It's the fourth part of our Why Child Care Matters series with our guest blogger, Sarah, emphasizing the need for quality child care and early learning.Sarah poses the question: "how do we improve child care facilities while also making it affordable for all families?" Read on to learn what she discovers!
Firesteel Blog
Schools Stabilize Families: What Back To School Means for Homeless Children
Families are the fastest-growing homeless population and more and more children are experiencing homelessness. 26,048 school-age children are homeless in the state of Washington. The McKinney Vento Act makes sure these children don't fall through the cracks and ensures basic educational rights for children and youth who are experiencing homelessness. As kids go back to school, Catherine Hinrichsen from the Seattle University Project on Family Homelessness shares what she has learned about the impact of homelessness on school-age children and what we can do to advocate for the educational rights of homeless children.
Photo Friday: Back to School
Happy 3 day weekend! Labor Day also means back to school but what does that mean for homeless children?
Why Child Care Matters: Investing In Our Future Early On
By age five children should understand opposites, count 5-10 objects, speak in sentences, name colors, get along with others, and sit at their desk. Unfortunately, students living in poverty are more likely to start school without these basic skills. If children start behind they are more likely to stay behind. They are more likely to need special education, repeat a grade, and drop out of high school. Research demonstrates that high-quality pre-k increases a child’s chances of succeeding in school and in life. Early learning programs are essential if we want to end the cycle of poverty in our nation. We continue our Why Child Care Matters series with this third installment written by guest blogger, Sarah Swihart
Why Child Care Matters: House of Pain
Sarah Swihart (2nd to right) with her parents and fiance at her Seattle University graduation Spring of 2012. She'll be returning to Seattle U this fall to begin a Masters in Public Administration with a powerful perspective that will make her a great policy advocate!
We continue our Why Childcare Matters 5 part series with our guest blogger, Sarah, sharing her personal story of domestic violence and homelessness. Not belittling her own difficulties, Sarah reflects on how much more difficult it is for mothers. Child care can present a huge barrier for parents working to provide for their families and an obstacle that does not often receive much attention. In this series, we hope to shed more light on this issue and make connections between child care and homelessness.