On September 24, we released our fall report Picking Up the Pieces: Building a Better Child Care System Post COVID-19. Alongside this report, we feature an interactive website that includes videos, infographics and a map where you can get data for each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. You can also access a PDF version of the report in English or Spanish and our annual Appendices that analyze child care prices in 2019.

National Tell a Story Day is Monday, April 27^th. Help Child Care Aware^® of America (CCAoA) encourage families to share the joy and value of telling stories to their children. People have been sharing stories to communicate information and connect with others for thousands of years through visual drawings, word of mouth and written words. 

By Aly Richards, CEO of Let’s Grow Kids and Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., Executive Director of Child Care Aware^® of America

Any discussion of essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic should include the child care providers who are caring for the children of first responders, health care workers and other essential service workers. These providers are putting their own and their families’ health at risk and helping us through this pandemic. We must provide them with the financial, health and safety resources they need as essential personnel.   

When states ordered that K-12 schools close and colleges shuttered their campuses – steps taken to slow the spread of COVID-19 — technology stepped up. Students in communities across the country are continuing their learning virtually, in the relative safety and comfort of their homes.   

But what about our youngest learners? It’s just as important that toddlers and preschoolers keep learning, and that they maintain schedules and routines. With so many early care and education (ECE) programs temporarily (we hope) closing, it’s been difficult for both parents and their young children. There’s now an alternative for those families – a Pop-up Early Learning Program developed by an Atlanta-based school. 

COVID-19 has changed the day-to-day lives of many families with babies and young children. Some parents are seeking ideas for additional ways to interact with their children because they are now working from home or spending more time at home because of social distancing. On the other hand, some parents may have less time with their children because they are working on the front lines of the pandemic: health care professionals, emergency responders or other workers in essential businesses or services. For all families, everyday routines such as mealtime, playtime or bedtime – or even diaper changing – offer opportunities to connect with children and build their developing brains. Vroom^®, a global early childhood initiative, offers free tips to parents on how to add learning to daily routines.

Updated March 27, 12:50 p.m.

With all the news and updates around the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), it can be difficult to grasp the proposals put forward by Congress. Below you will find a summary of each proposal passed or under consideration so far: