Early Learning Matters
Click on a resource below or scroll down to read more about early childhood development.
Lantern
Kids don't come with instructions! Anyone who cares for and loves a child, from prenatal care through age 5 — parents, parents-to-be, grandparents, babysitters, aunts, uncles, neighbors, friends, or teachers — Lantern can help! We send free text messages with straightforward, practical tips and activities right to your cell phone. Our content comes from trusted partners like PBS and Sesame Street. Messages are targeted to your child’s age and include information on development, language and early literacy, health and safety, behavioral tips, and more.
Parent Resource Guide
A strong foundation to succeed in school and life starts in a child's earliest years. Children who enter kindergarten without early social, math and literacy skills will likely remain behind their peers throughout their education. To fully prepare for your child to enter kindergarten in Aurora, save this vital document.
10 Things Every Child Needs
At birth, an infant's brain is only 25 percent the size of an average adult's brain. Incredibly, by age 3, a child's brain has grown to 90 percent of an adult's brain. During infancy and early childhood, children are flooded with new experiences that impact their brain development. The first 5 years of a child's life offer parents an amazing opportunity to shape their child's growth and also form healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Read the full list of instructions here.
Activity Calendar
Our staff have prepared games and activities to share with your child that are both fun and educational. Check it out here!
Developmental Screenings
Participating in a screening will give you time to talk about your child’s development. You will also receive fun and simple activity ideas you can use with your child to help them continue to learn and grow. If screening results indicate that your child would benefit from an evaluation, we will discuss next steps, and with family consent a referral will be made to Child & Family Connections (birth to three year old's) or School District (3-5 year old's) or another Lead Education Agency to help ensure your child has the best possible start. If you have any questions, or desire another opinion don’t hesitate to ask your child’s doctor or early childhood provider. Read the ASQ Quick-Guide here. If you are ready to schedule an appointment, email SPARK@FoxValleyUnitedWay.org now.
Gateways to Early Childhood
Learn more about Early Childhood support and services by filling out this brief survey. This is intended for children that are birth to 5 years old. All information will be kept confidential. Thank you!
Playful Learning Landscapes
Building young children’s early math skills by inspiring playful interactions with their caregivers in everyday places. Open the Executive Summary of where to find these spaces here.
Early Childhood Development: The Challenge
Aurora has Illinois’ second-largest population with nearly 200,000 diverse residents: 41% Hispanic/Latino, 40% White, 11% Black/African-American and 7% Asian.
The city also includes 20,000 children age five and under. Currently, 44% live at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL); more than half of these children (4,554) live below the 100% FPL, with family incomes that qualify for Medicaid and the Free and Reduced-Price Meals program. In addition, 6,214 Aurora children under five live in households isolated by language.
Studies show that children who enter kindergarten without early social, math and literacy skills will likely remain behind their peers throughout their education. They are also at a high risk of not completing high school.
Children are typically least prepared for school if their parents are young or single, have a low income or education level, and speak limited English. As many as half of all children under five in Aurora face one or more of these risk factors with their parents.
Aurora is one of Illinois’ most underserved communities for early learning services. It has only 49 slots of publicly funded preschool for every 100 three- and four-year-olds at high risk of not being ready for kindergarten.
Improving Aurora’s early childhood development calls for systemic change to inform public policy, attract greater program funding and motivate families to act on available resources.
Early Childhood Development: The Advantage
The most important period of life is not the age of university studies, but the first one, the period from birth to the age of six.
If you’re going to equalize the academic playing field, you’ve got to get the kids in early childhood programs.
There are only 2,000 days between the time a baby is born and when that child shows up for the first day of kindergarten. When we invest in children’s earliest years, we get a lifetime of results for our children, our community, our state and our economy.
Young people who were in preschool programs are more likely to graduate from high school, own homes and have longer marriages.
