March News & Updates

March 10 | 2025

Commission Meeting:

March 12 at 4 pm

The First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission will meet on Wednesday, March 12th from 4 to 6 pm. This is a public meeting and you are invited to attend! Note our new location: 3240 Kerner Boulevard, Room 119.

Email us for the agenda: Michelle@First5Marin.org.

April Forum: The New Ecology of Early Childhood

We are excited to welcome the Stanford Center on Early Childhood to the Marin Communications Forum on April 11th.

Dr. Philip Fisher will present a new working paper, The New Ecology of Early Childhood, which examines major factors affecting the ecosystems of young children--

*the persistence of poverty and increasing inequalities, *the unmet demand for child care,

*climate crisis, and the *exponential acceleration of digital technology.

(And it's all exacerbated by the unstable times in which we live...)

The impacts are unprecedented and are leading to new challenges for children-- and the adults in their lives.

Online forum

Friday, April 11th

10 to 11 am

(email invitations coming soon!)

May Forum:

Maternal Mental Health, Wellness, and Suicide Prevention

Plans are underway for a special forum to focus on Maternal Mental Health.

First 5 Marin is partnering with Marin County Health & Human Services, Dominican University and the Postpartum Support Center for an interactive event looking at mental health in youth and the prenatal period, mental health in the postpartum period, and issues related to suicide prevention and support.

Save the Date!

Friday, May 2nd

Guzman Hall,

Dominican University.

FORUM:

Playful Learning Landscapes

JUST IMAGINE a place in your community where urban planners use the science of learning to create opportunities for children to think, solve and discover while they play. That's just what we have in mind for our next forum on March 13th!

Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek will present "Playful Learning Landscapes"-- an initiative to transform everyday public spaces into hubs of joyful learning.

Places like bus stops, sidewalks, grocery stores and waiting rooms are perfect spaces for incorporating colors and numbers, fractions and decimals into the designs for built amenities.

Join us to learn what that might look like, to see what other communities have done, and to begin imagining Playful Learning Landscapes in your community and your neighborhood.

This is a free presentation by the Marin Communications Forum.

JOIN US!

Thursday, March 13th

10 to 11:30 a.m.

Bay Area Discovery Museum

RSVP to save your place. (Seating is extremely limited.) Email Michelle@First5Marin.org.

Child Care Champions!

On January 31st, First 5 commissioners recognized ten fabulous community advocates with "Child Care Champion" awards.

Congratulations to:

LaTanya Bonner - Bonner Family Child Care
Laly Cervantes - North Bay Children's Center
Peggy Dodge - Marin County Office of Education (retired)
Christina Fass - Marin County Office of Education
Aideen Gaidmore - Marin Child Care Council
Amarantha Silva - Parent Voices Marin
Heidi Thomsky - Fairfax-San Anselmo Children's Center
Joanne Webster - North Bay Leadership Council

In the News

Five Things to Read Today

Vox:

What was childhood like before vaccines?

The anti-vax movement has gone mainstream, but before these shots, grief and loss marked the lives of children.

CNN:

During the last major measles outbreaks in the US, it took extraordinary measures to stop the spread

Six years ago, two communities in New York – one in Brooklyn and one in Rockland County – were facing the worst measles outbreaks the United States had seen in decades. Measles had been declared eliminated from the country in 2000, but 2019 brought the nation the closest it has been to losing that status.

U.S. News & World Report:

1 in 3 Kids Has Dental Problems, Poll Finds

More than 1 in 3 parents say their child has struggled with cavities, stained teeth, gum problems or tooth pain in the past two years, a new national poll shows.

The Hechinger Report: 10 lives, 5 years later:

How the pandemic altered the futures of these parents, kids and educators

A child care owner closes her business and starts a new career. A mom copes with her daughter’s stunted education. A teacher learns to love the profession after a miserable first year.

USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism:

The Hidden Struggle of Postpartum Depression Among Bay Area Latinas

The story was co-published with Telemundo 48 Bay Area as part of the 2025 Ethnic Media Collaborative, Healing California.

First 5 Marin | 1050 Northgate Drive, Suite 130 | San Rafael | 415-257-8555