When children start school with the skills necessary for learning, they are more likely to do well in school, continue their education after graduating from high school, and become productive employees.
THE NEED IN OUR COMMUNITY
- An estimated 26.46% of children in Ohio under age 5 live in poverty.
- Children in professional families hear an average of 2,153 words per hour, while children in families on public assistance hear an average of 616 words per hour.
- Nearly 40% of Ohio children entering kindergarten are not ready and need some kind of intervention.
SUCCESS STARTS AT AN EARLY AGE
Being in a quality early learning setting dramatically increases a child’s capacity to learn. And the frequency and quality of words that a child hears during the early years of life are important in shaping language development.
Positive stimulation and early learning experiences give a child a distinct advantage – greater language development, mathematical ability, thinking and attention skills and fewer behavior problems in kindergarten.
BORN LEARNING
Born Learning is START SMART’s parent education and awareness component. The Born Learning program is a national community strategy developed by United Way Worldwide in collaboration with the Ad Council of America and a group of child development specialists at Civitas. Born Learning recognizes that parents are their children's first teachers who can use everyday occurances as teachable moments. In addition, START SMART support has helped to develop a framework for public support of early childhood issues and a more effective advocacy directed toward state government.
Born Learning, parent education component of START SMART, has distributed more than 37,000 information kits through corporate, governement, and media partners. These kits offer information on the growth and development of young children and provide ways for parents to turn everyday moments into learning moments.
THE RESULTS OF EARLY LEARNING
- United Way’s START SMART collaborates with more than 50 local health and human service organizations to improve quality of early care and education, expand training, provide information and advocate for public policy and funding.
- With START SMART’s help, 99 local early learning centers have earned national accreditation, raising the accreditation rate in our community to 20% – more than twice the national average.
- More children have access to quality care – there are 900 more spaces in local family care homes and early learning centers – thanks to donors’ investments.
