Today we know more than ever before about the importance of children’s earliest years in shaping their learning and development. Yet, never before have the needs of young children and their families been more pressing.
The Week of the Young Child (WOYC) is a time to recognize that children’s opportunities are our responsibilities, and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that each and every child experiences the type of early environment—at home, at child care, at school, and in the community—that will promote their early learning.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) first established the Week of the Young Child in 1971, recognizing that the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children’s success in school and later life. The Week of the Young Child™ is a time to plan how we—as citizens of a community, of a state, and of a nation—will better meet the needs of all young children and their families.
The purpose of the Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. Locally, Franklin-Granville-Vance Smart Start celebrates this week by raising awareness of the needs of young children in this area and highlighting how the community can get involved.
FGV Smart Start starts the WOYC by recognizing April as Prevent Child Abuse NC by planting a pinwheel garden at our office on Charles Rollins Road. Additional events, which vary each year, include Time Out Tuesday (fundraiser), Read to Children Day, Health & Fitness Day, Kindergarten Readiness, Poster Contest, and other community events where parents of young children receive information that helps support their roles as their child’s most important teacher.
