Greetings and Happy Fall!

It's time to gear up for anewyear! The  88th Iowa legislative session  is to  begin  January13,2020 and conclude 100days later on April 21,2020. The 4 R Kids Early ECI boardis supporting the Association of Early Childhood Iowa Area Boards and Advocates legislative agenda talking points.

• Support a comprehensive and integrated early care, health and education system for the youngest Iowans by restoring funding for Early Childhood Iowa to pre-recession levels by Fiscal Year 2026 through 6 annual increases of $3,000,000 each year.
• Treat the infant and toddler childcare crisis as a critical workforce issue.
• Develop a Statewide Children's Behavioral Health System that includes Early Childhood Iowa as part of a multi-tiered system ofprevention, early identification, early intervention, crisis management and behavioral health services.

Legislators have taken note of the challenges to access of child care as well as quality and there may be movement with this topic this session. Policy  makers  will  have  difficult  decisions  to  make  this  year
 and you can be a part of the solutions.You are encouraged to keep up to date during the legislativ esession as well as educate your local legislators on the importance of investing in our youngest Iowan's.You can stay in the know by checking the legislative website for bills and autostreaming.

Seeking Board Membership

The Iowa 4 R Kids Early Childhood Area Board is seeking applicants who want to help children age 0-5 grow, learn and prepare for Kindergarten. With the state financial resources, our twelve member board awards Early Childhood grants to ensure young children will be healthy and successful. 

Board membership is available to anyone wo work or live in Adair, Dallas, Madison, or Warren County, and do not directly or indirectly receive funds from the Board. For more information download the 4 R Kids Board membership application or contact the ECI Director, Debra Schrader.

Using Screens with Young Children - Think Again:

The brains of toddlers resist learning from screens, even video chats, according to research recently published in Frontiers of Psychology. Having a responsive adult communication partner present can help. Previous research has shown that unlike older children, infants, and toddlers need responsive, face-to-face encounters with real, live humans in order to learn new information. In addition to this study, the Today Show featured a JAMA Pediatrics article that had concerning findings about digital devices and the developing brains of young children. Finally, Zero to Three has several resources related to using technology with young children.

SAVE THE DATE!

Midwest ACEs Summit

Monday, June 8, 2020

Holiday Inn Des Moines-Airport Conference Center

A summit dedicated to ACEs the day before the Trauma-Informed Care Conference. Presenters will focus on the expanded view of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) pyramid, with an emphasis on social context and historical trauma, and share how this expanded view requires new approaches to policy, systems, and direct-service work. 

Deaf Infants More Attuned to Parent's Visual Cues

In a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Washington's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), Deaf infants exposed to American Sign Language demonstrated strong gaze-following behavior-and at a more advanced level-than hearing infants. Andrew Meltzoff, co-director of I-LABS and a co-author of the study, said, "Deaf infants, like hearing infants, strive to communicate with others. They are raised with a visual language and become exquisitely attuned to the visual signals from adults." There is a more general lesson about human nature, too, Meltzoff said: "The human mind and brain flexibly adapt to achieve our fundamental birthright-connections to others."

Early Childhood Iowa