At Smart Start of Mecklenburg County, we approach our work with the optimism inherent in the young children we serve. We do our work, not in isolation but with and through our partners in the community. As we embark upon National Reading Month, we would love to hear your personal stories. Click the link below to share a testimonial about your experience with Smart Start of Mecklenburg County or one of our valued community partners.
Just in time for National Reading Month, please help us welcome Ayesha Rahim to the team as our new Literacy Coordinator! Ayesha brings over 8 years of experience in education, including work in Saudi Arabia and Morocco. She has most recently served as a literacy program manager with immigrant and refugee families in Philadelphia. She is excited by her recent mvoe to North Carolina to be closer to her family and is very much looking forward to spreading the importance of daily shared reading with families in Mecklenburg. Ayesha is also looking forward to baking, exploring nature, and dreaming about her future farm. Welcome, Ayesha!
Literacy is one of the four key focus areas of Smart Start of Mecklenburg County. In honor of National Reading Month, please continue reading about two of our literacy programs with the option to enroll.
Ready4K is a research-based text-messaging program for parents with young children. Each week, you will receive age-appropriate facts, tips, and opportunities to boost your child's learning by building on existing family routines.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library provides books, free of charge, to children living in Mecklenburg County until their 5th birthday. Enrolled children receive one age-appropriate book in the mail each month from birth to five.
Smart Start of Mecklenburg County is known for its allocation of state, county, and private funds to local early childhood serving agencies. Our second annual Innovation Grants support efforts committed to championing equitable access and opportunities for all in early childhood.

In honor of National Reading Month, we are highlighting a selection of Innovation Grant recipients and community partners whose programs focus on early literacy, thus helping children enter kindergarten healthy and ready to succeed.

Read about all of our 2022 Innovation Grant recipients HERE.
Funding supports Bookseed and Reading Resource Center projects in Inlivian, formerly the Charlotte housing authority.

The Bookseed Program works with organizations serving families experiencing housing instability and provides home libraries to children from birth to fifth grade. Each child self-selects 25 books to seed their home libraries.

In addition, each affordable housing community receives a Reading Resource Center where children and families can select free books year-round. Reading Resource Centers also connect parents to literacy partners, programs, and parent education opportunities.
Early Literacy DEI is a unique partnership between Raising a Reader and Charlotte Mecklenburg Library (CML). Funding gives childcare professionals access to free resources to amplify their knowledge in diversity, equity, and inclusion allowing them to demonstrate and model acceptance, tolerance, and empathy for children and families.

To address the problem of travel time to obtain resources, the Library staff is bringing the program and resources directly to the childcare facilities. CML believes that participating children will gain self-confidence and demonstrate feeling comfortable engaging with people from various backgrounds and cultures. The program will also put quality books in participating classrooms, which in turn, sustains this opportunity beyond the program.  
 
To date, the curriculum has been developed and the project approved by the North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education to provide contact hours for teachers receiving the training. The 12-week project is on schedule to start on March 23. 
The mission of Reach Out and Read is to provide a medically-based literacy intervention for all children birth to 5 years of age, beginning with families living in poverty. The Reach Out and Read model is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the program has one of the strongest records of research support of any primary care intervention. 
Registration is now open for MECK Pre-K! All children residing in Mecklenburg County who will be four years old on or before August 31, 2022, are eligible for the 2022-2023 school year. Experts agree that anything parents or caregivers can do to prepare children for kindergarten, including enrolling in a pre-k program, can provide a strong foundation for academic success. Learn more about this high-quality program HERE.
Smart Start of Mecklenburg County and our partner organizations have some exciting events to look forward to this spring! Mark your calendars for the annual Week of the Young Child (WOYC) celebration during the first week of April. WOYC is a yearly event sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), celebrating early learning, young children, teachers, and families. Look forward to more information on local efforts. Additional information on other exciting events will be coming soon.
This year’s Opportunity for Influence campaign brings together early childhood professionals and dedicated individuals from throughout the community. Our digital event allows us to focus on the opportunities being provided for children prenatal-to-five throughout Mecklenburg County while highlighting the work done by local Influencers. We hope you will join this engaging discussion and show your commitment to influencing the outcome for our young children.
We mobilize resources, forge partnerships, and support families to improve early childhood health, education, and development - all to help ensure children are prepared for kindergarten.

Click the links to learn more about our funded programs within our four areas of focus for children ages birth to five.
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