A math educator encourages board games and card games as a way to promote numeracy skills — even among our youngest learners.

Quotable & Notable

“Child care wages and tuition pricing is at a tipping point. It can be difficult hiring qualified teachers with the compensation we are able to offer and we can't raise our prices much more without pushing parents to the point they can't afford us. This is a huge trend all over child care in Ohio.”

Who:

anonymous quote from a child care center director, Franklin County, Ohio

Where: “The Tipping Point: Central Ohio Child Care Provider Survey Report” published by Action for Children

Fact of the Week

A new survey of child care providers conducted by Action for Children found that over half of them reported that their monthly revenue does not cover their expenses. Programs in Franklin County and family child care providers were among those most likely to report this.

“Offsetting child care costs for families is an important part of a comprehensive approach, but alone it isn’t enough,” the report notes. “It needs to be supported by an approach of investing in child care program operating costs that are the basis of the quality, reliability and accessibility that families, businesses and communities rely on.”

Policy Radar

The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services released a policy statement on inclusion of children with disabilities in high-quality early childhood education. The purpose of the statement is to reiterate “expectations for inclusive early childhood settings and updates recommendations for state and local agencies that implement Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs, Head Start, child care, home visiting, preschool, and public schools to increase inclusive early learning opportunities for all children.” The policy statement also outlines evidence-based models and exemplary early childhood programs that are inclusive of children with disabilities.

Events & Happenings

The Hunt Institute, The Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center and the Alliance for Early Success are hosting a panel summarizing this year’s legislative wins for children called 2023’s Big Wins for Little Kids on Monday, December 11 at 2 p.m.

Beyond the Buckeye State

Michigan has just launched a new state department, the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential, with a goal to reduce bureaucracy and to bring programs under one agency that support the spectrum of learning — from early childhood to post-high school. 

New revenues made possible by the “millionaires’ tax” in Massachusetts have more than doubled the amount of funding available for capital improvement grants for child care facilities seeking to make renovations and upgrades.

What We’re Reading

Health Policy Institute of Ohio published a brief on the impacts on children when their parents are incarcerated or involved in the justice system. 

The Hill summarizes how much caregivers are spending on child care and new statistics showing that employees would be more likely to return to the office if their employer helped pay for the cost of child care.

Research Round-Up

Research shows that children who read for pleasure early in life may experience better cognition, mental health and brain structure in adolescence. A study published in Psychological Medicine examined the reading habits of over 10,000 youth in the United States, and possible outcomes on their brain development and cognitive functioning at later ages. Using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the U.S., researchers examined parental response data on their 9-to-11-year-old children’s reading for pleasure habit. The data included information about how many years the child had been reading for pleasure, and approximately how many hours per week the child did so.

Researchers then examined data from neurocognitive assessments and neuroimaging that had been conducted for the ABCD study at follow up visits for children ages 11 to 13 (two years after the baseline). Overall, they found positive associations with brain development and cognitive function among children who started early reading for pleasure. Children who read for pleasure earlier also had fewer mental health concerns and used screens less. The authors note that “our findings have implications for caregivers, teachers, and policymakers in supporting early [reading for pleasure] in children from families with different income levels, and for educators and publishers in providing well-designed reading materials for children.”

This edition written by: Jamie O'Leary and Janelle Williamson

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