ARLINGTON, VA - Child Care Aware ® of America, the nation’s leading voice for child care will host its largest gathering of child care experts, including leaders from Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies, early educators, child care providers, parents, researchers, funders and partners at Symposium 2016, taking place April 4 - 6, 2016 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. This three-day event will focus on the latest child care and early education policies, as well as research, practice and innovative approaches for child care that are shaping how families access quality child care.

Three states will be selected to help increase the capacity of CCR&Rs to serve their communities during a crisis.

As we end National Young Readers Week (Nov 9-14, 2015), we’re reminded of what started this national tradition. How many of you grew up with the Book It Program from Pizza Hut?

Started in 1984, Pizza Hut started the program to foster a love of reading in young children by coincidentally rewarding them with pizza and other rewards (and what kid doesn’t like pizza?, the reasoning goes) for hitting their reading goals.

When you hear “October” you may think of Halloween and trick or treating, but we promise, the October Footnotes is all about treats! Our staff have been busy on the road and online, sharing their knowledge, expertise, and resources with members, advocates, and others all month long.

As we settle into our fall schedules and wait for the changing of the leaves here in Northern Virginia, I always feel a little nostalgic for the warm months of summer.

Looking back on the month of September, we were quite busy wrapping up our summer work and welcoming back Congress. Take a quick peek at some of what you may have missed here at Child Care Aware® of America (CCAoA) headquarters…

Early childhood education (ECE) is in the spotlight as never before. Being in the limelight, however, has highlighted the field’s fragmentation and the variability in the quality of children’s formal early learning experiences. This reality is unlikely to change, though, unless the ECE field comes to terms with its lack of organization as a unified field of practice with defined accountabilities for a competent and responsible workforce.