Healthier Smiles = Healthier Children

Healthier Smiles = Healthier Children

Oral health is a key indicator of children’s success. When kids experience cavities, it affects their abilities to eat, speak, play, and learn. Left untreated, tooth decay can lead to chronic absences, lower grades, and scores of adverse health and education outcomes....

An Economic Threat: Arkansas’s Lack of Child Care

An Economic Threat: Arkansas’s Lack of Child Care

The lack of affordable, quality child care isn’t only a challenge for parents. It’s a threat to our economic future. A recent poll showed 34% of U.S. families with young children are facing serious problems finding options when adults need to work. In Arkansas alone,...

Tackling Food Insecurity, Improving Outcomes

Tackling Food Insecurity, Improving Outcomes

Patty Barker, Arkansas No Kid Hungry Campaign Director Access to healthy food isn’t a luxury for Arkansas families. It’s a necessity for children’s long-term success. Studies show students who struggle with persistent hunger report lower math scores as well as higher...

What is Home Visiting?

What is Home Visiting?

Whether teaching positive parenting skills or helping caregivers secure child care, the Arkansas Home Visiting Network (AHVN) is focused on providing quality, evidence-based services to help families during pregnancy and until their kids enter kindergarten. Tyra...

School Readiness in Cedar Ridge

School Readiness in Cedar Ridge

Photo courtesy of Cedar Ridge School District. How can we measure children’s development? We must rely on insight from those closest to them. Throughout the school year, teachers have the opportunity to witness key facets of students’ cognitive, emotional, physical,...

3 Benefits of Early Childhood Education

3 Benefits of Early Childhood Education

When does learning begin? For decades, kindergarten was viewed as the cornerstone of children’s educational and real-world success. But research now consistently shows brain development happens much earlier. In fact, it starts at birth. According to the American...

HealthySteps: Connecting families to resources

HealthySteps: Connecting families to resources

Research consistently shows the first three years of a baby’s life are a period of incredible growth and development. That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends infants receive eight well-child visits in their first 15 months of life. These appointments...

Equipping Kids with Life Skills

Equipping Kids with Life Skills

A long-time youth mentor, Coach Larry Clark, Sr. understands the critical need for all children and families to have access to year-round educational opportunities and supportive services. It’s why he founded Life Skills for Youth (LSY) in 2006. Under his leadership,...