Building the foundation for early childhood success
Jonah, a Weld County child care provider, saw the State of Colorado Emerging and Expanding Child Care Grant program as an opportunity to expand his business and better serve his community.
With help from United Way staff for coaching and in applying for funding, Jonah moved his business from being a family child care home serving 12 children to a full-fledged center with 20 tiny tykes. Each of these children will now be better prepared for school and life success.
the Why
For their life success, it is vital that children are reading well by the beginning of 4th Grade. This will more likely occur when children’s basic needs are met, when their child care providers know how to deliver high quality care and when, if present, a child’s special needs are addressed quickly and successfully. Parents that have sufficient resources and support are better able to remain in the workforce.
- Early childhood is the most important period of a person’s development.
- Until the end of 3rd Grade students learn to read—after this, they read to learn.
- Only 39% of Weld County children are reading at grade level by the beginning of 4th Grade; in other words, 6 in 10 aren’t reading to learn by age 8.
- United Way manages Weld County’s Early Childhood Council, the community collaboration where early childhood challenges are solved.
challenges
In Weld County, during the 2019-2020 school year only 39% of 4th Grade students were meeting expectations in English Language Arts. Since students are learning to read until the end of 3rd Grade and then reading to learn after that, this means that nearly 2 in 3 Weld County children weren’t reading well enough to take full advantage of the rest of their formal education.
This situation is difficult for each student and is costly for our community. As evidence, 70% of all incarcerated adults cannot read at a 4th Grade level, meaning they lack the reading skills to navigate many everyday tasks or hold down anything but lower paying jobs. This lack of reading ability keeps people at-risk all of their lives. It also costs the larger community money to have our neighbors relying on social services.
“We have a number of children who still need an awful lot of help with their reading skills. And we, as the adults, have the obligation to figure that out. You can make an investment through United Way that will make a difference in the lives of our most vulnerable children.”
Deirdre Pilch, Superintendent, Greeley-Evans School District 6
By 2024, the Reading Great by 8 community-wide goal is to increase the percentage of Weld County children reading to learn by the beginning of 4th Grade from 39% to 43%.
Investments
The Reading Great by 8 shared effort includes over 35 organizations. Investments are made in a number of programs with county-wide impact that lead to more students reading at grade level by the beginning of 4th Grade. Activities include (with those offered by United Way staff underlined in gold):
supporting parents and caregivers through instruction and basic needs like diapers
recruiting new child care providers and coaching them in opening their businesses
helping child care providers improve the quality of the child care that they provide
identifying and addressing early childhood developmental delays
protecting children that have been physically or sexually abused
working with students in grades 1-3 to catch up in their reading skills
Plus, United Way manages Weld County’s Early Childhood Council, which is the primary place for collaboration in order to increase early childhood outcomes in Weld County.
family support & education
Early Learning & Development
- Weld County’s Early Childhood Council
- Collective Impact Fund
- Child Care Provider Professional Development
- Child Care Provider Recruitment
- Child Care Resource and Referral
- Colorado Shines Quality Improvement Project
- Universal Preschool (UPK) Colorado program
- Early Childhood Education Jobs Board
- Expanding Quality in Infant & Toddler Care
- PASO Institute
cOMMUNITY PARTNERS
19th Judicial District
ABC Child Development Centers
Adventure Dental
Aims Community College
Blooming Littles
Boys & Girls Clubs of Weld County
Centennial BOCES
Clearview Library
Colorado Dept of Early Childhood
Colorado Dept of Education – Office of Migrant Education
Colorado Early Education Network
Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance
Early Childhood University
Envision
Flood & Peterson
GOAL Academy
Greeley Vineyard Church
Greeley-Evans School District 6
Hatch Early Learning Services
High Plains Library District
Immigrant & Refugee Center of Northern Colorado
Jefferson High School
Kid Care Nutrition
Life Stories
Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mtns
North Colorado Health Alliance
North Range Behavioral Health
Project Self-Sufficiency
Re-1 Gilcrest/LaSalle/Platteville
Re-1j Saint Vrain Valley
Re-2 Eaton
Re-3 Keenesburg
Re-4 Windsor-Severance
Re-5j Johnstown-Milliken
Re-7 Platte Valley
Re-8 Fort Lupton
Re-9 Ault-Highland
Re-10 Briggsdale
Re-11 Prairie
Re-12 Pawnee
Re-50j Wiggins
Respite Care Inc.
Seva
Small Business Development Center
The Weld Trust
Town of Milliken
UCHealth
Union Colony Music Academy
University of Northern Colorado
We Matter Learning
Weld County Child Protective Services
Weld County Dept of Human Services
Weld County Dept of Public Health and Environment
Weld County Family Child Care Assoc
Weld County Government
WHALE Respite
WIC
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