As our Play To Learn program runs on a school year schedule, we just wrapped up our spring semester and are launching our summer groups with about 30 families participating. This year so far, a total of 204 families graduated from Play To Learn or an extension class through YMCA, which is a combination of Play To Learn and YMCA’s Early Learning Readiness program. Through Play To Learn, not only did young children leave with new skills but parents learned how to foster their child’s optimal development at home. Parents and children attended classes together with the following themes: • Social skills • Gross motor skills • Fine motor skills • Language Development • Emotional regulation skills • Geometry • Numeracy • Emerging Literacy “Honestly, this program did help my daughter a lot. My children are naturally very shy and now my daughter is less introverted and more social. I really did see a huge change in my daughter and I highly recommend the class. The reason I never missed a class is because I could tell my daughter loved being there and benefited greatly.” –Maria R. Attendees also learned digital literacy skills by practicing various tasks and using the pre-loaded educational apps on the Samsung tablets provided by United Way for Greater Austin. It is important to bridge the “digital divide” between low-income families and their more affluent peers now more than ever. Internet access is no longer a luxury but a necessity for individuals to complete homework, fill […]
Read MoreUWATX Partners with Colin’s Hope to Promote Water Safety
Colin’s Hope is an organization that educates families and children about water safety in efforts to prevent children from drowning. This work is especially important during summer, when pools and water parks are filled with kids. United Way for Greater Austin partnered with Colin’s Hope to distribute water safety cards to more than 3,200 families. Laura Olson of UWATX’s Success By 6 program also connected Colin’s Hope with early childhood organizations that primarily serve families with children under the age of 5 to expand the reach of the messaging. In addition to distributing water safety cards, United Way for Greater Austin provided support by: Identifying partners that could distribute the Colin’s Hope Water Safety Quiz to families with young children Connecting Colin’s Hope to partners that would assist in sharing water safety awareness information, including Child’s Inc., KLRU, the Literacy Coalition and the AISD Early Childhood program Offered to recruit volunteers to aid in distribution of water safety cards via Hands On Central Texas Will assist in any future Spanish translations of Colin’s Hope material Developing a next level of outreach and education for summer camp providers/staff in low-income communities Will create a 2017 outreach plan with Colin’s Hope to educate even more families next year We are proud to partner with Colin’s Hope to keep Austin’s children safe this summer!
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