Written by Lauren Morris, Program Director at Arkansas Community Foundation
Child Care Aware of West Central Arkansas (CCA WCA) is out there quietly making sure Arkansas kids are getting the best start they can. From supporting early education center directors, to training staff, to classroom supplies, CCA WCA is behind the scenes making things better. And, over the past three years, Hot Springs Area Community Foundation has been supporting their efforts. This past year, the focus was on resources that use songs and music for better brain development.
“Activities like songs help young children learn. A kid can pick up a song easily and remember it, sometimes for a lifetime,” said Melanie Jackson, program coordinator for CCA WCA. “Rhythm bells and sticks help kids keep beat with the music and learn cause and effect. The kids love to move around and dance with scarves. This is all foundational to building rich language experiences for future reading skills.”
Childcare centers across Garland and Montgomery Counties received a classroom “kit” filled with music-related books, instruments, and dancing props.
But CCA WCA doesn’t just deliver classroom supplies. Their staff train pre-K directors and classroom teachers on how to better use their spaces and teaching tools to build better brains and how they can make low-cost or no-cost classroom supplies on their own.
Remember “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly?” Thanks to CCA WCA, teachers learn to use props like an old lady cut-out that has a clear stomach for teachers to drop visuals of all the wild things that she eats. Staff demonstrate the prop, the visuals, and how to use it with a song to help children learn, understand, and retain language lessons. Their office even has a model classroom to help demonstrate how classrooms can be set up to make learning fun and support language and brain development.
CCA WCA serves early childhood education centers across 13 counties in west central Arkansas providing training, classroom resources, and technical support.
Click here to learn more about Child Care Aware WCA.
Early literacy and third grade reading is a strong predictor of success in school, along with better opportunities and wage earnings after graduation. Arkansas Community Foundation works closely local organizations like CCA WCA, with the goal of ensuring that families and children have what they need to grow and learn.