The first session of Nebraska's 105th Legislature adjourned Sine Die on May 23, Senators tackled many important issues and introduced nearly 700 bills, but the session was dominated by efforts to achieve a balanced budget despite significant revenue shortfalls. See our report on bills we identified as high-priority during this legislative session.
Babies’ brains are not little sponges waiting for someone to pour information into them. They are built during the earliest years through very specific kinds of interactions.
March and April are reading months — check out the many promotions aimed at reading to children from birth.
LB773 was introduced to create the Early Childhood Workforce Development Task Force. Rather than have the bill advance this session, a strategic decision was made to work collaboratively with Governor Pete Ricketts' new Education and Workforce Roundtable to identify issues and solutions impacting students' in the early childhood-to-workforce pipeline.
NHHS Director Courtney Phillips: Nebraska's Department of Health and Human Services has begun to implement policies that incentivize child care providers to improve their program quality, meaning more children at risk who utilize these services may have access to the kinds of environments that close the achievement gap.
Part 3: I am particularly excited about the possibilities that exist for schools and communities in providing high-quality services to families with young children. In our school, in our communities and as a state I see three areas where we have tremendous opportunities to improve.
Did you know that numerous studies point specifically to the long-term benefits children receive when their fathers are actively engaged in their care? Research shows that involved fathers relate to their children in ways that produce specific developmental benefits.
In recent years, Nebraska has opened new opportunities for genuine investment in the development of children who stand to lose or gain the most from their earliest experiences. Among these, the Sixpence Early Learning Fund rises to the top as an investment opportunity that meets the most stringent criteria for quality, fiscal accountability and demonstrable results.
Babies are born learners, and the number of quality interactions they experience in their earliest months and years heavily influences how they develop and succeed later. In recognition of the importance of early literacy and family literacy, Governor Dave Heineman has proclaimed November “Read Aloud to a Child Month.”
The Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee is touring a Sixpence program in Broken Bow today to learn more about the innovative public-private partnership before holding a public hearing on its visioning process for a statewide strategic plan for education as mandated by LB1103.
One of the most important things parents can do to prepare their children for school is to read to them. The number of words a child knows upon entering kindergarten is a key predictor of future success, and the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that parents read aloud to babies starting at birth to build pre-literacy skills in the earliest years. And as children grow, reading aloud and talking about pictures in age-appropriate books strengthens their emerging language skills and literacy development. And the resulting closer parent-child bond boosts a child’s social-emotional development.
Great hands-on learning opportunities at the Nebraska State Fair offer families a chance to celebrate the end of summer and spend some time together.