Volume 9, Issue 2

107 West Main Street Whiteville, NC 28472

August 2021

The mission of the Early Learning Facility (ELF) is to assist in the development of pre-literacy skills by promoting reading, writing, talking, singing, and playing for children ages birth to five.  ELF membership is required to check out resources from the lending library. Annual dues are just $5 for individuals; $10 for family childcare homes; $25 for child care facilities with less than 50 children and $30 for large centers and community organizations (We are temporarily suspending ELF membership fees to Columbus County child care facilities and family child care homes due to the pandemic; however, we will continue to charge for lamination & other materials. Membership fees may be waived for families experiencing hardships.)

Smart Start Virtual Story Time Columbus County Partnership for Children (Smart Start), in collaboration with Whiteville City Schools as part of Let's Read! Columbus, welcomes you to Smart Start Virtual Story Time! Join us as we bring these stories to life! Access the stories at your convenience (24/7)! Read along if you have the books! New stories will be posted weekly! Access on Facebook @ColumbusSmartStart Access on the web @ www.columbussmartstart.com The stories are brought to you directly from the Smart Start Early Learning Facility!  (Written temporary permission has been granted by Penguin-Random House dated 08.26.20)

Need Books or Resources? The Early Learning Facility (ELF) is a lending library with thousands of items available to check out through our contactless curbside service. The ELF has something for everyone; resource materials, including books for parents, curriculum books for teachers, children's books, theme boxes, puzzles, games, musical instruments, videos, CD’s, & more! You may reserve resources by calling 910-212-6352 and schedule contactless curbside pick up and/or drop off services.

If you are a child care provider who is in need of resources and books, we will deliver books & resources to you at your center! Call Jennifer @ (910) 212-6352 to schedule a time for a contactless curbside drop off delivery/pick up.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2021 Smart Start ELF Summer Reading Challenge! Stay tuned for the total number of children that completed the challenge and for the total number of books read during the 5 week challenge. A very special thank you to the adults who read to our pre readers and supported our young readers during this challenge!

It's Back to School time and many of our children are starting preschool, pre k programs or kindergarten . We have many school themed books available for check out. Call Jennifer @ 910-212-6352 today to reserve yours!

August 9th is National Book Lovers Day We have a lot of children's books available for check out in the ELF. Call Jennifer @ 910-212-6352 today to reserve yours. Then spend some time on August 9th reading to your child(ren). Children take cues from adults. When they grow up surrounded by books they learn to love books. You can read with excitement to bring books to life or stash books all over your house and tell your child when they find a book you will read it to them. Surrounding kids with books at an early age creates a love for books and gets them hooked.

August 15th is National Relaxation Day! Here are some ways to teach your child(ren) to relax Count to 5 Practice deep breathing Teach them to blow in their hands when they need to calm down Go for a walk together Take a bubble bath

Click on the text box for the most up to date list of CCPC Staff Contact Information.

Amazon makes it SO EASY to donate to Columbus County Partnership for Children with each purchase you make. Here is how it works: Click the link (smile.amazon.com/ch/56-1966108) and choose Columbus County Partnership for Children as your charitable organization on the AmazonSmile "supporting" banner along the top left of the page. On your laptop or computer, visit smile.amazon.com and bookmark it to your favorites or sidebar. Use the AmazonSmile bookmark whenever you shop on Amazon. On your mobile device, visit smile.amazon.com and add it as a shortcut to your home screen. Amazon’s mobile apps don’t work with AmazonSmile so be sure to use the shortcut on your home screen to launch AmazonSmile in your mobile browser before purchasing the items in your cart.

Your donation is a great way to get involved with the community and the best way to make a difference in the future of a child. Columbus County Partnership for Children accepts donations of services, products, and monetary contributions. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.