Katie's Korner: A message from your PYC Coordinator | | |
As we all deal with an ever-changing landscape, are we remembering to take care of ourselves? After all, we cannot pour from empty cups. Now, more than ever, we need to be kind and take care of our wellbeing.
Today I'm asking you, our crucial network of early learning providers and family supports, to do a self-check-in then try a few of the following tips:
- Drink some water
- Go outside and touch the ground with your feet
- Connect with someone you haven't talked to in a while
- Go to bed earlier
- Challenge yourself to stay off social media for one hour today
- Make something with your hands
- Breathe intentionally for five minutes
- Go for a walk
- Put on your favorite music and listen with your eyes closed
Above all, remember to be gracious with yourself.
Warmly,
Katie
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Partners for Young Children (PYC) is a coalition focused on improving the wellbeing of children and families in Island County.
Through PYC, Island County organizations and individuals come together to achieve the vision that all children thrive in nurturing relationships and healthy families. Together, partners are cultivating community action to strengthen Island County families.
| | April PYC Partners Shared Resources | | Have flyers, information or resources to share? Drop in our SharePoint folder! | | Join us for our Quarterly Partners Meeting | | |
Click the image to register for our upcoming meeting on May 13th!
Curious about PYC? Newcomers welcome!
| | Partner Question of the Month | | "Who or what do you lean on for advocacy and support?" | | |
Many of us and our organizations are looking for ways to come together. Maybe you have answers and ideas that others are looking for or vice versa. We all do better when we work together.
Post your answers in our PYC Slack Channel. Haven't joined yet? Simply click the button below!
| | Sign up for our new PYC Slack Channel! You'll find it under the (also new) Whidbey Community Foundation Slack. Ask questions, share resources, and interact in real-time with other early learning partners in our community! | | Northwest Early Learning Coalition's Annual Inspire Breakfast Registration Is Open! | | Bright By Text Is Now Lantern! | | | | |
Same service, new shiny look!
If you are a provider who does Lantern outreach, please know that you may use your remaining Bright by Text materials. All numbers, qr codes, and links still apply.
Let Katie know if you need more materials. We have new postcards!
| | Lantern tailors three to five weekly text messages to caregivers, providing evidence-based content on developmental milestones, brain growth, emotional health, nutrition, and resilience. | | Does your organization have a community message to share with local parents? Submit your messages here and we will help get the word out! | | Resource Directory Progress | | |
We have made exciting progress on our Help Me Grow Island County resource directory and are optimistic that we will launch our new Island-friendly landing page this summer!
In the meantime, resource providers can refer any of your families through the hotline, details below:
Call Help Me Grow at 1(800) 322-2588
If you have any updates to your current resource listings, please email Katie at pyc@whidbeyfoundation.org.
Help Me Grow - Island County is a dependable and interconnected system that puts families first – making sure resources are accessible to every child and every community.
| | PYC Announces Vroom Brain-building Tips | | |
Partners for Young Children is excited to announce another unique and FREE parenting tool being sponsored through Washington Communities for Children (WCFC).
Vroom provides science-based tips and tools to inspire families to turn shared, everyday moments into Brain Building Moments® through printed resources, a text service, and a free mobile app. . Click below for more information as well as ways to engage with this incredible resource!
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Imagination Library of Whidbey Island—a local program partner of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, strives to send a new book every month to Whidbey Island children from birth to age five.
Thanks to all of your help in promoting this great program, Whidbey Island has already enrolled over 1,400 children since December 2022! We are also so proud to be a growing piece of Dolly's dream. Look at these end of year numbers!
Numbers by Region:
| | Katie has bookmarks and other outreach materials. Contact her here! | | Calling Families & Providers of Children ages 0-5! | |
Child Care Aware's Family Access Program Manager, Tia Collins, is leading a data-collection initiative to learn more about families’ experiences finding and enrolling in childcare and early learning opportunities. "We want to better understand how families hear about opportunities, what helps them navigate the process, and what challenges they experience along the way."
Please help by spreading the word to the families you work with. Flyers in both English and Spanish provided below. Responses being collected through the end of April.
| | Providers interested in sharing their experiences in 1:1 sessions, please see the flyers below. | | Head Start Needs Your Help! | | |
The President is considering eliminating Head Start, including Early Head Start, in his upcoming budget, according to recent reporting. These programs provide essential early learning, child care and family support services to young children from low-income families.
Check out the resources below for providers, families, and allies!
| | Workshops, Trainings & Events | | SW CARES Hosts Safety & Wellness Fair | | Community Cares Health & Wellness Festival | | For more information and to register as a vendor, click below! | | HMG Skagit Offers Healthcare Provider Training | | |
Our sessions from February through June are free and will be held over Zoom on the first Wednesday of the month from 7:00AM – 8:00AM.
Participants may claim up to 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for each virtual session.
Infant Mental Health
Wednesday, May 7th from 7:00-8:00am.
More information and how to register here!
| | North Sound ACH Announces Another Year of Network Learning Sessions! | |
May Session
Join us as we build solidarity and cross-cultural support for current immigrant and refugee communities, increase awareness of AANHPI (Asian American-Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander) communities in the North Sound region, and strengthen knowledge of AANHPI history and anti-Asian exclusion. By connecting history with present-day experiences of immigrant and refugee communities, we can help protect the most vulnerable through informed action.
- Title: Bearing Witness: AANHPI Advocacy for Immigrant & Refugee Communities
- Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., via Zoom
| | Postpartum Support International: Provider Perinatal Mental Health Training | | |
Perinatal Mental Health: Culturally Informed Approaches to Screening, Assessment and Treatment.
These two 90-minute webinars were hosted by Postpartum Support International and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) on presented on May 18 and May 24, 2022. They present an overview of perinatal mental health screening, assessment, treatment, and referral pathways through the lens of culturally-informed care and best practices in treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Register to receive recordings of the webinars. Scroll down for CE/CME information.
This two-part training provides 3 CEs and both webinars are required to obtain a certificate
| | Educator Workshops Through Sno-Isle | | |
STARS Training: POWER Struggles
Thursday, April 24th, 2025
12:00pm-1:00pm
Online through Sno-Isle
Are you ready to thrive in your toddler or preschool classroom instead of constantly putting out fires? Power struggles are challenging for everyone – adults and kids alike. This training is packed with the strategies you need to decrease power struggles, increase cooperation, and build connection with children who challenge you the most.
Presented by Northwest Center Kids this training will cover the following topics:
Understand why power struggles happen and what to do about them
Feel confident responding to power struggles in the heat of the moment
Have a toolbox of easy-to-follow strategies that prevent power struggles from happening in the first place
ONE Stars Credits are available for participants of this class.
FREE
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Stars Training: One Book, Many Stories
Saturday, May 3rd, 2025
10:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Marysville Library through Sno-Isle
How many different stories can we tell with one book? There are lots of ways we can support early literacy that go beyond just reading the words on the page. We'll explore books we know, books we don't know, books that may be too wordy for our kids, books that are written in languages we don’t read or that don’t have any words at all! Exploring in this way will help us learn to adapt books we have on hand for all ages in the classroom. It will also help us with tips and strategies for supporting parents or caregivers that don’t have access to books in languages they can read.
| | Family & Caregiver Supports | | Upcoming Sno-Isle Family Events | | New! Spanish Storytimes at Oak Harbor Library! | | Storytimes & Family Fun at Coupeville Library! | | Zero to Three Announces the Baby Brain Map Interactive Tool | |
Fun new tool for Providers & Families!
We’re excited to introduce the all-new Baby Brain Map — an interactive tool that details key stages in early brain development and reinforces why investing in the earliest years is so critical.
| | Macaroni Kid Whidbey Island Announces April Family Guide to Events | | Macaroni Kid is your free, go-to guide for all family events happening on Whidbey Island. Click on the family guide below, or explore on your own here! | | | Do you have updates or resources you'd like to share with the broader network? | | |
That Early Childhood Nerd: Play and the Hesitant Child
In another episode that was originally intended as a session in a virtual NerdCon conference that didn't happen, Richard Cohen, Lizz Nolasco, and Bethany Corrie talk about children who seem hesitant to join in play.
More episodes like this at: That Early Childhood Nerd | Playvolution HQ
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Questions? Contact us at PYC@whidbeyfoundation.org
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