Helene Marks Early Start Foundation News

Starting Healthy Eating Habits Early

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:45:09 GMT

This article gives some great ideas for involving kids in cooking, and reads,

"Studies show that children are more likely to eat the foods they grow, choose at the grocery store, and/or prepare. These activities often expand the variety of foods they enjoy and can mean a wider range of nutrients consumed. It is also a good tactic for children who are picky eaters."

The article has different ways to involve kids of different ages, like mixing ingredients for younger children, helping with measuring for slightly older kids, and looking up recipes and planning meals for teens.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120506-LIFE-205060309

Sunshine Learning Center Photos

Mon, 14 May 2012 19:27:24 GMT

HMESF was thrilled to receive these pictures from Sunshine Learning
Center, along with this message:

"Let me hope the season of Spring finds you in good health and high
spirits. We here at Sunshine learning Center are excited in welcoming
the season as we take a look at Plants, Growth and Changes. We
appreciate all you do for us. Attached you will find pictures from our
Crazy Hats activities. 'Hats' off to the Helene Marks Foundation and
all the wonderful mothers. We love you. Enjoy."

Sunshine 1.pdf

Sunshine 2.pdf

Sunshine 3.pdf

HMESF Hears From a Previous Helene Marks Award Winner

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:46:57 GMT

Last week, HMESF heard from a previous Helene Marks Teachers' Award winner, Paula Preston. We were excited to read about how the library donation that she received from HMESF has been received. Paula wrote,

"I must tell you I use the books that I received as a gift from the Helene Marks award each day in my daycare. They are delightful books that are very well made, and the children love them. Thank you again from the bottom my heart for making a true difference in children's lives, as you have made books available…that would not have been otherwise available. I was so humbled to have received the Award in honor of Helene and continue to be inspired by Terri Lynne Lokoff as well as Helene. God Bless!"

The Role of Self Control in Early Development

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:43:17 GMT

An opinion article from the NYT Sunday Review discusses learning self-control and thinking through the consequences of actions, and how this can positively effect academic achievement.

The article reads, "The connection between self-control and social skills seems to be a two-way street. Helping children to identify their emotions and think through possible consequences before reacting improves self-control, in the classroom and at home. According to an analysis of 213 studies involving more than 270,000 students from kindergarten through high school, programs to enhance social and emotional development accelerate school achievement as much as interventions targeted at academic subjects."

These skills can be worked on at home, but the article concedes, "Children of stressed and overwhelmed parents have fewer opportunities to do so and benefit greatly from preschool programs as preparation for later schooling. In addition, boys, on average, develop self-control later than girls. Regardless of initial ability, increasing self-control improves life outcomes."

You can read the full article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/opinion/sunday/building-self-control-the-american-way.html?pagewanted=2&ref=educationpreschool

The Terri Lynne Lokoff Children's Tylenol 2012 National Child Care Teacher's Award

Jaime Marks — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:55:06 GMT

On Thursday, April 19^th, my father and I attended the Terri Lynne Lokoff Childcare Foundation (TLLCCF) Tylenol, National Child Care Teacher’s Awards Ceremony at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. It was quite an evening, filled with excitement and awe. As you looked around the room, and recognized that this diverse crowd was here for one reason; advocating quality childcare. The program consisted of an array of distinguished keynote speakers- Child Care Advocates, the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, the District Attorney of Philadelphia, an Army Colonel, a physician and VP of McNeil Consumer Affairs, and a representative of the 188^th Legislative District in Philadelphia. One after another, these impressive individual addressed the group stressing the importance of early childcare. There were statistics and anecdotes mentioned through out the program, indicating how building a foundation at this early age is essential for the success for a child later in life.

One of the Speakers, Dana Friedman, the President of the Early Years Institute and a policy analyst for children’s issues, as well as an HMESF supporter, highlighted the impact of media and the multiple screens viewed by a young child. She mentioned that in children aged 2-5; the average time spent with screens was 32 hours per week. Since 1980 the use of screens doubled in these same aged children. How does this negatively affect children? There is a major impact on social emotional development, health, and education. These children have been raised with screens instead of engaging in traditional play with other children. As a result there is in an increase in ADHD, kids bouncing off the walls in childcare, less attention tension span, increased insomnia and nightmares. There is a rise in childhood obesity, asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular problems. There is a decrease in school readiness, lower vocabularies, as children are falling behind in school. Dana asked all the parents and providers in the room to take a minute over the next week to determine the amount of time their children were spending in front of the screens and not interacting with others. If we are ultimately focusing on the quality of the social emotional well-being and education of early children, this is something we all must evaluate and change.

The evening continued with the recognition of early child care providers representing the 50 states. The 48 who attended the ceremony were acknowledged. The Teacher’s Award was founded in 1994 to date there have been 687 recipients. My father and I had the privilege of presenting this years’ recipient Jessica Aquii with the Helene Marks Award. It is apparent from the success of the program to date, all the hard work and dedication of the providers, the TLLCCF, and Children’s Tylenol, I am proud to say, that my mom Helene Marks had quite an impact! She had the foresight to create an award that focused solely on the provider, whom she felt was never properly celebrated. The TLLCCF provides $1000 to the winner of the award. Now, the Helene Marks Early Start Foundation (HMESF) is thrilled to continue my mother’s vision by collaborating with TLLCCF on this initiative for the fourth year. We announced and provided the top 10 finalists, as well the recipient of this years’ Helene Marks Award with a library of books that will be sent to each of their centers over the next few weeks. As the event came to a close, we were excited to announce that as of 2012, there are 61 HMESF libraries throughout the United States.

2012 Helene Marks Award Winner Announced!

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 02:11:42 GMT

Congratulations to Jesseca Aqui! You can read about the Top Ten for 2012 here!

Teacher Morale at Lowest in More Than 20 Years

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:04:21 GMT

A survey released on Wednesday found that more than hald of teachers expressed some reservation or dissatisfaction with their jobs, according to a report described in this NYT article. Citing budget cuts and a fixation on testing, the survey shows how important it is to ensure job satisfaction for teachers. The article reads, "Teachers with high job satisfaction were more likely to feel secure in their jobs, and to have more opportunities for professional development, more time to prepare their lessons and greater parental involvement in their schools."

It's important to appreciate the people who impact children's education. HMESF works to recognize teachers, and the winner of the 2012 Helene Marks Award has been announced. Congratulations to Jesseca Aqui from Ann Arbor, Michigan! You can read about Jesseca and the other finalists for the Award here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/education/teacher-morale-sinks-survey-results-show.html?_r=1

Mother Hale House Book/Kid Donation

Jaime Marks — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:44:44 GMT

Annie Murphy, Director of Mother Hale House Learning Center, shared photos after they received the book/kid donation in their Starlight Classroom. The children in this classroom are currently about 20 months - 33 months. Both the provider and the children are enjoying "Guess How Much I love you."

New York State Budget Proposal

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:51:29 GMT

According to an article from the National Education Access Network, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s January 17 budget proposal seeks to “put pressure on [the state education department, teachers unions, and school districts] to resolve the impasse” brought about by the implementation of teacher evaluation systems. Districts that do not implement the evaluation system will be ineligible to participate in a grant competition. However, the article cites Michael A. Rebell of Teachers College at Columbia University, who argues that this system denies students their basic education granted to them by the state constitution. The article reads, “Mr. Rebell stated that holding resources that students vitally need hostage to the outcome of negotiations between school districts, unions and the state violates students’ constitutional rights.”

http://schoolfunding.info/2012/01/update-on-school-funding-issues-in-new-york/

Parent and Community Involvement

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:19:24 GMT

This New York Times opinion piece by NYC Councilman Al Vann argues that parent involvement in decisions regarding public schools is vitally important. He writes, “Truly involving parents and communities in our public schools, and the decisions that affect them, is essential to improving our school system,” and names communities and parents of children in the school systems as “tremendous resources” for struggling schools. According to Vann, communities and parents (the “stakeholders”) must be empowered and their opinions must be valued and incorporated in to the decision-making process “to create an unparalleled support that would only benefit our 1.1 million students.”

http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/12/22/want-to-improve-schools-make-parent-involvement-meaningful/

Building Blocks in Classrooms

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:01:27 GMT

There is a simple, basic re-emerging trend in early childhood education. Schools and childcare centers are focusing on unstructured play with building blocks. This New York Times article describes how, “many educators were embracing blocks as an antidote to fine-motor-skill deficits and difficulty with unstructured activity, problems that they blame on too much time in front of screens and overly academic preschools.” Check out the article to see specific classrooms that are looking to building blocks to aid with fundamentals and even more advanced concepts in early development.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/nyregion/with-building-blocks-educators-going-back-to-basics.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

Financial Education at an Early Age

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:53:46 GMT

"To continue to have a population that is relatively illiterate in these [financial] matters I think has real negative consequences to our democracy," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said during his speech to the Treasury Department. Check out Liz Goodwin's article from last Friday to read about Duncan's suggestion that personal finance instruction begin in schools as early as kindergarten. Financial literacy plays a major role in planning for college, retirement, and families, and it is a major factor in someone's ability to advance economically. Reaching the students who need it most at an early age could provide them with a significant advantage.

http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/blogs/lookout/duncan-calls-personal-finance-lessons-starting-kindergarten-134427341.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us

The impact on Kennedy Child Study Center with HMESF's Spring Donation 2011

Jaime Marks — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:17:46 GMT

Sari Anthony, the Director of Development & Communications of Kennedy Child Study Center shared this picture today which captures a precious moment. The child in the photo with the stander, " was part of the sensory gym donation which was purchased with generous funding from the HMESF."

The child, who will be three years old in January, needs the stander because cannot stand independently. He explores his environment by crawling. He will develop strength in his legs by being positioned in the

stander for short periods oftime, which will begradually extended as his tolerance improves. The long term goal is for him to eventually be able to walk independently.

Sari & The Kennedy Child Study Center are thrilled with donation and thanks HMESF for their support.

A Rating System for Early Childhood Education

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 02:44:31 GMT

Chicago is creating an evaluation system for city-funded early childhood education programs. Mayor Rahm Emanuel says, “No other city, to my knowledge, is not only adding kids, but having a comprehensive educational quality standard for its early childhood education.” You can read about how the system will work in this Chicago Sun Times article.

There is an effort to implement a system in New York City. Check out the Quality New York page and read about their work with NAEYC Accreditation programs. Their advocacy page describes the importance of an effective means of evaluation, and how rating system in NYC could serve those in need of early childhood education.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/7927571-418/city-to-launch-5-star-rating-system-for-early-childhood-programs.html

http://qualitynewyork.org/about.htm

Donations from Townsend Press Go Out to HMESF Centers

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 15:50:12 GMT

20 centers and satellite locations that HMESF partners with received a donation from Townsend Press this week. The donations consist of 10 Kindergarten books, 60 first grade books, and Teachers' Guides. We are excited to have worked with Townsend Press to help bring these books to the Centers, and invite you to look at their website to read more about them!

http://www.townsendpress.com/

Teaching Kids About Nutrition

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:50:59 GMT

We are all aware of how important good, balanced nutrition is, and how developing healthy eating habits at an early age helps kids make informed decisions about their diets and lifestyles later on. Laticia Overton’s post gives some ideas on how to approach educating kids about nutrition, and offers some games or activities to keep it interesting (like reading The Little Red Hen story, then discussing the bread-making process). Check out the food pyramid for preschoolers at the bottom of her post!

http://www.examiner.com/early-childhood-education-in-new-york/nutritious-eating-habits-for-young-children

A Wise Investment

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:16:33 GMT

This timesunion.com editorial gives an economic reason to invest in early childhood education. Citing studies that point to the time between conception and kindergarten as the most fast-paced developmentally, the article asks, “Why do we wait to invest?” The authors point out a “$12 return on every $1 spent on early childhood education for at-risk children,” and therefore argue for a reallocation of financial resources in New York.

http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Invest-wisely-in-early-education-1439638.php

Study Adds to "Strongest Research Science For the Benefits of Early Education"

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 22:33:53 GMT

The Public News Service posted an article about a recent study published in the journal Science. The article, which you can find here, describes how the study tracked around 1500 Chicago youths from ages 3 to 28, and compared the youths who attended preschool to those who did not. “Those left out were 27 percent more likely to have been arrested for a felony by age 28 and were 39 percent more likely to have spent time in jail, according to study author Arthur Reynolds.”

The article cites a New York-based expert, Meredith Wiley, who “point[s] out that the results are a product of a top-quality pre-kindergarten program - and not all such programs are.” She believes that a rating system for early education programs would help defray corrections costs for taxpayers, and make a positive difference for the children who attend the programs.

http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/20617-1

Preschoolers Join Budget Protests

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:52:41 GMT

The mayor’s office and City Council need to have a budget by the end of the month, but if the one that is in place now is not changed, day care and after-school programs will suffer. Check out this slide and article about preschoolers joining the protests at City Hall. According to advocates cited in the article, “7,000 fewer kids from low-income families will have access to child care next year.”

http://www.dnainfo.com/20110607/lower-east-side-east-village/budget-protests-get-cuter-as-kids-descend-on-city-hall

Big Kindergarten Wait List Limits City's Pre-K Slots

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:47:49 GMT

According to this New York Times article, “Some 60 percent of prekindergarten services in New York are offered outside the public schools, including community-based organizations that receive public subsidies." These services are faced with a potential capacity crisis, as more pre-K students apply for fewer spots in the city’s public schools. Increased class sizes and student numbers have forced many schools to cut prekindergarten classes, driving the 32% of applicants who were not granted a spot in the New York City pre-K system to look to early childcare centers. Unfortunately, according to Fernanda Santos’ article, these centers also face a “space crunch” that “stems partly from the cuts endured in recent years by the Education Department and the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, which offer prekindergarten services at day care centers.” Day care centers have been losing funding, and if Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s budget is not changed, “200 more classrooms in day care centers, including many that offer prekindergarten services to 4-year-olds, will be affected.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/nyregion/more-rejections-for-pre-k-slots-in-new-york.html?_r=1&emc=eta1