Help celebrate Week of the Young Child

April 1, 2003
By Cindy Hovey, PALS teacher

April 6-12 is the Week of the Young Child. This week was established in 1971 to help communities celebrate young children and to focus attention on the needs of our youngest members. This year's theme is Children's Opportunities &endash; Our Responsibilities.

The early years of life are the years when our brains develop dramatically. Research indicates, "the first eight years of life are critical to a child's physical and emotional growth." Therefore, it is essential for us as a community to provide opportunities, resources and support to make a difference in our future through our young children. Supporting and providing opportunities to children in their early years benefits society for a lifetime.

Our young children face many issues. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, we need to provide quality childcare and early educational opportunities. Working parents need access to paid parental leave when necessary. Communities and schools need stronger ties and responsibilities to each other. We need to make childcare and early education a top priority in our community.

To celebrate the Week of the Young Child, the Lincoln Early Childhood Center, which houses Cowley County Head Start and the Preschool and Language Stimulation program, invites you to make a difference. Join us at the Arkansas City Fire Department on Saturday, April 5, for the community-wide Health Fair. If you have time to read a book to 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children, call Head Start at 441-2075 to set up a time. Or, just wave to us when you see us walking uptown to pass out handprints to our community friends.

Each of us can make a difference in the life of a young child; it is our responsibility. Talk with a child. Read to a child. Volunteer at a school or community center. The list is endless. Do what you can to touch a young child's life and you will be touched tenfold in return.