The Basics in Dekalb County

What

Basics DeKalb County was adopted in 2018 by the DeKalb County Collaborative for Young Children (formally known as the Kindergarten Readiness Collaborative or KRC) and is an affiliate of the Basics Learning Network; a nationally-recognized initiative that provides strategies for whole communities to support vibrant learning and brain development among infants and toddlers. Basics DeKalb County is inspired by the fact that 90% of brain growth occurs in the first five years of life. Everyday interactions between children, their parents, caregivers, and any adult in the community can provide rich opportunities to boost brain development in DeKalb County children. Every child from every background can benefit from The Basics and every place, space, and organization can provide opportunities for families to experience The Basics.

Basics DeKalb County serves 8 public school districts, several private schools, and works across 15 municipalities.

Why

The DeKalb County Collaborative for Young Children was formed in 2016 after Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies was commissioned to conduct a Kindergarten Readiness Study of DeKalb County. From that study, it was determined that the Collaborative needed to increase community awareness regarding the importance of early learning and improve communication across sectors regarding children Birth – Age 5. The Collaborative’s vision is that all DeKalb County children have equitable opportunities to be prepared for school and life success. The mission is to support an equitable early learning system through a county-wide collaboration of organizations that partner with families and communities to impact the optimal development of children.

Through strategic planning, the Collaborative devised the following areas of impact and objectives:

Impact Area A: Access to early learning opportunities
Every family of every child and all community partners will have access to resources to help prepare children for kindergarten.
All children will have access to high-impact informal and/or formal early learning opportunities

Impact Area B: Parent and community partner education, support, and resources
Every sector of the community understands and supports the healthy development of infants and young children
Families will be co-creators and co-maintainers of the collaborative work that impacts them.
The Collaborative and community partners will use information from the KIDS survey to drive decisions for early learning.

Impact Area C: Health and wellness of children
Actively engage with community partners focused on the health and wellness of infants and young children.

How

As part of the Collaborative’s strategic plan, Basics DeKalb County raises awareness about early childhood development and builds capacity throughout the community by using a socio-ecological approach that recruits and equips partner organizations from multiple sectors within the community. The organizations, in turn, engage parents and caregivers with information and supports for incorporating The 5 Basics Principles into everyday family routines.

In DeKalb County you will find The Basics in libraries, early learning centers, food pantries, restaurants, hospitals, home visits, and more places where families of young children gather.

In addition to saturating the community through partner organizations, the DeKalb Regional Office of Education has begun implementing Basics-aligned programming after receiving feedback from the community. Programming centered around The Basics include: Parent Café series, Parent Playgroups, toddler garden story times, and LENA Start.

Since 2017, DeKalb County has seen a 10% increase in Kindergarten readiness according to KIDS data.

Resources

To find more information about the work that DeKalb is doing to implement The Basics, visit their website here.
Basics DeKalb County

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