childcare & early education

childcare & early education environmental health healthcare politics & policy

February 18, 2015

If you’re a parent or caregiver of a school-aged child, you’re probably familiar with the question, “But do I have to go to school today ?” All kids, no matter how much they like school, sometimes want to spend the day doing other things. (I suppose we don’t really outgrow that urge…) But though they may have the occasional desire to play hooky, children typically don’t miss school by choice. For many students, school absences aren’t voluntary or sporadic – they are routine occurrences connected with more serious health conditions, and often poverty. The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS...

Manel Kappagoda

childcare & early education paid sick days Realistic & Fair Wages

February 10, 2015

Today, I had one of those mornings. Stubborn kids, messy kitchen; the entire morning routine was running further behind schedule and my blood pressure was on the rise. Sound familiar?

Lindsay Imai Hong

childcare & early education families & the federal budget family economic security healthcare politics & policy

February 6, 2015

“We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made, and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer ‘Tomorrow.’ His name is today.” - Nobel Laureate Gabriela Mistral The President’s budget released this week proposes billions in critical new federal investments for 2016 and beyond to improve the life chances of millions of poor children. It also would prevent more harmful budget...

Marian Wright Edelman

childcare & early education families & the federal budget healthcare paid family leave

February 3, 2015

The President's budget is hundreds of pages! Have no fear, MomsRising has broken it all down for you and provides you with all the things you need to know.

Elyssa Koidin Schmier

childcare & early education

January 20, 2015

It’s imperative for Congress and the Obama administration to come up with a solution that provides our early childhood educators with living wages. At the same time, we need to give every child in America a strong start by ensuring they have access to affordable, high-quality early childhood education and care.

AFT Executive Vice President, Mary Cathryn Ricker

childcare & early education momsrising near you

January 20, 2015

I have spent the past year visiting and advocating for high quality pre-k classrooms in Pennsylvania. In the Fall as election day neared, I would ask the children what they thought it meant to be a "Governor of Pennsylvania". The conversations were so engaging I kept using the question as a conversation starter well after election day was over!

Mary E. Mannix

childcare & early education

January 12, 2015

Just a couple of months ago, I helped to translate Dr. Glenn Doman’s Fit Baby, Smart Baby, Your Baby to Mandarin Chinese. At the beginning of the book, Dr. Doman wrote, “The early development of mobility in newborns is a vital part of their future ability to learn and grow to full potential.” When translating this sentence, I looked at my 20-month-old. Surely we all know that learning begins at birth and the brain develops faster between birth to age 3 than any other period of life.

To-wen Tseng

childcare & early education family economic security open flexible work paid family leave paid sick days politics & policy

January 4, 2015

The second Friday before Christmas was like most of my days -- essentially -- but with some unique details. I was finishing up the update of my ebook, Lean On and Lead, Mothering and Work in the 21st Century Economy , so I was making edits and chasing after approvals from various interviewees in between my double and triple-checks for typos. I also had a call with one of the mothers in the book, Hawaii State Senator Jill Tokuda, who was juggling gingerbread-house making in her older son's classroom with preparing for her new post as Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. We talked...

Shay Chan Hodges

childcare & early education Food! healthcare

December 18, 2014

Over the years, I’ve received a few ugly Christmas sweaters. My favorite was a bright red sweater with too many dancing reindeers that I received when I was about 10 years old. At the time, I didn’t know it was ugly. It had to be pointed out to me by a dear, older friend – she was 11 and I couldn’t refute her wisdom. Now, that the ugly Christmas sweater is fashionable, I’m feeling a bit lost. Does this mean that I was always fashionable and just didn’t know it? Or, that I was a trendsetter ahead of my time? And, most importantly, could I trust my instincts and answer the greatest question of...

Migdalia Rivera

childcare & early education politics & policy

December 12, 2014

On December 10th President Obama hosted a White House Summit on Early Education, bringing together a broad coalition of philanthropic, business, education, child advocacy, and elected leaders and other key stakeholders. It was a welcome chance to celebrate progress in expanding access to quality early childhood development and learning opportunities for children from birth through age 5. Although we haven’t yet seen the passage of needed comprehensive legislation to provide low-income and other at-risk children a full continuum of quality supports from voluntary home visiting programs to Early Head Start and Head Start, child care, pre-kindergarten and — I hope — full-day kindergarten, progress has been made in increasing access to and expanding quality programs and building support for future investments.

Marian Wright Edelman