Bringing The Basics to Families in Trinity and Archdale
The Randolph Partnership for Children is undertaking an initiative to expand their efforts in Trinity and Archdale with funding from the Foundation for a Healthy High Point. Their mission is to bring The Basics, a science-based early childhood development strategy, to more families, ensuring that children in these communities have the best start in life.
The Basics strategy was developed at Harvard University with an initial goal of translating key elements of early childhood development research into fun, basic principles that anyone can implement with their children. These principles help parents and caregivers maximize learning opportunities for young children, making everyday interactions meaningful and enriching. The five pillars, Maximize Love, Manage Stress; Talk, Sing, and Point; Count, Group, and Compare; Explore Through Movement and Play; and Read and Discuss Stories are designed to be accessible and fun, helping children thrive during their crucial early years of development.
For the Randolph Partnership for Children, whose mission is to focus on the first five years of life and ensure that every child in Randolph County is fully prepared to thrive in school, The Basics is a perfect fit. And with just over a third of eligible children in Randolph County under the age of 5 enrolled in licensed childcare, The Basics strategy is a valuable additional tool for reaching young children.
“There’s so much powerful research and brain science that shows how so much of life tracks back to those earliest years,” said Lisa Hayworth, Executive Director for the Randolph Partnership for Children. “We want all those early learning opportunities to be as rich and as high quality as possible.”
The Partnership, part of both The Basics Learning Network and the statewide Smart Start network, is excited to expand the scope of The Basics in Trinity and Archdale. The funding received from the Foundation has allowed them to create and distribute Basics Busy Bags, a tool for educating parents and caregivers and providing them with the resources to implement the five pillars. The kits include a card explaining the five principles in English and Spanish, and items that help caregivers put the principles into practice. Examples include a flashlight to encourage exploration through movement and play, and a book to support reading and discussing stories.
The kits are only one part of a broader strategy. A critical aspect of the initiative is educating stakeholders to be champions for The Basics. The success of The Basics as a community movement is based on surrounding a community with messaging and materials – providing family-facing organizations with the foundation and tools to advocate for the program. The Randolph Partnership for Children is working with a variety of organizations, educating them about The Basics and training them to engage with parents and distribute the Busy Bags. Partners include any place that young children or their caregivers are interacting – faith communities, pediatricians, childcare programs, libraries, business leaders, YMCAs, the Department of Public Health, the Archdale Parks and Recreation Department, and more. The Partnership educates staff so that they can initiate conversations with caregivers, lead with the Busy Bags, then follow up in subsequent conversations with reinforcement. “Part of the mission is to help the community as a whole understand just how important early childhood is for a thriving community,” Hayworth said. “We want to make it second nature for parents to take advantage of everyday opportunities to talk about things with their young children.”
The Partnership is working toward a goal of enlisting 20 partner agencies in this initiative but acknowledges facing some challenges. Ongoing contact and constant reinforcement are needed to keep participants energized and committed to the strategy. “If we can get close to 20 partners who are fully embracing this in a robust way, that would be great,” said Hayworth. “In the early months of the grant, that has been our challenge. We’ve had some successful recruiting efforts and successful orientations, but part of our job now is to provide that constant reinforcement to those partners so that they continue to stay excited.” Capacity is another hurdle, as it takes time and focus to have meaningful conversations with parents about The Basics, especially when those initiating the conversations are already juggling their primary professional responsibilities.
The Basics is a community strategy that aligns with the Foundation’s goal of improving education access and quality, and this grant for efforts in Trinity and Archdale allows us to reach a different target audience in our service area. We are excited to partner with Randolph Partnership for Children to support the youngest members of our community.