM and KBBF, La Nuestra 89.1 FM.

10/1/06:
Preteen Nuestros Niños are Growing More Independent: Struggles, Successes, Risks and Remedies

10/8/06:
Lead, Gases, and Poisons: Keeping Nuestros Niños and Our Homes Healthy and Free of Toxic Substances

10/15/06:
Grandmothers and Grandfathers Raise, Care for, and Contribute to the Development of Nuestros Niños

10/22/06:
Understanding and Inclusion for Nuestros Niños with Down Syndrome

10/29/06:
Nuestros Niños Celebrate Traditions from There and from Here: Ideas for a Meaningful Día de los Muertos and a Safe Halloween

There was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle last week called “Kindergarten Prep: The academic push – how early is too early?” about parents enrolling their four-year-olds in fee-based tutoring programs and drilling their 15-month-olds with ABC videos.

While I agree that kindergarten preparation does start early, it doesn’t start with rigorous academic tutoring programs for preschoolers. It starts with parents and caregivers talking, playing, and reading with children from birth. That's because the most important task of the early years is to prepare children for life, not just school.

Parents who expect their child to know how to read and write before kindergarten are emphasizing the wrong skills at the wrong time. Children are prepared for school when they are socially and emotionally ready. Knowing how to make friends, share and take turns, and follow directions is much more important to kindergarten teachers than starting school knowing how to read.

Parents – who are their child’s first and most important teachers – can help build these important skills by joining playgroups, reading with their child daily, and telling stories and drawing pictures together. These activities are a much more effective and enjoyable way for parents and children to spend time together and prepare for school – and they don’t cost $100 per month.

Click here for more information and tips to prepare children for kindergarten.

- Sean Casey, Executive Director

• Click here to find the October program calendars for the Antioch, Delta and West County First 5 Centers.
  
  
• Looking for a home visiting program? Click here to download Contra Costa’s new home visiting resource directory.
  
  
• October is Healthy Babies Month. Click here for tips to help parents welcome their new addition to the family home.
  
  
• Don’t miss First 5 Contra Costa’s fourth annual Volunteer and Grantee Celebration on November 6, 2006 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Pleasant Hill Community Center. Join us as we say “thank you” to our dedicated volunteers and grantees. Limited child care is available so please RSVP to (925) 335-9991.

Our evaluators recently conducted a phone survey of more than 200 families living in communities where we fund programs such as First 5 Centers, the School Readiness Initiative, and home visiting services. The purpose of the community survey was to assess the level of participation in First 5-funded programs as well as identify community concerns and needs. The following are some findings from the survey:

Antioch
The vast majority of parents rated their neighborhood as a good or excellent place to raise young children. The top concerns of surveyed parents were the need for more community activities, preschool subsidies, and recreation activities and parks.

Bay Point/Pittsburg
About half of the parents surveyed rated their neighborhood as safe and identified community needs as reduced crime, improved traffic safety, more classes in English and Spanish, and more playgrounds.

Brentwood (Delta)
Nearly all of the parents surveyed stated that their neighborhood was an excellent place to raise young children. Parents stated that they would like to get to know their neighbors better and would like to see more playgroups for young children.

Monument Community (Concord)
Half of the parents rated their neighborhood as being safe. Nearly 30 percent do not know where to get help for their family. Parents are concerned about gang activity and would like to see more parenting classes, ways for parents to meet each other, and improved public transportation.

West County
53% of parents stated that their neighborhood was a good place to raise young children. Most of the parents had not taken their child to a public library or participated in a playgroup in the last three months. Parents identified less violence, cleaner streets, and the need for more parenting classes as concerns.

Eleven child care providers are among the first to enroll in California State University East Bay’s new bachelor’s degree in Human Development with an early childhood education option, which focuses on children birth to 8 years old. This degree is the first four-year degree in Early Childhood Development to be offered by a public university in Contra Costa County.

The 11 providers enrolled are also eligible to receive a scholarship up to $1,000 to complete coursework. First 5 Contra Costa provided a $75,000 grant to fund the creation of the degree and provides funding to pay for the scholarships.

For family child care provider Jacqueline Jackson, enrolling in Cal State is a dream fifteen years in the making. Jackson received her associate degree years ago and had always planned to earn a bachelor’s degree, but working twelve-hour days and raising a family of her own left her very little time to continue her education.

“When I learned about the scholarship and new bachelor’s program, I said to myself ‘I can do this now,’” said Jackson. “The new programs funded by First 5 are removing barriers that have prevented providers from advancing our education and training. When providers are more educated, they raise the quality of care for the kids.”

For more information, contact Dr. Jiansheng Guo, Cal State East Bay Early Childhood Development Program Coordinator: (510) 885-3599.

By now you’ve probably seen our Tigo early learning kit, full of a fun, engaging activities that help parents to bond with their children and promote a range of school readiness skills.

We’re nearly finished creating a new parent education DVD, which like Tigo, promotes the importance of parents reading, talking, and playing with their young children. The bilingual DVD, available in English and Spanish, is only 13 minutes long, “stars” local parents and children, and models everyday activities parents can do to stimulate their child’s learning and prepare them for school.

Copies of the DVD will soon be available for distribution. If you are interested in distributing this free resource, please contact First 5 Contra Costa: (925) 335-9991 ext. 13.

Volunteers are needed to help local working families and individuals file taxes, claim credits and build their assets! You do not need experience to volunteer. Training will be provided. To volunteer or find out more, click here.

This program is part of the Earn It! Keep It! Save It! Contra Costa campaign, which helps low-income workers claim tax credits and refunds. The campaign is sponsored by the Family Economic Security Partnership, which includes Contra Costa Health Services, Employment and Human Services, United Way of the Bay Area, First 5 Contra Costa, IRS and several foundations.

"A Place of Our Own" and "Los Niños en Su Casa," the bilingual KCET series co-sponsored by First 5 California and First 5 LA, will be offered to 354 PBS member stations nationwide, beginning with the third-season launch in 2007. The programs air daily on KQED starting at 5:00 a.m.

The Emmy and Peabody award-winning English and Spanish-language programs are aimed at parents and caregivers who want to help young children develop social, emotional, and cognitive skills. The programs target early learning by addressing pre-literacy skills and early math recognition and early science and diversity appreciation. They are accompanied by extensive bilingual websites and hands-on workshops: www.aplaceofourown.org or www.losninosensucasa.org.

Sierra’s grandma called the Contra Costa Child Care Council right away when she learned that three-year-old Sierra had been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Sierra was already in preschool, but the current preschool felt inadequate to care for her due to lack of training. An Inclusion Facilitator then called the preschool’s director who eagerly agreed to work with the Facilitator.

The Contra Costa Child Care Council’s Inclusion Program helps to make typical child care more accessible for children with special needs. Inclusion Facilitators are available to provide one-on-one support and offer providers useful tips, technical assistance or special adaptive equipment to help children with special needs thrive in child care. Facilitators work with children up to three times each week for several months. The program is funded by a First 5 Contra Costa Early Childhood Education grant.

In Sierra’s case, the Facilitator arranged for an RN/ Diabetes Educator from the Diabetes Foundation to train the current preschool staff to accommodate Sierra. Sixteen of the preschool staff attended the training where they learned how to perform blood glucose monitoring, provide Glucagons shots, keep diabetes logs and maintain rapport with the family.

Sierra’s family, who supplied dinner for the attendees, were in tears by the end of the training and grateful for the support. Her grandmother said, “The Inclusion Program has been the best thing that has happened since we received the news from the pediatrician about our little girl. Without this training, our little girl would not be able to continue to attend the preschool program with her friends.”

Last year, Inclusion Facilitators worked with 80 children with special needs in child care settings, providing over 1,250 hours of direct classroom assistance and observation.

For more information, contact Ange Burnett (925) 676-5442 ext. 3113.