Whenever I explore the Harlem Children's Zone website or read the newsletter, I am amazed by the committment portrayed by the people who work there. They are attempting to establish a method to change generational poverty......helping to change the odds, if you will.
I love the Baby College they offer. It is a nine week parenting workshop for expectant parents and those raising a child up to three years old. The workshop promotes reading to children and verbal discipline instead of corporal punishment. In the two years since it started, 870 people have graduated from it.
They offer several programs geared toward early childhood success. There is the three year old journey, which promotes language and parenting skills. Parents must win the Promise Academy's school lottery to participate.
The "Get Ready for Pre-K" program that gets children ready for the Gem program. It is a six week summer session that gets future Gems ready to start that program in the fall.
Harlem Gems - is an all day pre-kindergarten with a four:one ratio that teaches English, Spanish and French at three sites serving a total of 200 children.
What I gained from exploring this website is that the people of Harlem are working as hard as the rest of us should be working to make sure the next generation of children succeed. To me, that means that Harlem Children's Zone is getting it right and the rest of our country needs to take notes!
I love the passion behind your words about the Harlem Children’s Zone. I wish I lived somewhere close to the organization so that I could look into volunteer possibilities. Does it talk about what incentives they offer to get people involved in reading to their children for the nine-week workshop. It sounds like the organization is trying to make a difference in their community and they are coming up with some phenomenal programs. I would like to read more about their success rate so that I could share their success with my local organizations.
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ReplyDeleteI love the reach and teach the parents approach. If the way to get children to learn is from the start, than reaching and teaching parents from the start is really a heads up. The sad part is that you have to win a lottery to get in. Wouldn't it be great if all parents could op to take the course. Love the name of gems for children. Thank you for sharing, great reading!
The Harlem Children's Zone sounds like a wonderful opputunity for expecting mothers. Is this a organization with a website or just an website?
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