Blog
Happy First Birthday, Nebraska Step Up to Quality!
Nebraska Step Up to Quality celebrated its first birthday July 1 and celebrated a year of working to improve early care and education quality, and increase positive outcomes for young children to close the achievement gap.
Senator Mello: Nebraska is Well-Positioned to Continue to Invest in Our Children, Grow Our Economy
Appropriations Committee Chair Mello sees tremendous opportunity for policymakers to improve the lives of Nebraska's children and families while continuing to build on our state’s overall economic momentum.
New Website Offers Extensive Resources for Early Childhood Educators
Patriotic Books for Toddlers
Parents are their children's most important role models—and reading aloud is the most important thing a parent can do to prepare a child for reading and learning. Here are a few great seasonal books for this time of year.
The power of high-quality early childhood education
In this short video of a TEDx talk at the University of North Carolina, researcher Kate Gallagher talks about the ground-breaking Abecedarian Project in which low-income children received quality early childhood education. Now, 35 years later, we continue to see how high-quality early care and education changed the life trajectories of the children who participated.
10 Ways Children Benefit from Involved Fathers
Did you know that numerous studies point specifically to the long-term benefits children receive when their fathers are actively engaged in their care? Research shows that involved fathers relate to their children in ways that produce specific developmental benefits.
Nebraska Department of Education Revises Rules on Early Childhood Education
The Nebraska Department of Education held a hearing on June 2 to take comments on its revisions to Rule 11. The most significant changes to the Rule related to requirements for prekindergarten programs that provide parent education.
Early Childhood Highlights from Nebraska’s 2015 Legislative Session
Balancing a wide variety of public interests and with great bipartisan support, the Nebraska Legislature again recognized the critical importance of children’s early years prior to adjourning the 2015 legislative session on May 29. Of preeminent importance to First Five Nebraska is public policy that recognizes the development of the brain in the early years literally shapes the learning capacity for the rest of a child’s life. Here's a summary of our highest priority bills from the 2015 legislative session.
Senators Campbell and Sullivan: Unique LB547 Partnerships Will Reach More At-Risk Children
With true bipartisanship, Nebraska senators passed and Governor Ricketts signed legislation to allow partnership between child care providers and schools to help young children receive the kinds of early experiences known to foster cognitive and character skills that lead to success in school and life.
Governor Ricketts Signs Budget, Stabilizes Funding for Early Childhood Education
The budget stabilizes future funding for Sixpence, Nebraska’s birth to age 3 early learning fund and increases funding for incentives and bonuses in Step Up to Quality.
Nancy Perez: Sixpence Parent Educator
Nancy Perez was introduced to Sixpence as a teenager when pregnancy complications forced her to drop out of school. Through Sixpence, she discovered her passion for early chlidhood education, and now is a Sixpence parent educator. She was the first parent educator in Nebraska to receive a perfect score on the HoVRS, which the University of Nebraska Medical Center administers to evaluate parent coaches and they support they give.
Child Care Providers Can Be Part of the Solution in Closing the Achievement Gap
As child care professionals, we know that good quality early childhood environments matter.