Early Learning is Critical and Needs to Fit the Community, Speakers Tell Summit Attendees

Just returned from the governor's Summit on Early Learning, where I begged my way in, since it was invite-only. I'm glad I did.

Although I missed Christine Gregoire's speech in the morning, which was quite passionate and good, I'm told, I did manage to catch the keynote speakers: Charles Bruner, executive director of the Child and Family Policy Center in Iowa and Julia Coffman, of the Harvard Family Research Project.

I have not read all 74 pages of their report, Beyond Parallel Play: Emerging State and Community Planning Roles in Building Early Learning Systems (say that all in one breath). But their points were excellent I thought.

While admitting he was a white guy from Iowa, Bruner stressed that it was essential that those involved in reaching out to young kids must look at the ethnicity of the community they serve and a how it functions. For example, in many ethnic communities, grandma, or some other relative, watches the kids while mom and/or dad are at work. What are child care advocates doing to reach out to grandma, he asked.

Bruner urged communities to consider a "library approach" that offers a space where a caregiver can go with the child for activities.

He had some interesting national stats, which he said paralleled Washington's numbers. About 30 percent of the kids were in a formal daycare setting. Close to 40 percent were with a relative (grandmas account for half of this number) and 37 percent had no regular supervision.