Tablet for your toddler? Time will tell.
Last week, the Today Show discussed research regarding infants and touchscreen devices and increased learning. As an early childhood advocate, I have to urge caution when it comes to technology and children. This report by Professor Annette Karmiloff-Smith - who also led the research –claims that babies should be given tablet computers 'from birth'. Did this inflammatory statement get your attention? It sure got mine. Let's look a bit deeper into the development of young children before we run off to buy the newborn a little black box. The actual study by Karmiloff-Smith has not been published yet so it is[...]
Partnership Focus on Early Childhood Through Screening of Documentary
Fort Worth, Texas (May 6, 2015) - Some economists are worried about how much we spend on early care and education in America—not because we spend too much, but because we spend too little. Are We Crazy About Our Kids? explores how investments in high quality early care and preschool yield huge personal and social benefits—and pay for themselves many times over. Join us for a breakfast viewing of the episode followed by a meaningful discussion of how the economy and early childhood intersect in our own community. 7:30 Registration/Breakfast 8:00 Thad Levine, Texas Rangers, Welcome 8:15:[...]
Earlier Is Important: BEFORE Pre-K Matters More
Pre-Kindergarten is at the forefront of concerns over education efficacy today, focusing on early education and care that occurs when a child is 4-5 years old. The U.S. House and Senate is currently debating some 35 bills drafted regarding Universal Pre-K (UPK), but closer to home, Fort Worth ISD is already implementing UPK, now mid-way through a 3-year roll-out. Early education for 4 and 5 year olds is important, as is every learning and development year that comes afterward. However, the conversation regarding UPK is missing one important point: early childhood education begins years earlier. We know that[...]
Camp Fire Recognizes North Texas’ Top Child Care Professionals
April 16, 2015 (Fort Worth, Texas) – Camp Fire First Texas Council honored child care professionals at a dinner and awards ceremony on March 26 at Ridglea Country Club in Fort Worth. More than 350 attended the event including 30 finalists for the 2015 Excellence in Child Care awards. For the second year in a row, a record number of nominations were submitted and reviewed. An annual highlight of the early childhood professional's calendar, Celebration of Child Care Champions awards dinner recognizes early childhood professionals who play a vital role in the development of thousands of area[...]
First Micro-Study on Universal Pre-K Impact has Ties State-Wide Ties, Beyond
Just as families in the Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) have wrapped up the first round of pre-kindergarten open houses, Camp Fire First Texas releases findings from a four-month study on the unintended impact of implementing universal pre-k in FWISD. This micro-study is the first of its kind to research the economic and quality issues that arise when programs, such as this, are implemented on a broad scale in a metropolitan community*. These findings offer state-wide insights and recommendations to other communities interested in implementing a public school-based universal pre-k plan that removes 4-year-olds from the larger child[...]
Camp Fire Selected as Member of Parent Engagement Collaborative Launching Fall
Fort Worth, Texas (August 27, 2014) - The Miles Foundation, The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, and The Morris Foundation announced today that Camp Fire will be one of seven agencies that have been selected to comprise the core of an effort named the Parent Engagement Collaborative. The following six local agencies were also selected by the foundations to receive funding as part of the collaborative project: AVANCE Inc., The Concilio, East Fort Worth Montessori Academy, Fort Worth Library, The Parenting Center, and United Community Centers. "We celebrate the fact that parents are a child's first teachers—as such, we appreciate this[...]
First, Only Early Childhood Demonstration School Opens to the Public
Fort Worth, Texas (April 15, 2014) - Camp Fire First Texas expanded their early childhood development center to a public demonstration school this month. It is one of the first and only demonstration schools open to the public in North Texas. A demonstration school is an early education center that allows educators, students and peers in the community to observe research-based concepts of early childhood development and best practices being put into action in the classroom. Kathy Wymer, director of Camp Fire Child Development Center explains, "There are other lab schools in our area, but these are geared toward,[...]
Opportunity for local early childhood programs to “Excel for Success”
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - The Rainwater Charitable Foundation, in partnership with Camp Fire First Texas, announces the premiere of Excel for Success, a comprehensive, early childhood professional learning system. This program is designed to promote professional readiness for early childhood practitioners and administrators that work in the field of early education and care serving young children ages 0-5. Studies of early learning programs demonstrate that quality early childhood experiences can improve young children's academic and social skills trajectories upon school entry that can last throughout adolescence. Excel for Success is designed to offer a rigorous data-driven approach that develops[...]
