All children deserve the best start in life and school possible ... and we all benefit when they get it. They're healthier, more successful in school and more engaged and productive in society and life.

Washington's new statewide early learning plan, which was released on Sept. 1, will help give more children that great start in life and school.

The plan is the roadmap for building a comprehensive early learning system in Washington over the next decade. It is designed to better coordinate all of the great work already happening for children and families and guide policy, funding and ongoing work by organizations and agencies. And it shows how we all make a difference in the lives of children.

Watch this Learning for Life as we talk with Dr. Bette Hyde, director of the state Department of Early Learning, and Nina Auerbach, president and CEO of Thrive by Five Washington, the state's public-private partnership for early learning, about the new statewide early learning plan, what big changes are in store to help young children and families in Washington state and what role parents and families play in the plan.

Learning for Life airs every Wednesday on KING 5 Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m.

Please send any story ideas about people, programs and work being done to support children from birth to age 5 to molly@thrivebyfivewa.org. 

About one out of every 110 children is diagnosedwith autism.

Sixty years after being identified as a disorder, scientists still don't knowwhat causes autism. And, just like snowflakes, no two individuals with autismare alike. On one end of the spectrum is Asperger's Disorder, a highfunctioning sub group of Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and on the other end ofthe spectrum are profoundly disabled individuals.

Watch this Learning for Life as we talk with Dr. Felice Orlich, with Seattle Children's Autism Center, about what autism is, how it's diagnosed and the signs parents should look for. We also explore the issue of whether there are enough resources available to support the increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families.

Learning for Life airs every Wednesday on KING 5 Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m.

Please send any story ideas about people, programs and work being done to support children from birth to age 5 to molly@thrivebyfivewa.org. 

Learn more and watch past Learning for Life series and specials here.

 

Cleo Li was born healthy. Then, one night when she was just three months old, she stopped breathing. CPR brought her back to life, but Cleo had suffered a massive brain injury due to lack of oxygen.

Just like that, the Li family had a daughter with special needs, and their world was turned upside down.

Watch this Learning for Life as the Li family gives us a look at what it's like to have a child with special needs - whether that child is born with special needs or, like Cleo, suffers a traumatic event to her body. They talk about the emotional ups and downs as well as the challenges of finding information and support and the amazing difference early intervention makes for a child and a family.

This is the third segment in a month-long series Learning for Life - and Birth to Thrive Online (Thrive's daily blog) - is doing on children with special needs. Next week, we look at Autism - what it is, how it's diagnosed and the signs parents should look for. We also explore the issue of whether there are enough resources available to support the increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families.

---

 

Learning for Life airs every Wednesday on KING 5 Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m.

Please send any story ideas about people, programs and work being done to support children from birth to age 5 to molly@thrivebyfivewa.org. 

Learn more and watch past Learning for Life series and specials here.

The number of children in Washington state being diagnosed with special needs continues to go up. But the funding to support these children isn't keeping pace. In fact, it's being cut at state and national levels.
 
Each year, the nonprofit Kindering Center in Bellevue center provides therapy, special education and counseling to more than 3,000 children from birth to 3 who are disabled, medically fragile, or vulnerable because they've been neglected or abused. And last year, they made room for another 100 children in their early intervention program - a commitment to the youngest children needing their help.
 
But last year, the gap between the cost of services and funding widened substantially because of drastic budget cuts from the state and county. The center is struggling to pay for uncompensated care given to developmentally delayed infants and toddlers.
 
Watch this Learning for Life as we talk with Mimi Siegel, the long-time director of the Kindering Center, about the increase in children needing their services, the current financial challenges of providing that help and what she thinks needs to happen to make sure children get the support they need. 

You notice your child isn't meeting typical childhood development milestones. Or maybe you sense that something isn't quite right with your child. There is help. And children benefit when families access that help as soon as possible. 

Families can reach out to their local pediatrician or the state's Early Support for Infants and Toddlers, an early intervention program that provides services to children birth to age 3 who have disabilities and/or developmental delays.

Watch this Learning for Life, we talk with Dr. Bette Hyde, director of the state Department of Early Learning, which now oversees the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers program, about the supports available to children with special needs and how to access the program as well as how this growing group of children fits into the state's new 10-year early learning plan. This segment is the first in a month-long series Learning for Life – and Thrive’s daily blog Birth to Thrive Online – is doing on children with special needs.

---

Learning for Life airs every Wednesday on KING 5 Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m.

Please send any story ideas about people, programs and work being done to support children from birth to age 5 to molly@thrivebyfivewa.org. 

Learn more and watch past Learning for Life series and specials here.

When Washington State’s program for infants and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays moved to the Department of Early Learning last month, we decided it was a good time to look at how parents with special needs children navigate child care.

On Tuesday, we will start a series that asks: Where do special needs families fit in early learning? The opening story will explore challenges these parents face finding quality care and preschools, whether they are often overlooked in the debate about building a better early learning system and how the growing number of kids with diagnosed disorders could change all of this.

Over the next month, stories will cover the tight federal budget that funds services for these students and whether cuts could tear the safety net that supports them, one family’s story about finding child care and how autism and the growing number of children diagnosed with the mysterious neurological disorder are straining and changing the system.

Finally, we will offer a list of national and local resources on early learning and disability.

In addition, top experts will offer their thoughts on the challenges special needs families face finding child care on King Five Morning News in the Learning for Life series, a joint venture between Thrive by Five Washington and BELO Seattle.

Disability, however, is complex and this series is not designed to offer a definitive review. Instead, these stories will highlight key and emerging issues and hopefully start a conversation with a community that too often seems left out of the debate over early learning.

It is a good time to talk about the intersection of disability and early learning because Washington State is moving towards the center of the issue. For example, Washington is using money from last year’s economic stimulus package to fund a project to improve the Infant and Toddler Intervention program.

Come back on Tuesday and we will start the conversation.

What do you do when your 8-month-old seems to understand the word "no," but ignores you? Is he already being defiant? Is it time to think about discipline?
 
Many parents start thinking about discipline when their baby is about 8-12 months old, moving around and showing some awareness of what "no" means. Parents may even become frustrated and angry at their babies.
 
Watch this Learning for Life as we talk with Kathy Zeisel, state leader of Parents as Teachers at Parent Trust for Washington Children, about what babies really know and can do and what discipline is for infants and toddlers.

Learning for Life airs every Wednesday on KING 5 Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m. Please send any story ideas about people, programs and work being done to support children from birth to age 5 to molly@thrivebyfivewa.org.

View past Learning for Life series and specials on Thrive's website. 

Sugar. In some form or another, it's in almost everything we eat. And most of us can't get enough of it.
 
But, for many young children, those regular handfuls of animal cookies, after-dinner scoops of ice cream and sippy-cups full of juice are starting to add up. Diets full of sugar lead to a rollercoaster of wide of energy and moods; contribute to weight gain; and contribute to insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes, which is affecting more and more children.
 
Wach as we talk with Cynthia Lair, local nutrition educator and author of Feeding the Whole Family and the online cooking show www.cookusinterruptus.com, about sugar and what all parents can do to lessen the amount of sugar in their children's diets ... starting in infancy.

 

 

One million couples divorce each year in the United States. Of those, about 60 percent have children. 

 
Divorce, and the restructuring of the family that follows, can be painful, agonizing and present long-term challenges for children well into their adult lives.
 
How parents talk with and support their children - especially their young children - during this time is critical to their growth, development and ability to have trusting, healthy relationships now and in the future. 
 
Watch as we talk with Sheryl Jackson, an instructor for Consider the Children, a four-hour class offered to divorcing or separated parents in Thurston, Mason, Lewis and Pierce counties by Olympia-based nonprofit Family Education and Support Services. In most cases, a class like Consider the Children is required for divorcing parents in Washington state. She will talk about what the class offers, what divorcing couples with young children especially need to know and how to find a class near you.

Giving birth and raising children should be among the most natural things in life.

But for women going through the process without the support of family and friends, the experience can be intimidating and lonely. This is especially true for women who come from a different country and culture and speak a different language.

The Outreach Doula program, started by Open Arms Perinatal Services last year as part of the larger White Center Early Learning Initiative, supports both immigrant Latina women and Somali refugees in their own languages by women of and from their own communities. Outreach Doulas work with families from early pregnancy through a child's second birthday, connecting them to resources and information and helping them understand that child care and education begin at birth and that they (the parents) play an important role as their child's first and most important teacher.

Watch this week's Learning for Life as we talk with Sheila Capestany, executive director of Open Arms, about the Outreach Doula program, the difference it's making in the community and what other communities could learn from this program.

 

---

 

Learning for Life airs every Wednesday on KING 5 Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m.

Learn more and watch past Learning for Lifeseries and specials here.