Brain development is a complex process involving chemical and electrical interactions. We now have decades of research describing how learning occurs and how brains develop. We have equipment that allows us to watch the brain in action and we now know about synaptic pruning.
None of that really matters to a mom who just wants to do the best she can to help her child thrive.
None of that really matters to a dad who lives for the moments that he sees his child’s eyes light up in wonder. What matters to them is that they can do something to help their child learn, grow and prosper – to fulfill the promise that exists between parent and child from the moment of birth.
That’s where Vroom comes in.
Vroom provides interactive tools and resources that highlight the science behind early brain development, showing parents how they can turn everyday activities like bath time and meal time into opportunities that build their children’s brains. The Vroom Partnership at Child Care Aware® of America is made up of Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies who educate and provide Vroom resources to families, providers, and organizations in their communities so they too understand the importance of brain development during the first five years of life. Learn more about Vroom here.
As one of the pilot programs for Vroom, we at COAD were able to see how all of the technology and research tied together bring parents simple, easy activities that they can do to help their child’s development. In our agency, we were able to add Vroom to services for families and for child care providers. Vroom was something that we could share with other agencies that help people in our region. Two years after we piloted Vroom in our region, we are still getting requests for information from people who knew someone who had been at one of our original meetings.
We really don’t think about all of the science, industry and labour that went into making the wall switch work when we want the lights on. We just flip the switch and we know that it works.
Vroom is like that.
Each activity that a parent accesses through the Vroom App is the end result of years of work done by early childhood professionals, neuroscientists and others – refined into easily accessible, effective and fun ways that parents can help their child learn.
Vroom allows us to share powerful learning activities with many people in many ways. We can share stories about one of the Vroom activities that are similar to something we enjoyed as children or we can demo our favorite Vroom activity with a parent during home visitation.
Whatever the method, when that light goes on in a parent’s eyes as they realize they’ve been teaching their children all along without knowing it or a preschool teacher telling you about how the children responded to their latest Vroom-based activity – that’s when you know you got it right.
COAD is a coalition of 17 Community Action Agencies serving Appalachian Ohio. Our mission is to improve the quality of life in Appalachian Ohio and support the work of our member agencies.
To learn more about COAD go to www.coadinc.org or www.coad4kids.org