Sharing Web Resources

On the initial page of the website Harlem Children's  Zone it stated " A National model for breaking the cycle of poverty. Education + family & community + health = results".That statement resonated with me because in my family child care business I am faced everyday with children living in poverty. As a family child care provider I have been gathering many pamphlets for my parents to different programs to help them combat the present situation they are in.

One of the early childhood programs at Harlem Children's Zone is called baby college. This program reaches out to expectant parents, new parents and other caregivers. This program gives all involved a understanding of how the child's brain works and why it is so important to stimulate it. They also teach the fundamentals of child development. The program teaches all of the skills to raise a healthy and happy babies. Most early childhood programs do not target expectant parents. Reading this article has made me think that we do need to target parents before their child is born. Equipping them earlier can only make the outcome even better.

In 2008 Senator Barack Obama pledged to create a anti- bias program inspired by Harlem Children's Zone. In 2010 President Barack Obama was able to launch that program. The name of the program was "The Promise Neighborhood Program" as part of his neighborhood revitalization initiative.  The promise neighborhood program provides federal funding to neighborhoods to help insure cradle to career success. This program is overseen by the U.S. Department of education.

There is a great emphasis on making sure that children are ready for kindergarten. At the Harlem Children Zone they have a program called Harlem Gems. This program targets Pre kindergarten children. The reason this program is different is that it  has a summer program for the children before they start in September. This allows the children to explore the classroom and get familiar with many of the materials.  In September the children will be ready to thrive from day one.  Even though having a preschool program that focuses on getting the children ready for kindergarten is not new having a preprogram that allows children to explore before is a new idea.