BANQUET HONORS PRE-K PROGRAMS

July 28, 2004

JULY 28, 2004 · Centers designed to teach pre-kindergarten children the importance of relationships and communication are recognized Tuesday night. 

AARON BENSONHAVER

ALBANY ? Child care facilities in Dougherty County have all made measurable improvements, and several received recognition for their accomplishments at a dinner hosted by Smart Start Georgia Tuesday night at Darton College.

Keiasasia Brantley, 4, smiles as Kemora Mathis, also 4, looks on as they display part of a chain of more than 350 paper doll cutouts during the Smart Start Georgia banquet at the Darton College Student Center Tuesday.

Among the honored programs were Lula's Day Care, Just Kids and Little Blessings, all of which are home care facilities that have improved enough to receive higher levels of cost reimbursement from the Division of Family and Children Services.

Sharen Hausmann, executive director of Smart Start Georgia said recognizing these preschool and pre-kindergarten programs is "an excellent way to bring attention to the impact they have on early learning."

The programs, all of which are part of the Smart Start umbrella of programs, advising and standards, help make children more successful when they get into grade school, Hausmann said.
"Seventy percent of fourth graders aren't passing state reading tests," she said. "You don't start failing in fourth grade."

State Senator Michael Meyer von Bremen, D-Albany, said he supported funding for Smart Start at the state level because of the positive impact early learning can have on children.

"In fact, 90 percent of a child's intellect, personality and social skills are formed by age three. Studies consistently show that children who experience high quality, stable child care demonstrate better language and math skills, are more able to form secure attachments with adults and other children and develop better cognitive and social skills," Meyer von Bremen said.

He said his statistics came from the National Institute for Early Education Research.

Another program honored was The Family Tree Child Development Center at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital. It is the second National Association for the Education of Young Children accredited program in the county, next to the program at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany.

Beverly Waddell, director of Family Tree, said the Smart Start assistance and NAEYC accreditation have helped the program grow and become an added bonus and benefit to Phoebe employees and the community.
"It is a type of branding that more and more parents are becoming familiar with," Waddell said.

Tumila King, a teacher at the Family Tree, said the Smart Start assistance and funding have inspired the staff to keep working harder.

"It makes you want to work harder to keep up. It makes you feel recognized in your profession," King said.

Centers of distinction honored were Albany Technical College Child Development Center, Mary's Day Care and Learning Center, Ye Olde Schoolhouse and Learning Center and Little Angels Learning Center.

Affordable Child Care, a family home center, is expected to receive National Association for Family Child Care accreditation later this year.

Smart Start Georgia provides preschool and pre-Kindergarten children with early relationship building and communication skills needed to survive in the school and later adult worlds.

For more information on Smart Start Georgia, visit. www.smartstartga.org. 

â?? This article posted with permission from the Albany Herald.