Welcome to your one-stop shop for early learning education materials. United Way believes that one of the building blocks for a better life is supporting a vibrant and strong early childhood experience. Along with partners we strive to educate community members about the importance of early learning activiites, such as reading regularly and learning through play. The materials below will help you incorporate early learning activities into your daily interactions with your young child.
| Born Learning Downloads Born Learning provides easy research-based ways to turn everyday moments into fun learning opportunities for young children. To learn more about what to expect at various stages of early childhood, how to help your child learn through play, and to learn helpful parenting tips, visit www.monroeunitedway.org/bornlearningdownloads. |
 |
||
| Born Learning Play Path A fun, interactive series of outdoor games, the Play Path helps adults and young children explore and learn together. The Born Learning Play Path offers activities that build language and thinking skills fundamental to a child’s success in school and in life. To learn more about the activities at the Born Learning Play Path, including how to get out there and play, visit www.monroeunitedway.org/bornlearningplaypath. |
 |
||
| Kindergarten Readiness Booklet This guide is filled with tips for helping children learn and grow during their first five years. To familiarize yourself with the appropriate kindergarten readiness skills, download the Kindergarten Readiness Booklet pdf. |
 |
||
| Kindergarten Readiness Checklist This one-page school readiness checklist, approved by MCCSC and RBB school districts and created in partnership with Monroe Smart Start and the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County, offers guidelines to help caregivers prepare children for school. To help the children in your life start kindergarten ready to learn, download the Kindergarten Readiness Checklist pdf. |
 |
||
| Let's Read Packets The Let's Read Packets contain appropriate materials to help you learn the best way to read with your child at various stages of their early childhood. These packets also include age appropriate Born Learning materials and Reading Rockets reading tips. To download the packets, visit www.monroeunitedway.org/LetsRead. |
 |
||
| Play Infographic United Way developed a Play infographic to highlight how and why play is so important to developing brains and bodies. To print the infographic and learn more about the importance of play, visit www.monroeunitedway.org/Play. |
 |
||
| Additional Parent Resources | |||
|
Find Early Learning Child Care Finding child care is an important decision for families. Research continues to support that high-quality early learning opportunities yield lifelong outcomes. Quality should come first when you are searching for the best child care options. High-quality sites should be safe, healthy, and provide developmentally appropriate learning opportunities for all children. Visit the Monroe Smart Start Early Learning Child Care hub. |
|||
| First Steps To learn more about resources to help children with special needs, visit www.firststepssoutheast.org. |
|||
| IU Health Bloomington To learn more about baby, children, and family health & wellness, visit http://iuhealth.org/bloomington. |
|||
| Monroe County Public Library Children's Department To learn more about local events and information for children, visit www.mcpl.info. |
|||
| Monroe Smart Start To learn more about early childhood development, visit www.monroesmartstart.org. |
|||
| Paths to Quality Paths to QUALITY™ is Indiana’s statewide rating system for early care and education programs. It is a free resource to help families make informed decisions and to help early care and education providers improve the quality of their programs. Visit http://childcareindiana.org |
|||
| Purdue Extension To learn more about child care and development resources and classes, visit http://extension.purdue.edu/Monroe/pages/sc.aspx?intHomeID=54&intSubCatgID=55 |
|||
| Reading Rockets Reading Rockets is a national multimedia literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read and how caring adults can help. For more reading resources, visit www.readingrockets.org. |
|||
| Text4Baby By texting BABY to 511411, individuals can receive free cell phone text messages guiding them through pregnancy and their baby’s first year. To learn more about Text4Baby, visit www.text4baby.com. |