Seeding Innovation

Grantee: A Chance to Grow
Project Title: S.M.A.R.T.-E.C.
(Stimulating Maturity through Accelerated Readiness Training-Early Childhood)

Walk into any preschool classroom and you’ll find children at multiple points along the learning spectrum. They may all be the same age chronologically, but their developmental ages could span years.

 
Launching their S.M.A.R.T. – E.C. program at 24 Head Start sites in six Minnesota counties, (A Chance to Grow’s) Minnesota Learning Resource Center (MLRC) is revolutionizing how to prepare young children for learning. The program approaches teaching differently by training teachers to focus on children developmentally and providing activities that they can take back to the classroom.

 
“Movement enhances brain development, so we designed a program that works with any existing curriculum to enhance learning,” says Nancy m, director of MLRC. “You’ll see children creep, crawl, reach and stretch so they can stimulate their brains and operate at the same level as their peers. The plasticity of the young child’s brain makes this program very effective.”

Teachers complete intensive training and also receive several in-classroom visits from mentors. Together, they observe how the children are responding to the various activities, discuss the challenges and successes and determine what additional support is needed. Providing an opportunity for teachers to share their learnings is key to the program’s success.

“It’s challenging to uncover what poverty means to children as young as three and see how it affects their developmental growth,” says Nancy. “But by applying the tools, teachers can quickly identify hidden developmental delays and help increase a student’s readiness for kindergarten.“

And the teachers are seeing results. They observe that these kids are different, better behaved, and more attentive than the children who haven’t experienced the program. Support from The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation means that the MLRC can evaluate this work and potentially replicate its success nationwide.

“We see the challenges and struggles reflected in these little faces,” says Nancy, “so if we can make their academic life more meaningful, make school a great experience and help them to become productive adults, we can show them that their choices aren’t limited.”

The Minnesota Learning Resource Center (MLRC) is a program of A Chance to Grow, an organization dedicated to helping children reach their full potential. This nationally acclaimed training and education facility trains teachers and develops strong practices to successfully address academic, behavioral, psychological and physical development of students today.