This week’s blog theme has been about how the pandemic has shifted how we live our lives and how those shifts have impacted A Stepping Stone’s enrolled families and scholars. How has COVID19 effected how we deliver our award-winning LEAF (Literacy Elevates Arizona Families) program to young children and their families? That is today’s subject. …Continued
DL is Distance Learning. Our children and parents have been learning together through DL for four months now. DL has given A Stepping Stone Foundation families the opportunity to participate in our LEAF (Literacy Elevates Arizona Families) program at almost the same level as if they were in person. The preschool children still…Continued
A Stepping Stone has engaged in two-generation family literacy for 30 years now. While others talk about it, we do it!! Check out this link to a recent paper posted on Archbridge Institute’s website September 2020 from James J. Heckman (see HeckmanEquation.org). Of special interest is Key Takeaway #2 two: “Families are the primary producers…Continued
A Stepping Stone Foundation Board Member, Gabriel Escontrías, Jr., sent me an article today about work similar to that of our LEAF (Literacy Elevates Arizona Families) Program in Phoenix. It touts the rich return on investment that programs like LEAF have to society in concrete terms. The article was published online at TheScientificAmerican.com, (originally published at JAMA…Continued
Dear Readers, please find and follow the link below regarding new research which affirms intuitive and previously proven best practices for early education. It is certainly how A Stepping Stone has been practicing for the past 27 years! Enjoy! -Cindy Click Here for Recent Harvard Research Article.
Is preschool really important? Read this article from Rasmussen University: Is Preschool Important? Spoiler alert! YES ITS REALLY IMPORTANT!
Check out this story about the importance of early childhood education written by Claudio Sanchez and posted on NPR : Pre-K: Decades Worth Of Studies, One Strong Message Pictured here is one of our many parents working with their child in A Stepping Stone Foundation LEAF program on literacy activities–in an age-appropriate way! A Stepping…Continued
An interesting retrospective study done by Chris Herbst in 2013, was recently reported by Hechingereport.org (via NIEER), about the nearly Universal Childcare instituted in the US from 1940-1946 (known as the Lanham Act) to allow more women to enter the workforce during WWII. The study examined, among other things, long-term, long-lasting effects of early childhood care for the…Continued
This year our class has become “Super Heroes” by focusing on ways to be good citizens. Each week a child is selected randomly to be our class “Super Hero”. They take a poster home to decorate with family photos then bring it back to school to share and display it in the classroom. We also…Continued
Yesterday, I asked my 5-year old granddaughter if it was the best day of her life. She said “I don’t know. Is today your best day?” “Yes”, I said, “and tomorrow will be even better”. She asked me how I knew that and I told her that I wake up every morning thinking the day…Continued