Since established in 1955, PACE continually strives to advance the profession of childhood education. California  has a diverse population and soci0-econminc composition which has allowed for the development of an equally diverse response to the early education needs of children.

According to the most recent data compiled by California’s Resource and Referral Network (R&R Network) nearly 64% of California’s early care and education is provided by private licensed centers. PACE members, who represent this percentage, advocate for the continued professional development  of those who provide early learning opportunities for California’s children and the sustainability of the support services that help strengthen their families.

PACE believes that EVERYDAY is a great day to Stand Up for Children and to be an advocate for California’s early care and education system!

Interested in learning how to become more involved with being an advocate? Visit the PACE Action Center to learn more about how you can Stand Up for Children and advocate for the early care and education system throughout California and our Nation.

Today, April 22, 2013 is Earth Day.

How do you plan on celebrating?

 “I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child in America… Let’s do what works, and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind. Let’s give our kids that chance.”

– Barack Obama, Feb. 12, 2013

The Need

Far too many children lack access to preschool. The need for early learning is clear, as studies prove: children who have rich early learning experiences are   better prepared to thrive in school. Yet the US ranks 28th in early learning enrollment. For those who do attend, quality varies widely. Less than a third of 4- year-olds in poverty attend a high-quality preschool program, and the gap is especially pronounced in low-income communities. Doing better is more than just a moral and educational imperative, it’s smart government: Every public dollar spent on preschool returns $7 through increased productivity and savings on public assistance and criminal justice.

The Goal

The goal is to enable every American 4-year-old to attend a quality preschool program — one characterized by well-organized learning experiences, guided exploration, art, and storytelling, led by a skilled teacher. In addition, the Department of Education will work with the Department of Health and Human Services to significantly expand and improve services to younger children.

Want to learn more about The Plan for Early Learning in America? Click here to read more from the Department of Education.

How about Being a Tourist in Your Hometown

It’s easy to overlook the opportunities right where you live. Sightseeing is often a must when you’re traveling, but checking out the history of the place you live or grew up can also be an educational and eye-opening experience. Pretend you are a tourist arriving in your town for the first time, contact your local chamber of commerce or National Historic Society, and see all that your area has to offer. Tour the most historic buildings, discover if any battles were fought where you’re standing, check out monuments and statues, or visit a cemetery to search for the oldest tombstones. Every place has its own legends and history. Discovering what makes your town special can create a meaningful connection to the spot your family calls home.

It’s Spring. The flowers and trees are blooming. Perfect time for a bug hunt.

Bug Hunt by Neecy Twinem is an interactive literary adventure, where you never know what you might find just under the rock or between a rose petal.

Click here to bring this adventure to your classroom today.

Want to continue the bug hunting adventure outside in the garden or school yard? Turn kids into expert bug hunters with an Adventure Kids Bug Catcher Set.  Kids can safely capture bugs and view them to see what they really look like.

  Did you know that up to 40 percent of children in the United States suffer from seasonal allergies?

Parents Magazine recently published a great article to help you recognize common symptoms of seasonal allergies in children, the difference between seasonal and perennial allergies, and what can   happen if allergies go untreated.

Spring Into Allergy Season, and read up on how to alleviate the snivels, watery-itchy eyes, and haziness of Spring time for your children.

In Instructor, a publication by Scholastic, an article “15 Stress-Busting Tips From Teachers” provides some helpful tips, and techniques for pushing through the final last days of the school year, and how to maintain a less stressful work environment throughout the whole year.

To read the full article on 15 Stress-Busting Tips From Teachers, click here.

    ONE MONDAY MORNING  by Uri Shulevitz

What happens on your Monday mornings?

In Uri Shulevitz’s, One Monday Morning readers are drawn into an story of  how one lucky little boys is joined by some very special guests and how those guests seek out to visit the little boy over and over again.

“The idea of the story is so childlike, the telling of it so effortless, and the book executed with such distinction that it belongs naturally among the true picture books we seem always to have had . . . A   book no child should miss.”–The Horn Book

Click here to get your own copy of ONE MONDAY MORNING

• California law requires that all children under the age of 18 wear a bicycle helmet when cycling.

• Wear bright clothing and avoid riding at dusk or at night.

• Make sure your child knows the rules of the road before they venture out to more populated roadways. Teach them to “stop, look and listen.”

• Don’t carry your baby on a bicycle.

Have a great weekend and stay safe!

 Serve & Return Interaction Shapes Brain Circuitry.

One of the most essential experiences in shaping the architecture of the developing brain is “serve and return” interaction between children and significant adults in their lives. Young children naturally reach out for interaction through babbling, facial expressions, and gestures, and adults respond with the same kind of vocalizing and gesturing back at them. This back-and-forth process is fundamental to the wiring of the brain, especially in the earliest years.

Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child and the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child developed the following video (part two of a three-part series) titled “Three Core Concepts in Early Development”. The series depicts how advances in neuroscience, molecular biology, and genomics now give us a much better understanding of how early experiences are built into our bodies and brains, for better or for worse. Healthy development in the early years provides the building blocks for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, lifelong health, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation.

Click here to view this video and others from the series,”Three Core Concepts in Early Development”, as well as view additional resources from the Center on the Developing Child.