Reserve Your Spot Today!

Charlotte’s Premiere Family Event for children ages 0-5

Storytelling ~ Breakfast ~ Music ~ Ballet & Step Performances
Bear & Book for Each Chid ~ Raffles ~ Silent Auction
We know how to provide good child care, we just don’t insist on it!
Imagine that you have just entered a room with 12 2-year-olds in it. Three are using a chair as a drum. Two are taking turns snatching a stuffed teddy bear from each other, and whoever isn’t holding the teddy bear is crying. Two more are quietly looking at books, while another is scribbling in one with a black crayon. One has just had an accident in his newly minted “big boy pants” and you can smell it from where you’re standing. Two are building a block tower that is probably about to fall on top of the one playing with a toy car.

Now, imagine you have been tasked with taking care of this group for the next eight hours. That means keeping them safe, clean, and fed at a bare minimum. It would be preferable if you could also play with each of them one-on-one for a while to make sure you have a clear sense of where each is developmentally. Oh, and be sure to arrange some art projects, outdoor exploration, and reading time since loosely organized activities like these help toddlers develop their self-expression, explore their worlds, and learn basic pre-academic skills.
The Mecklenburg Partnership for Children
 FY 2018-19 BIDDERS CONFERENCE
Tuesday, January 23, 2018 from 10:00 – 11:30 a.m .
Children & Family Services Center, Training Room 1,
601 E. 5th Street, Charlotte, NC 28202

Completed applications are due in the Smart Start office on
Wednesday, March 14, 2015 by 5:00 pm.

Vision
Children in Charlotte/Mecklenburg enter kindergarten healthy and ready to succeed.

Mission
We mobilize resources, forge partnerships, & support families to improve early childhood health, education & development & ensure children are prepared for kindergarten.

Organizational Goals:
  • Children are healthy and developmentally ready for kindergarten success.
  • Families of young children are supported and provide supportive home environments.
  • Children have access to high quality, nurturing early learning environments.
  • Children live in safe and supportive communities.

Funding opportunities are offered in the areas of health,
family support, literacy and early care and education for children ages birth to five. For more information, call Lee Henderson at 704-943-9414
Car, Stroller, Juice: Babies understand when words are related
The meaning behind infants’ screeches, squeals and wails may frustrate and confound sleep-deprived new parents. But at an age when babies cannot yet speak to us in words, they are already avid students of language.

“Even though there aren’t many overt signals of language knowledge in babies, language is definitely developing furiously under the surface,” said Elika Bergelson, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.

Bergelson is the author of a surprising 2012 study showing that six– to nine-month-olds already have a basic understanding of words for food and body parts. In a new report, her team used eye-tracking software to show that babies also recognize that the meanings of some words, like car and stroller, are more alike than others, like car and juice.
Twirl to the World Foundation Toy Collection...a Success
A HUGE Shout Out to the  Twirl to the World  Foundation on another amazing collection of toys this year!

As a result, Smart Start was able to distribute over 250 toys to two community programs, YMCA Parents as Teachers and Smart Start - Healthy Families Mecklenburg. Both of which are evidence based home visiting models that focus on low-income first time parents. 

Thanks to the generous donations from Twirl to the World party-goers, many young children in Charlotte received a special holiday gift!  
Triple P Parenting Tip of the Month
Children are more likely to misbehave when they are bored so provide lots of indoor and outdoor activities for your child, e.g., building blocks, coloring, cardboard boxes, dress ups, play houses, etc.


Join our FREE Monthly GPS Parent Workshop For Families of Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) 
Funded Program
YMCA Parents as Teachers empowers Latino parents living in Mecklenburg County by offering a comprehensive, family-centered package of services to improve the capacity of parents to support, nurture, and guide their children using the Parents As Teachers (PAT) curriculum to promote school readiness.
Parents as Teachers
YMCA of Greater Charlotte
3045 N. Davidson St.
Charlotte, NC 28205


Smart Start of Mecklenburg County administers approximately $13 million a year in state and private funds to programs serving children birth to age five, their families, and their caregivers in Mecklenburg County. 

Thank You!

Thank You for all you do to Ensure that ALL Children in Mecklenburg County Enter School Healthy and Ready to Succeed!