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Another Successful Annual Luncheon in the BooksLast week, Start Early hosted our Annual Luncheon — a virtual, nationwide celebration of the transformational power of starting early. Through the inspiring stories of families, educators and early learning champions, we witnessed how quality early learning and care programs lay a positive foundation for our youngest learners and provide necessary supports for all families.


Presented by LaSalle Network and the Zell Family Foundation, our Luncheon welcomed more than 3,000 individuals from coast to coast, many first-time attendees who are new to the Start Early family, along with some of our longest supporters.

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Send a Special Message this Mother's DayBecoming a new mom can be overwhelming under normal circumstances but becoming a new mom during the COVID-19 pandemic is even more stressful. We know that every bit of encouragement makes a big difference—help us deliver! Join our effort to collect 5,000 signatures for our special Mother’s Day cards to the moms in our programs. Let’s pull together and show them even more support during these difficult times.

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Recognizing Nature’s Impact on Development for Arbor DayStart Early & Encourage Early Childhood Interaction with Nature In recognition of National Arbor Day, Teri Rogoway shares nature's impact on children’s development with Start Early. As the educational programs coordinator for the Santa Clara Open Space Authority, Teri helps children engage with nature from an early age. “We do stroller walks with parents and infants and toddlers, where we let the kids play outside and make things out of twigs, rocks and leaves. I never tell them what to make, I just let them create,” she notes, which helps build creativity skills that follow them into their later years.


In addition to nature’s impact on children’s cognitive development, Teri also sees mental and emotional health benefits for parents.

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Illinois Early Childhood Advocacy Week 2021Illinois Advocates Come Together to Send Amplified Message: Early Education is EssentialIllinois Early Childhood Advocacy Week (April 12-16) marked approximately one year into a pandemic that has deeply affected children, families and early care and learning providers. Throughout this year’s Advocacy Week, Start Early policy experts shared blog posts providing a deep-dive into critical components of the state’s early childhood programs and workforce. The blog series also aimed to empower advocates with key facts and messaging that are foundational to advocating for early learning and care. In one of the week’s posts, Carie Bires, Illinois Policy Team director, reflected on the contributions of early childhood
professionals during the pandemic and the critical need to improve compensation for these essential workers.

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Stronger, more equitable solutions
Start Early and the Early Learning LabWe’re excited to announce the merger of Start Early and the Early Learning Lab (ELL), a nonprofit with expertise in human-centered design, systems thinking and technology solutions. By integrating ELL’s human-centered design capacities with Start Early’s deep expertise across program, policy and research, we can drive stronger, more equitable solutions, programs and policies that are better informed by parent and community voices to improve early childhood systems across the country.
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Learn more.







Playing—And Learning—In The Great Indoors
Fun Indoor Activities to Do With Your ChildThe weather outside continues to be unpredictable here in Chicago as we hopefully head into spring. Inclement weather can offer the perfect opportunity to engage in indoor activities with your children that help them build important academic and social skills; skills such as executive functions, memory, self-regulation and teamwork.
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Check out four fun activities you can try with your family.



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Start Early advances quality early learning for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to close the opportunity gap.

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