Madison, MS., July 9, 2014— What can we say about early childhood education? Is it a good thing to wrap a newborn, a toddler or a four-year old in loving kindness and nurture them with thoughtful instruction?
Are parents a child’s first teacher and should they accept ultimate responsibility for nurturing their children? Yes and yes, we all agree.
Should aunts and uncles, grandparents, brothers and sisters all play supporting roles in helping parents nurture their children? Certainly they should and we can even point to circumstances where grandparents or other family members stepped in and did a wonderful job as a substitute parent.
And what about a church, the local library, a child care provider, the family doctor, or a close friend? Are all of these valuable resources to parents, and their young children and do parents need and deserve their support? The answer: a unified yes.
So what can we say about early childhood education? How can communities excel at supporting parents?
Mississippi’s own Excel By 5 is helping communities do just this all across the Magnolia State. Eighteen locations have completed the requirements to become a Certified Early Childhood Community and fifteen other communities are also hard at work. They’ve all established community coalitions, performed community-wide needs assessments, and they are closing gaps to improve health care, child care, and parent support.
Community leaders representing hospitals, schools, doctors, libraries, parents, and a host of others are coming together to focus on supporting parents and children. It’s an amazing thing to see what Excel By 5 certified communities and Excel By 5 candidate communities are doing to help children be healthy, happy and ready for school when they reach kindergarten.
So it’s with great pride that we recognize Poplarville, Mississippi as the latest addition to Mississippi’s family of Excel By 5 candidate communities. Congratulations!