Association for Supportive Child Care Awarded $744,000 Grant From Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation
Grant Money to Finance “Play & Learn,” Which Seeks to Increase School Readiness Among Arizona Youths
More Arizona children will enter kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed, thanks to a generous grant from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation that seeks to level the playing field among elementary school-bound Arizona youths.
The $744,000 grant, given to the Association for Supportive Child Care, will allow the organization to extend its Play & Learn program, which provides guidance, training and support for babysitters, family members and other non-licensed caregivers, to 200 more Arizona adults and 400 more local children. The Play & Learn program seeks to build confidence among caregivers and show them how to foster development and school readiness in the children they care for to help close the gap that exists between kindergarten-bound children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
“It’s an unfortunate reality that children living in poverty are less likely to receive the early learning experiences needed to prepare them for success in the school system,” said businesswoman Renee Parsons, of the Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “The work of ASCC is teaching families how to bring education into the home through everyday interactions.”
The Play & Learn program involves 10 separate adult-child interactive sessions, each of which relies on daily activities and household items to help build cognitive and developmental abilities in young children. Covered topics include language and literacy, brain development, yoga, child development and nutrition, among others.
“Early education is critically important to a child’s development and long-term success, yet too many children in Arizona enter kindergarten without baseline skillsets simply because their families lack access to adequate resources,” said ASCC CEO Nicole Newhouse. “The support from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation will allow us to expand our program and close the learning gap for economically disadvantaged children by increasing home education during early childhood.”
