childcare & early education

September 19, 2011

Woah, WA State-- this is big. Our state is applying to win a $60 million federal grant to back critical early child care and education programs. But with only a few Race to The Top, Early Learning Challenge grants available to all 50 states, the competition between states to get this money is going to be fierce. We have to be creative to bring funds into Washington State! So instead of only including letters from muckity-mucks as is usually done for federal grants, this time our Washington state leaders are also going to include a letter signed by all of us! That's right. Parents,...

Sarah Francis

childcare & early education healthcare

September 19, 2011

At six months pregnant, like most moms and moms-to-be, I’m finding plenty of things to worry about. When I’m not fretting over my daily calcium intake or environmentally friendly diaper options, I find myself plagued with anxiety about the longer-term realities of child rearing today. I want to give my daughter the freedom I enjoyed as a child—freedom to move, imagine, and create. But in today’s paranoid, litigious, and test-happy culture, will I be able to? As kids across the country head back to school, and as I watch my belly swell, I’ve been thinking a lot about the freedoms I had in...

Kerala Taylor

childcare & early education

September 10, 2011

The age difference between my oldest child and youngest is ten years. The daughter who was in third grade on September 11, 2001 started her first year of college last week, and the “baby” is now at the same school, sitting in the exact same elementary classroom as her big sister did on 9/11/01. I resisted writing about the tenth anniversary of 9/11 – there’s already much opinion criss-crossing the airwaves, and there have been so many other tragedies – genocide in Rwanda, recovery in New Orleans and Haiti, famine in Somalia, tsunami aftermath in Asia, contempt for human rights in Iran – that...

Homa Tavangar

childcare & early education healthcare

September 8, 2011

Backpack? (Check!) Number 2 pencils? (Check!) Crayons and Kleenex? (Check!) It’s back-to-school time and with it comes the always fun school supply shopping trip! Over the next few weeks many of us will find ourselves crowded into the aisles of our local stores, looking for the best deals on notebooks and pencils as we try to make sure our kids have everything they need to start the year off right. But what our kids need most for a successful year won’t be found on those lists or in the stores. It's the teachers, the assistants, the counselors, the cafeteria workers, and the custodians who...

Beth Messersmith

childcare & early education

September 8, 2011

ColorOfChange.org and Change.org flooded Ohio Governor’s Office with Hundreds of Calls Demanding a Pardon ColorOfChange.org, the nation’s largest online African-American political organization, today applauded Ohio Governor John Kasich’s decision to grant Kelley Williams-Bolar executive clemency, reducing her felony convictions to first-degree misdemeanors. The single mother had been convicted after allegedly misleading authorities and sending her children to a school outside her district. After Ohio's parole board issued its recommendation Friday to deny Williams-Bolar any form of clemency,...

Dani McClain

childcare & early education

September 7, 2011

Before our baby was born I received really good advice from a co-worker while I was only in my second trimester who suggested my husband and I should locate a child-care provider ASAP, well before the baby was due. It seemed crazy to me to have to start looking but we took her advice and I’m really glad we did. With my big pregnant belly we went out to visit a few large daycare centers and two at-home daycare locations. We weren’t sure what we would prefer but as soon as I saw the infant room at one of the big daycare centers I knew it wasn’t for us. Personally, it seemed like a little baby...

Michelle Noehren

childcare & early education Blog Carnivals momsvote

August 25, 2011

What constitutes a “War on Women?” Is it the daily headlines about attacks on reproductive rights? Or is it more than that? Working at a women’s rights organization, especially one that works on many issues, I can tell you right now that the “War on Women” has many fronts. Some are in the headlines, and some are a bit under the radar. This post is dedicated to what is happening on the education front – the good, the bad and the ugly. The Good: Wish I had something to put here. Until I do, here is a smiley face :) Enjoy! At least we can always look to the advancements women have made in...

Melanie Ross-Levin

childcare & early education healthcare

August 24, 2011

A Canadian couple's decision to keep their infant's sex from the world at large seems less weird when one consider's the harms done by the marketing industry's sexualization of young children

Susan Linn

paid family leave childcare & early education

August 23, 2011

Three weeks ago I “came back” to work. I say “came back” because for the previous 10 weeks I was at home taking care of a newborn and now I’m back at my full-time career. I love the saying, “every mother is a working mother.” Now that I’ve had the experience of being a first-time mother, I relate to that mantra more than ever. Anyone who claims stay-at-home moms aren’t working has clearly never had the experience of caring for an infant. Lillian was born at the end of May (an experience I will likely blog about) and since then I have learned a lot about baby care and just how much work taking...

Michelle Noehren

paid family leave childcare & early education

August 12, 2011

Only one woman on the "Super Committee"? Ouch! Here's the math: Women are 50.7% of our population, only 17% of Congress, and an appallingly low 8% of the Super Committee . This lack of representation on the debt ceiling Super Committee which is charged with cutting $1.5 trillion from the federal budget is pathetic, particularly given that critical programs---like Medicaid, Medicare, child care, education, food assistance, and Social Security--which have the biggest impacts on women and families are at stake. The solutions that come out of the Super Committee need to reflect the needs of Main...