Childcare Resources celebrates early learning with a week of fun and education

Childcare Resources of Indian River joined in a national celebration of early learning involving students, teachers and families. The Week of the Young Child, established in 1971 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, is a week-long event recognizing early childhood needs and opportunities across the country. Designed to showcase the many unique ways in which young children learn, Childcare Resources celebrated the week with a wide variety of activities.

Representative Erin Grall reads to a group of students at the Childcare Resources School.

At the Childcare Resources School, the week kicked off with a parent meeting celebrating and encouraging literacy, featuring The Learning Alliance’s Arts/Literacy Educator Bridget Lyons. Program parents explored how to build connections through reading with their child using favorite children’s book Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram. Following the meeting, parents toured the Moonshot Moment Reading Rocket.

Throughout the week, children at the Childcare Resources School explored different activities like Bubble Day and Messy Art Day. Additionally, supporters from across Indian River County volunteered their time to read in Childcare Resources classrooms each day. These community readers included Kindergarten Readiness Collaborative’s Dr. Nivea Torres, Florida State Representative Erin Grall, Florida State Senator Debbie Mayfield, United Way of Indian River County’s Meredith Egan, and Vero Beach Chief of Police David Currey. Families were also able to purchase books at a book fair set up in the school.

The week wrapped up with a special literacy project, Breakfast with a Book. Children and their parents read Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond’s New York Times bestsellers If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Pig a Pancake before doing a fun project and sharing muffins and pancakes for breakfast.

“This is a really fun way to get our students excited about reading and other activities,” said Tara Beard, Childcare Resources School Director. “I love seeing our parents and community leaders get so involved in what our school does.”