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Does Your Face Light Up?

by Sami Bradley, MaED.  LIMHP, IMH-E®Vice President, Early Childhood Mental HealthNebraska Children and Families Foundation  |  Rooted in Relationships We spend a lot of time wondering what builds our children’s self-esteem. Is it the praise we give them? Is it

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Posted in Early Childhood, Uncategorized

“There Might be a Better Way…”

Rural Nebraska faces a child care crisis, prompting communities to adopt the more flexible Family Child Care Home II (FCCHII) model instead of traditional centers. This approach reduces costs, eases staffing challenges, and allows high schoolers to help. Communities like Overton and Friend are successfully implementing FCCHIIs to meet local needs.

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Posted in Early Childhood

A Safe Space Built of Books

Rosa Alvarado made reading part of Darlita’s routine. At each home visit, she would dedicate story time where Darlita’s mother or father would sit with her and read. She says of the routine she has established, “what we are trying to do here with our Sixpence is to create a culture of literacy.” This built-in routine of shared-reading has paid off. Not only has Darlita begun to engage with books, but she has also created her own safe space for reading, where she can self-regulate her emotions.

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Posted in Early Childhood

Controlling Chaos with a Song: Anne Meeker Watson’s sing.play.love. Program at the 2025 Sixpence Child Care Conference

Be sure to check out Anne Meeker Waton’s keynote address at the 2025 Sixpence Child Care Conference in Kearney on Saturday, May 31. The Conference is for Sixpence Child Care Partnership Coaches, Program Coordinators, and their Childcare Partner Programs and Center-based teachers and support staff. Registration closes on May 9.

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Posted in Early Childhood

Brown Bears, NGR, and a Mother-Daughter Duo in Service of the Community

Suzi and Kendra Muhsman recently showed their civic pride in the Schuyler community through the books they wrote for Nebraska Growing Readers. In the process, they promoted family engagement in shared reading, a community commitment toward literacy, and an intergenerational approach toward reading. Learn more about how this mother-daughter duo connected with their community and others beyond.  

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Posted in Early Childhood

Spring Forward, Fall into Books

Nebraska Growing Readers (NGR) has plenty of local online books you can relate to spring that can help celebrate the season even on those one-off bad-weather days.

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Posted in Early Childhood

A Little Something Something

Sometimes, the little things aren’t all that little. So when Yanki Smith makes a spiral flourish with her hand to indicate writing with a pen and says her contribution to the writing of Moving Day Made Fun was “a little

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Posted in Cradle to career, Early Childhood

75 Strong and Counting: Communities for Kids is Transforming Futures Statewide

Ravenna Communities for Kids Team

Nebraska’s Ravenna area is now the 75th community to partner with Communities for Kids (C4K)! This milestone marks continued progress in expanding access to quality early childhood education across the state. With a dedicated core team, Ravenna is working towards sustainable solutions for childcare needs.

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Posted in Cradle to career, Early Childhood, News and Events, Uncategorized

Rooted in Relationships Receives National Recognition for Pioneering Efforts in Advancing Childhood Mental Health

The Rooted in Relationships Team Gathers in Lincoln

Rooted in Relationships (RiR) is an initiative by Nebraska Children aimed at transforming early childhood mental health through community collaboration. By providing childcare providers with training, RiR addresses behavioral challenges in young children, enhancing their social-emotional skills. Recently, the team was recognized nationally for their work.

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Posted in Cradle to career, Early Childhood, Uncategorized

NGR Translations Mirror and Preserve Culture

Paw Tha Hser and Fariha Mohmand are both refugees who seek to pass on their native languages to the next generation. They have been working with Nebraska Growing Readers and teams of translators to create children’s texts in their own languages. Their contributions have been an important part of the 51 NGR texts that have been translated this year. 

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Posted in Early Childhood
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