Early Childhood Education Center

Early Childhood Education Center:

The Early Childhood Education Center provides a free, high-quality early childhood education that is imperative for the future success of the children of teen mothers. The Early Childhood Education Center’s objectives include helping children develop core competencies that promote successful preschool transitions including: early readiness to learn, healthy attachments to parents/caregivers, and social-emotional development.

Currently, all teen mothers attending Florence Crittenton High School can enroll their children in the Early Childhood Education Center (ECE). Since the campus expansion in August 2015, the ECE has increased its capacity to serve children from six weeks to five years old.

The Florence Crittenton ECE not only offers the highest quality care for children of teen mothers, but also, our staff are trained to provide support and guidance to parents to help them maximize their child’s development at home. The ECE acts as a “parenting laboratory” where professionals interact with students and their babies to teach young moms how to care for their children and promote their health and development. Florence Crittenton Services firmly believes that the social-emotional health and academic needs of both teen mother and child need to be addressed in order for both generations to succeed in the future.

Services

• Ongoing developmental assessment of our young children
• Enriched developmental curriculum that supports each child’s cognitive, social and emotional growth, as well as language and motor skills development
• Practical, hands-on childcare lab for teen parents
• Child development/parent training program for teen parents
• Literacy and family engagement activities
• Referrals for other services
• Parent-teacher conferences for teen mothers to provide coaching on their child’s development
• Preschool graduation ceremony in May

Objectives

• Help teen mothers access child care so that they can graduate high school and become college-ready
• Increase the number of young children meeting developmental milestones
• Improve knowledge of prenatal and infant health
• Improve parenting and relationship skills