23 Feb Getting a Head Start
Dr. Edmund Gordon is a renowned Black psychologist known for his work improving early childhood education. As one of the founders of the Head Start program, he has dedicated much of his life to fighting...
Early Learning
23 Mar Reaching New Levels with Growing Minds
Posted at 15:58h in Child Care Quality, Early Childhood, Early Learning, Growing Minds, Uncategorized
Located on 4.5 acres in Earlysville, Virginia, Ms. Alison’s Kangaroo Preschool provides play-based, individualized learning with an emphasis on time spent in nature. Owner and lead teacher Alison Trimpe opened her school in 2015 after...
10 May Is There a New Normal? How ReadySteps Adjusted Early Childhood Play Groups During the Pandemic
By Shannon Banks, ReadyKids Director of Community Education Building, strengthening, and maintaining collaborative relationships with families is a key pillar of ReadySteps. When not in a pandemic, the staff of our family-focused program bring two vans with...
16 Mar Why is Child Care in Crisis? And, What ReadyKids is Doing About It.
The child care industry is in crisis. Though many news outlets have reported a growing concern, the average American family likely will not feel the full impact until the pandemic is over. The ReadyKids Growing...
23 Sep Community Voices: “Childcare and COVID-19”
By Sabrina Wilson “Community Voices” is a series of blog posts to elevate community voices, especially those of people of color. We invited individuals, without stipulations or rules, to submit their writings and we paid them...
30 Aug ReadySteps: Building the Foundation of Community
A cardboard box turned make believe boat fills Jesse Gandy’s living room. Books and educational toys line every shelf. A pet bullfrog croaks from a terrarium in the dining room. Gandy’s second grade daughter, Austin,...
24 Sep Lifelong Learners: How Growing Minds Gets to the “Aha!” Moment
First Baptist Preschool has been a steady presence in the Charlottesville early childhood scene for decades. Their early childhood educators have an average of ten years of experience working with children. They were one of the...
21 Jun Program Name Change
We are excited to announce that the program previously known as Child Care Quality will be transitioning to be known as Growing Minds! Here's the thought process behind the change: The term "child care" does not accurately capture...
06 Feb Helping Children Find Calm
When you’re small, emotions like anger and fear can feel huge. And scary. One of our STAR Kids Educators, Loretta Willis, was recently in a Head Start class presenting a lesson called, “When Someone’s Mad –...
19 Oct What do you do after work? A ReadyKids Story.
It’s 8 p.m. on a dark, rainy Thursday night in October. Eighteen men and women of all ages and races gather in the Education Center of ReadyKids in Charlottesville. They all have one thing in...