Families Engage Every Day 
Click around to join in the FUN

Visions for Early Learning's (VEL) monthly newsletter is an opportunity for members to receive information about events and opportunities, share information with other members and to highlight the great and innovate work happening throughout the region.

A few clicks and you can be registering for classes, finding flyers for local events and becoming more involved in ways that work for you: in your communities and at a regional and state level.

Special Announcement: CANCELED--the July 9th meeting of VEL Board of Representatives will not be held. The next scheduled meeting is September 10th, 2015, from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in the Grays Harbor Room at ESD 113 in Tumwater. (please see a note regarding the impact of a Washington State Governmental Shut-down below)

This month's highlight: Thurston Early Childhood Coalition holds the first in a series four events in the four corners of Thurston County. 
FUN! events are planned for Yelm,
Rochester, Lacey, and Griffin. They are strategically located to reach: 
1) underserved, low-income families and
caregivers, 2) people of color, 3) single parents, and 
4) parent/caregivers of young children with special needs.
Vis it  TECC's website
for more engaging events!
SPOTLIGHT: Sustainability in VEL funding continues with LeaP through Centralia College

Bilingual Learning and Playing- Villa Los Milagros and Villa San Juan Bautista, Centralia

 

The Spanish/Bilingual Learning and Playing (LeaP) class is designed to provide parents and their children, birth through four, an opportunity to grow and learn together. Through everyday interactions and fun activities that build the parent-child bond, adult students learn to recognize, understand and support their child's physical, mental, social, and emotional needs. Adult students gain important parenting support and become familiarized with child development and guidance tools in a culturally informed context. 

 

Parent-child class sessions are two and one-quarter hours in length. Fourteen adult students were registered for the Bilingual Learning and Playing class with their children, birth through four. The classes were held at Villa los Milagros and Villa San Juan Bautista, two of three Catholic Community affordable housing communities for farm workers and low income families in Centralia, WA.


DOWNLOAD THE CENTRALIA COLLEGE LEAP REPORT TO  LEARN MORE
 
Visit Visions for Early Learning's webpage for links to Community Events and to access activities posted by our region's local county coalitions! 
 

Please note the following message from our funding agency, Thrive of Washington: As you have probably heard, the state fiscal year ends on June 30, 2015, and despite recent progress in negotiations, as of today, the state Legislature has not agreed on a new biennial budget, which begins July 1, 2015. In the unlikely event that a budget is not passed by June 30, 2015, there will be a government shutdown where many services will no longer be available and contracts will be suspended.

 

What this means for you on July 1, 2015: 

*        If your Thrive contract or grant is funded by state or federal dollars, you should suspend operations and services on your contract or grant with Thrive on July 1, 2015. In the event of a government shutdown, state and federal funds that pass through Thrive from the state will not be available for disbursement. [Note: this includes mini-grant funding issued by VEL to local county coalitions and agencies. No expenditures can be incurred within the period of a governmental shut-down, including previously approved use of funds for trainings, events, etc! In the event of a shut-down, please watch for emails detailing cancellations of VEL's July 10 Motivational Interviewing Training]

This is also a great opportunity to urge your legislators to prevent a shutdown. Always start by thanking them for their past support of our state's youngest children and their families and then encourage them to keep it up by increasing investments in early learning and passing a budget by June 30, 2015. You can also explain to them what a shutdown and a lapse in services and support will mean for the children and families you serve. Reach out to your legislators by phone or email (find your legislators here, and click on their names to get their contact info.) Please note that that public funds should not be used in the execution of any possible lobbying efforts.

 

DID YOU KNOW? THE VEL WEBSITE HAS A CALENDAR OF REGIONAL AND LOCAL COALITION EVENTS? CLICK HERE TO VIEW. (AND SEND JANE YOUR EVENTS!)
Are we failing our region's children of color? Accept this call to action and join our conversation at this August's Advancing Racial Equity workshop series. Click here for flyer.
Professional Development
Registration ends August 16!
VEL's Advancing Racial Equity series begins again in August with a break out session at the P-3 Starting Strong Conference at the Tacoma Convention Center continued with two FREE full-day Advancing Racial Equity workshops at ESD 113 in Tumwater!

Registration ends 12 a.m. June 29!

VEL's Regional Home Visiting Cohort
continues it's series of professional development and community of practice building July 10, 2015 with a
Motivational Interviewing Summit
led by Charles Smith, MSW. 
Trainer Track at Starting Strong!  The goal of the Trainer Track is to offer a professional development opportunity for adult educators focused on instructional design and engaging adult learners. (keep your status as a trainer updated in MERIT)
 
Click here for links to the Training Track Schedule at Starting Strong Institute, August 4 & 5 at the Tacoma Convention Center

Email Jane  to reserve. 

See Poverty, Be the Difference.
Explore  Dr. Donna's Beegle's work on poverty  through a dynamic DVD and guidebook, now available for partner agencies to check out for training purposes.

Tools for Family Engagement 

 

BlockFest! 

Funds included in VEL's 2015 Community Momentum Grant provide funds for individual county coalition BLOCKFEST events up to a $375 allotment until the Sept. 10th, 2015 deadline. After Sept. 10th, any funds not already dedicated to an already scheduled event will be reallocated to allow any of the four local coalitions to apply to hold an additional BlockFest event on a first come, first serve basis. All funds must be expended by the Nov. 28, 2015 deadline.

Click here for the BlockFest flyer for organizations or check out BlockFest on Child Care Action Council's website.

Using VEL funds for Family Engagement?

Take 5 minutes to track your VEL funded family engagement activities by reporting your activities on the Love.Talk.Play. tracker...help show what our region does for and with families!

 

Love. Talk. Play. materials are available for use when engaging with families. Submit completed order forms to  jpartridge@esd113.orgClick here to download the LTP order form.
 
Elections are coming
VEL Board and Executive Committee Representatives make a difference. Consider becoming a driving force within and behind VEL's work within our region, increasing engagement with families, addressing equity issues of race and poverty, increasing access to services, and providing supports to early learning professionals who directly impact our region's youngest learners and families. Talk to your local coalition chair or VEL Executive Committee Representative for more information on upcoming annual elections at our Sept. 10, 2015 meeting of the VEL Board of Representatives.

 
Partner agencies are invited to submit PDF's of local events and employment opportunities that may be of interest to coalition members to Project Coordinator Jane Partridge at jpartridge@esd113.org for consideration for future publication in the monthly VEL newsletter.

Partnering Agency Employment Opportunities
Hands On Children's Museum seeks Museum Volunteer Program Coordinator/Educator and Museum Preschool/Program Educator
United Way of Thurston County seeks Right from the Start Early Learning Resource Center Site Coordinator
THRIVE SEEKS EARLY LEARNING POLICY MANAGER
Position focuses heavily on engaging and supporting the Regional Coalitions in their effort to build advocacy capacity and provides equity-driven analysis and advocacy of state-level early learning policies to close the opportunity gap. 
Position open until filled. First review date is July 6, 2015.