United Way
& Community Foundation
Success
by 6® is an early childhood initiative that works to ensure that
all Kankakee County children 0-6 have the positive and enriching experiences
and positive parent-child relationships necessary to begin school
ready to succeed.
Why
Do We Need Success by 6®?
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Kankakee
County 3rd graders are not reading at Illinois state standards
at 40% of area elementary schools |
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19%
of children live in high poverty households. |
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Children
who start behind, usually stay behind. |
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A
critical path is laid in the first few years of life. Early learning
matters for future success. |
Why
Should We Care?
Collectively,
we can help young children succeed in school, which can lead to increased
graduation rates, improved public safety, and a stronger local economy.
If we
take action now, we can significantly improve the situation:
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Investing
in early childhood development yields a significant payoff ($7-$8
returned for each $1 invested) |
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Expanding
quality educational child care and pre-kindergarten programs is
the most effective strategy for reducing youth violence and crime. |
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Early
language skills are an excellent predictor of reading ability
by third grade. Parents want to know how to foster early language
skills in their children. |
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If
children read at grade level by the 3rd grade, they are more likely
to graduate from high school. |
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Children
who graduate from high school are more likely to go on to higher
education and/or enter the job market as tax-paying citizens. |
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Employable,
tax-paying citizens are critical to a vital economy. |
Who
is Success by 6®?
In Kankakee
County, early learning is critical to building strong citizens and
a strong workforce. That’s why the United Way of Kankakee County
and the Community Foundation of Kankakee River Valley created the
Success by Six® Initiative. This early learning coalition - made
up of early childhood developmental experts, United Way agencies serving
families, childcare providers, local businesses, and community volunteers
– is working together to make sure kids get what they need to
succeed. Over 350 United Way Success by 6® Coalitions nationwide
are focused on improving school readiness through community change.
Kankakee
County Success by 6® Initiatives
Everyday life is a learning experience for children! Born Learning
is a public engagement campaign that helps parents, grandparents,
and caregivers explore ways to turn everyday moments into fun learning
opportunities.
Born
Learning information can be found at the Exploration Station, Recreation
Station, in local newspapers, on billboards, at pediatrician’s
offices, and at local hospitals.
See the
“Success by 6® Picks” button at www.parentspage.org
to download all the Born Learning tools.
Parent
Cafes
Parents can, must, and do tap into their own wisdom and resources
in order to keep their families strong. Profound change starts with
meaningful conversation. Across Illinois, parents are engaging in
lively, real conversations to keep their families strong. These conversations
are called Parent Cafés, and they are transforming parent education.
Parent
Cafés take place at schools, churches, and in other friendly
environments. Guided by trained Parent Hosts, parents gather in small
groups and explore questions that really matter to them, questions
that they genuinely want answered. Those questions deal with:
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Taking
Care of Yourself |
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Being
a Strong Parent |
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Building
Strong Relationships with Your Children. |
Child
Care Quality Rating System
75% of Kankakee County children are in child-care at some point before
starting school. Illinois has a new Quality Rating process available
for child-care providers, using different “star levels”
to rate the quality of the child-care provider. For children in child-care,
affordable, quality child-care is essential to a child’s health
and future workforce potential. In addition, if a child-care provider
receives Quality Rating designation, he/she gets higher child-care
subsidies from the state, improving the financial stability of the
provider and adding increased wages to the local economy. The Success
by 6® Coalition is funding technical assistance for home-based
child-care providers to apply for Quality Rating System designation.
This site is a project of the Community Foundation of Kankakee
River Valley, with funding provided by the Communityworks Endowment
which was created with assistance by the Grand Victoria Foundation,
Chicago, Illinois.
