The artistic creations of Head Start students of the Monterey County Office of Education are now on display. "Little Hands, Big Possibilities," will be on showcase until Friday, March 20.
Ryan Escobar poses with his creation
The art show, sponsored by MCOE’s Early Head Start program, is aimed at raising awareness about the Early Head Start program and the learning that happens during the infant and toddler years.
More than 70 pieces are included in the show, including several group projects produced by Early Head Start parents.
“In the Early Head Start program, the parents are equal partners,” said Dora McKean, EHS educator. “We wanted to give parents an opportunity to work in groups, be creative, and reflect on what is meaningful for them.”
The Monterey County Office of Education is at 901 Blanco Circle, Salinas.
Trustees for the Monterey Peninsula College will hold a special meeting at 2:30 p.m. on Monday to talk about the future of the early childhood development center.
There has been a lot of changes in the center in recent years due to budget cuts, and more changes are expected for the same reasons. Find out what's ahead during this presentation and information session.
No decisions will be made.
The meeting will take place at 2:30 p.m. at the Library and Technology Center, Sam Karas Room
980 Fremont Street, Monterey, California.
See you there!
Hartnell trustees are scheduled again to vote on the fate of the Alisal Child Development Center at a special meeting Tuesday.
Two weeks ago, the board was scheduled to vote on a set of recommendations for dealing with their child care center -- located in the most populous part of Salinas -- that administrators say is losing $200,000 a year. California has sharply reduced its subsidies for child care services, and many places throughout the state are feeling the pinch.
At a meeting earlier this month, the board failed to meet the number of votes required to outsource the services of the child care center to another operator. With the return of Trustee Erica Padilla-Chavez, administrators are going to take another bite at the apple.
The Child Development Center at Hartnell College is accepting pre-school applications for the 2013-14 school year that begins in August.
But enrollment at the Alisal Child Development center will be on hold until after trustees decide its fate.
Administrators say the center is operating at a $200,000 annual deficit, and have recommended its operations be outsourced. There were not enough votes at their last meeting to approve the recommended changes, so officials will consider the center's fate again at its next board meeting.
The Child Development Center is a laboratory for child study that offers free preschool for income-eligible families in three-hour sessions, Mondays through Fridays. Children must be at least three years old on or before September 1 to enroll.
At least one parent must be a registered student at the college for both the fall and spring semesters in the 2013-14 academic year. Priority registration runs from April 8 through May 3.
The CDC Lab is located on the main campus at 411 Central Avenue, and accommodates 120 children. Call 755-6945 for more information or to arrange to visit the Center and meet the staff. Enrollment materials can be found here.
This sounds exciting for parents, new and experienced: as part of its Parent Lecture Series, the Carmel Public Library Foundation will host Princeton Professor Sam Wang, a neurobiologist and author of "Welcome to
Your Child’s Brain: How the Mind Grows from Conception to College."
The presentation and signing will take place at 7 p.m. November 13, 2012 at the Sunset Center, Carpenter Hall between 9th and Mission in Carmel.
Limited seating, so arrive early. Suggested donation: $10.
Proceeds benefit Carmel Public Library. For questions call (831) 624-2811. Or click here.
Who knows how far this idea would go, but at a community meeting organized today by MPUSD Jon Hill, a couple of people wanted to know this:
Since the district is barely going to open a child development center -- at the former site of Bay View Elementary -- and since Bay View Academy is growing, wants to grow even further to add a middle school, why not just let them take over the Bay View building? Why not start the child care center at Del Monte from scratch, and let the charter have the Bay View building?
Who knows how far this idea will go, but Monterey community members want the idea explored.
One thing's for sure: Bay View is a wound that won't be healing for some time to come.
Perhaps you've heard that MPUSD administrators are proposing to start a new child development center at the former Bay View Elementary site -- complete with a child care center and a diagnostic clinic. I wrote a story about it here.
Trustee Jon Hill is inviting community members to participate on a tour of the school this Friday, Aug. 28, at 1:30 p.m. It should be interesting. STAR test results will be out then, so I'll try to make it, but won't make promises.
You all have fun!
Updtate 8/28/12: Hill told me in an email he helped organize the field trip because several community members asked for "an opportunity for an informal conversation." Key staff members will be there. Hill's goal is to get the message out to parents and other interested community members about this project.
About 300 people gathered at the CSUMB's University Center Thursday to hear James Heckman expound on his studies that call for greater investment on little children instead of waiting until they're older to invest in programs that don't provide as much return.
The skills a child learns as an infant are skills that will be difficult to compensate for later in life if he or she doesn't acquire them. It's not that people shouldn't try, but it's just that the "return" on the investment won't be as high.
And the skills needed are not just cognitive skills, he said. Character, self esteem, are essential ingredients for success, and they're easier to acquire at the earliest stages of life.
"Invest in prevention, not remediation," was Heckman's message.
Because children in better-off families already receive the attention they need, it's children in low-income families who need the greatest help. They're the ones who statistically need more help later in life: they attend lower performing schools that will not be able to compensate for their shortcomings. Even if the skills gap doesn't grow any wider, it's persistent as children grow and begin attending schools.
An official meeting of the Rotary Club of Monterey, the meeting was attended by a slew of educators from all over Monterey County. Kathy Lathrop, director of early childhood education at Pajaro Valley Unified School District made an impassionate plea to the attendants to vote for proposed ballot measures that would fund education at all levels. As is, Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget is calling for massive cuts to early childhood education, including one extra year of kindergarten.
"We need the support of the business (community) opposing these cuts," she said. "We don't want to dismantle what's already in place."
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