In Fall 2023, Colorado officially launched the Universal Preschool (UPK) Program. Every Colorado child is eligible for at least 15 hours of funded preschool the year before entering kindergarten. With the generous support of the Boettcher Foundation, Early Milestones Colorado c…
Raising Rural Voices to Strengthen Universal Preschool Implementation
In Fall 2023, Colorado officially launched the Universal Preschool (UPK) Program. Every Colorado child is eligible for at least 15 hours of funded preschool the year before entering kindergarten. With the generous support of the Boettcher Foundation, Early Milestones Colorado conducted an intervie…
Childrens’ Right to Playful Learning: A Call for Concern and A Call for Action
Guest blog post authored by Lori Ryan, Ph.D. Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Education and Human Development As an early childhood faculty member at University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development, I recently had a wonderfully t…
Feeding Injustice: How Colorado Fails our Youngest Kids by Denying Food Benefits
Guest blog post authored by Miguel In Suk Lovato and Taber Ward from the Donnell-Kay Foundation A hungry child is a hungry child. It doesn’t matter whether this child is being cared for by a licensed childcare center, a forest preschool, a tía, or a neighbor. All children deserve to have access t…
Beneath the Surface: Exploring Identity and Building Cultural Self-Awareness
Each year, the child population in the United States grows more diverse. For me, this means it’s important to reflect on the perspectives we bring to our work on an ongoing basis. In January, I jumped at the opportunity to learn more about myself through a professional development cohort led by Va…
Lessons Learned From Leading Pooled Funds
As we prepare to launch the first initiative of Early Milestones Colorado’s (Milestones) Impact on Equity Fund, the Milestones team has been thinking and talking a lot about Pooled Funds. This kind of collaborative funding is really in our DNA. In fact, Milestones was created thanks to six local f…
Case Studies: Building an Equitable Early Care and Learning System in Colorado
To better understand how the new universal preschool program could work for all, Early Milestones Colorado interviewed families in the summer and fall of 2023 about their experiences finding child care and early learning services for their preschool-aged children. We spoke to families who identified…
A Partnership to Expand Ideal Learning Environments in Colorado
Over the past five years, Trust for Learning, a philanthropic partnership dedicated to expanding ideal learning environments for underserved children, and Early Milestones Colorado have worked together to scale up these learning environments across the state. Ideal learning approaches are models t…
New Findings on Head Injury vs. Early Stress: A Sobering Game of “Would You Rather?”
If you’re reading this, you probably already know that some stressors in early childhood are useful and important for children’s development. But you also know that certain types of stress in infants and toddlers can lead to a host of issues later in life. The latest findings presented a…
Transformative Gift: MacKenzie Scott’s $2.5 Million Fuels Early Milestones Colorado’s New Impact on Equity Fund
Este comunicado de prensa está disponible en español. Early Milestones Colorado (Early Milestones), a statewide nonprofit organization that works to ensure Colorado leads the way as the best place to be a child, is honored to announce a $2.5 million unsolicited donation from philanthropist MacKenz…
Elevating Voices, Igniting Change: The CIRCLE Grant Program’s Impact
I’ve witnessed remarkable changes in the early care and learning field in my role as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Director for the Community Innovation and Resilience for Care and Learning Equity (CIRCLE) Grant Program. This grant was funded by federal stimulus dollars and administer…
Creating Inclusive Early Learning Environments: Lessons from the CIRCLE Grant Program
Colorado’s young child and family populations have become more diverse in recent years, representing various cultural and linguistic backgrounds and disabilities.[1] As such, early care and learning providers acknowledge the need to create inclusive early learning environments to serve the needs o…
Study Release: Community Projects Strengthened Early Childhood Field
Local grantees used federal stimulus funding to design innovative and equitable solutions to early childhood challenges worsened by the pandemic Children and families across Colorado have greater access to quality, affordable child care and other early childhood programs after the completion of a $2…
