News
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library expands to 20,000 children in Mecklenburg County!
Smart Start of Mecklenburg County and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library are working together to bring books to Mecklenburg County’s youngest children through funding provided by the North Carolina General Assembly. During the 2017 legislative session, North Carolina...
Intentional teaching makes the biggest impact on early childhood outcomes
A comprehensive review of research on several measures of the quality of early childhood education suggests that the instructional practices of preschool teachers have the largest impact on young children's academic and social skills. The review helps untangle a...
You Drink, We Donate – Smart Start & Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
Please join us at Noda Brewing Company on Monday, December 11, 2017 from 4 to 9pm for a You Drink, We Donate event. $1.00 from each draft beer sold in the tap room at Noda Brewing Company that evening will be donated to Smart Start of Mecklenburg County in...
Calling all Day Care Cooks, Teachers & Administrators!!!
Healthy Futures - Soups Stocks and More In this workshop, you will learn easy to prepare recipes and how to turn 1 stock into many healthy and delicious meals. One of our favorite workshops returns with new recipes for making soups, stocks and more. You will learn...
Kendra Gives Back Party on December 13th at 5:30pm
#GivingTuesdayCLT
#GivingTuesday (Nov. 28) is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration. Presented by Wells Fargo and powered by SHARE Charlotte, #GivingTuesdayCLT is Charlotte’s local response to the global movement. Now in its fourth...
CHIP expired on September 30, 2017 and health coverage for 9 million children is in jeopardy.
The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that insures around 9 million children – over 256,000 in NC alone -- expired September 30, 2017. If congress fails extend CHIP soon, the health of millions of children will be at risk. Call Senators Burr (202) 224-3154...
Extraordinary work to be recognized through NEW ‘Reading Hero’ project
Read Charlotte announced last Monday that its new initiative, called “Reading Heroes,” will highlight members of the community who are doing extraordinary things to improve children’s literacy from birth through third grade in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. “Read Charlotte...
NoDa Brewery to host a Brews & Books Kick-Off Event on November 10th at 4pm
NoDa Brewing Company has been a financial supporter of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Mecklenburg County since 2015. This year, however they have stepped up in a BIG way and funded all 672 existing children enrolled in the program that live in the two shared...
Mecklenburg County Early Childhood Education Report Now Available
The “Creating Opportunity: An Action Plan for Early Childhood Education” has been presented to the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. The report focuses on expanding access to early care and education for children birth to age five. Click Here to Read the Full...
Preschool Sensory-Motor Development (2-5 years)
Workshop for PRESCHOOL Sensory-Motor DEVELOPMENT for children ages 2-5 years. TOPICS will include How children grow and explore their environment from 2-5 years including Fine motor development, Gross motor development and Sensory processing. This event is for parents, caregivers and professionals (adults only; no childcare available).
Give your solar eclipse glasses a second chance!
Smart Start of Mecklenburg County is proud to Support Astronomers without Borders and Explore Scientific in their quest to collect eclipse glasses to be sent to schools in South America and Asia when eclipses cross those continents in 2019. Young children are natural...
Healthy Charlotte Get Involved
Charlotte Strong is designed to engage individuals, corporations and community constituents in FREE or donation based activities by creating a month long calendar of physical activities and events. Participants can be anyone in the community. We are all working...
Your role in children’s healthy social/emotional development – Online course starts soon!
Supporting children’s healthy social and emotional development can have a big impact on their long-term success in school and beyond. Join us online for an engaging 10-lesson series from Exchange Press to explore strategies and new ideas to help you promote positive social/emotional development and address challenging behaviors in the classroom. This course is tailored to meet your experience level! You’ll identify your experience level and then complete activities designed to “meet you where you’re at” as an early childhood professional.
NC Pre-K Earns High Marks for Its First 15 Years
North Carolina’s pre-kindergarten program has supported over 350,000 children in multiple areas of learning and development, according to a new summary report from the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The report says favorable outcomes from the program can last for years after children enter elementary school.
Legislative Update
Click “Read More” to view the updated table summarizing the provisions impacting early childhood programs included in the FINAL FY2017-2019 compromise budget.
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Turn Five Ready to Thrive
Smart Start of Mecklenburg County
(704) 377-6588
601 E. 5th Street, Suite 500
Charlotte, NC 28202