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Georgia Organizations Providing Food to Students and Families During School Closures

March 24, 2020

(Info accurate as of March 24, 2020.)

QCC’s Georgia Parent Power team compiled a list of school districts, food pantries, and other organizations that are helping families and students with meals while schools are closed during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

For children to receive meals through school district sites, each child must be present at the site as required by USDA guidelines. Meals will not be available for parents to take home to children.

Please note that meals are available for all children ages 18 and younger, and for those with special needs under 21 years of age.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Atlanta Public Schools is providing emergency student meals at designated anchor sites as well as delivering via its middle school bus route. You can also find more information here about YMCA meal pick-ups, food pantries and more.

DeKalb County School District

Rockdale County

Valdosta City Schools

*If your school’s district is not listed above, visit the district’s website for COVID-19 student and family resources.

FOOD BANKS

Atlanta Community Food Bank:
Individuals can text "FINDFOOD" for responses in English or "COMIDA" for responses in Spanish to 888-976-2232. Users are prompted to enter their zip code or address to enable location services for nearby food pantries. Those seeking help can also find available pantries by visiting https://acfb.org/local-impact-map.

Regional Food Banks:
America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia

Chattanooga Area Food Bank

Feeding the Valley

Food Bank of Northeast Georgia

Georgia Mountain Food Bank

Golden Harvest Food Bank

Middle Georgia Community Food Bank

Feeding America has a national network of 200 food banks. Also, see their listing of other programs that can help: https://www.feedingamerica.org/need-help-find-food.

For Seniors:
Meals on Wheels

Other:

Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning: Bright from the Start list of Emergency Food Sites

Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning: Bright from the Start list of Emergency Food Sites

FoodFinder, a safe, secure and award-winning mobile and web app that gives food insecure children and their
families a way to find free food assistance programs quickly.

United Way of Greater Atlanta has information on food services, food pantries, grocery distribution, free school distributions sites and more. You can also utilize United 2-1-1 by texting keyword 211od to 898211. Text your zip code and need to 898211.

Finding Child Care During a Crisis

March 19, 2020

As the nation’s current health care crisis changes daily, Georgia’s child care providers are making decisions just as fast to keep their staff and the children and families in their care well. While many providers have closed temporarily, there are still programs around the state that are open and have availability for new children.

The best way for you to find child care options near you is to call Quality Care for Children’s referral specialists at 877 ALL-GA-KIDS (877-255-4254).

Referral service hours:
Monday – Thursday 8:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

This is a free, confidential, statewide service designed to help you find child care that meets your needs.

Other resources:
If you are a health care worker, the Georgia Department of Early Care and YMCA of Metro Atlanta is providing child care centers for employees of the following hospitals:

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Eastside Medical Center Emory
Georgia Highlands
Intown Pediatric
Northside
Piedmont
WellStar
Yerkes-Emory

Stay tuned for more information on this program and additional locations.

Ask Your Child’s Caregiver

March 2, 2020

Let’s be honest. Once upon a time before you actually had a child, you may have thought that as soon as you gave birth you would magically know the answers to all the parenting questions you could imagine, such as:

“Why do babies cry?”

“How do I know if my baby is getting enough milk?”

“Why is my child’s poo green?!?!”

“When will I quit hearing the Baby Shark song everywhere I go?”

We have bad news and good news for you. Here’s the bad first: there is no magical download “a-ha!” moment after giving birth. The good news? You are surrounded by moms, dads, grandparents, aunties, child care teachers and nannies, and so many other resources to help you figure out your questions. Answers come with experience, so before searching Google, ask one – or two or three -- of your trusted sources.

If your child attends an early learning program, the caregivers are excellent advisors and welcome helping you with your questions and concerns. Not only do they have years of hands-on experience in child development and learning as well as continued education and training, they have cared for girls and boys, children from different races and backgrounds, and dealt with many unusual circumstances. They may not be able to answer your burning question about when Baby Shark will be less popular, but they can certainly help with questions around self-soothing, potty training, early literacy, kindergarten readiness, and developing emotional intelligence that helps with building friendships.

Tips to Engage with Your Child Care Provider

If your child care provider shares a regular newsletter or other communication, be sure to read it. It most likely contains important information and news that you can use.
Schedule a time to talk with your child’s teacher to voice concerns and ask for advice. Don’t try to have meaningful conversations during morning drop-off or afternoon pick-up.
Get to know your child’s teacher better by finding out about their likes and dislikes, their background and even their family. It will help you relate more to them and make it easier to confide in them or ask for help.
If your child care provider is not sharing regular information about your child’s day and development while in their care, ask. And let them know that you would appreciate more consistent and regular updates so that you have a cohesive care plan for your child.
Listen to your child’s caregiver and provide thoughtful input.

More information:

Raising a Reader

March 2, 2020

Literacy, early literacy, emergent literacy and family literacy . . . what do they all mean? As a parent it can be difficult keeping up with all the ever-changing terminology, trends and development information for your child. We are here to help you understand what these terms mean and how to support your child through the different stages in their language skills growth. Learning to read starts at birth and at home, and through family encouragement and support, children and family members will develop strong literacy skills that will lead to a lifetime of loving to read and write together.

Defining Literacy:

Early literacy is used interchangeable with emergent literacy. The terms basically refer to what children know about reading and writing before they actually learn to read and write. Early literacy begins at birth and is nurtured through everyday activities such as reading aloud to your child, singing songs and rhymes. These are the skills your child develops to help them become successful readers later.
Literacy skills begin in the preschool years and are built on throughout the school years so that children become good communicators with strong reading, writing and language abilities.
Family literacy recognizes parents as their child’s first teachers and includes the activities that happen in the home that provide literacy skill-building for young children while enhancing and promoting literacy skill development in all family members, including moms, dads and older relatives. This term is also known as intergenerational literacy and sometimes community literacy.

Tips to Support Early Literacy Growth

Engage in back-and-forth communication with your baby by copying the sounds your baby makes, even if it is babble.
Read with your child from the very beginning. Picture books and rhyming books are great for very young children. Be sure to point out pictures and words as you go.
Sing to your child.
Simply talk with your child as you take walks, snuggle before bed, or do your daily tasks

Ideas to Promote Literacy Skills

During breakfast, practice numerical literacy by using individual pieces of cereal to work on counting.
Draw your child’s name in crayon and have them trace it with all the colors of the rainbow.
Listen to audio books and child-friendly podcasts while in the car.
Make up stories that have funny sounding words then act them out.
Help your child make letters and words using playdough, sticks or string.
Make spelling active by practicing rhymes or spelling words when playing catch, jumping rope or on a trampoline.

Family Literacy Opportunities

Create a home library that lets your child know that books are valued. Pick a special place for your child’s books that is organized and within easy reach.
Make your own storybook without written words by using photos either from a magazine or ones you took, or pictures your child drew. Use this to tell a story from beginning to end, “reading” it often with your child. This activity helps your child develop their sequencing skills.
Your child loves a good story, especially when it is about them or their family. Ask older family members to share stories of important events, such as your child’s birth or a favorite vacation, and then encourage your child to re-tell the story in their own words. This helps to build vocabulary and sequencing skills as well as recall information.
Encourage your children – from the very youngest to the oldest – to leave notes for each other, even if they start as just scribbles. You can include notes in lunch boxes and ask family members to send your child letters and emails to help them learn letter recognition and how to organize their thoughts

More information:

Being Counted for Census 2020 Benefits Young Children and Families

February 3, 2020

The Census happens once at the start of every decade to gain an accurate count of every resident in the United States. There are many misunderstandings and myths about why the Census is taken and its importance, which in part caused an estimated one million children under five years of age to not be counted in the 2010 Census

What Is True Regarding the Census 2020 Results?

Census results are CONFIDENTIAL and WILL NOT be shared with immigration enforcement agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), law enforcement agencies like the police or Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or allow this information to be used to determine eligibility for government benefits.
Everyone should be counted, including new babies and all residents even if they are not U.S. citizens.
Filling out the Census only takes about 10 minutes.
The Census 2020 is available in 13 languages, including English. Language guides will be available in 59 languages other than English

Why Should You Be Counted and Encourage Your Family and Neighbors to Participate Too?

The Census produces an accurate population and household count that is the basis for making sure that each state gets fair representation in the House of Congress.
It enables our state officials to use the results to redraw the boundaries of their congressional and state legislative districts.
The Census aids in determining the distribution of $675 billion in federal funds that supports state, county and local programs such as the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), the National School Lunch Program, housing, education, transportation, employment and health care.

What Communities are Hard to Count?

Non-English-speaking residents.
Recent immigrants, including those who are in the country illegally.
Children living in a large, multi-generational household or one that includes extended or several families.
Children who split time between two homes such as in divorced families.
Children who live in lower income households.
Young parents, single moms and their children.

Have more questions about the Census or want to know how you can help? See below.

More Information:

Help Your Children Bloom by Growing Your Own Food

February 3, 2020

The Farm to Early Child Education and Farm to School movements are finally being seen as more than just trendy! While lots of schools and child care programs are realizing the benefits of incorporating gardening into their children’s day, many parents are beginning to catch on and are starting their own gardens at home.

One of the many great things about family gardening is that you can do it almost anywhere. You can choose to start small or big, in the ground or in containers, on a farm or in the city, grow from seeds or start with transplants; there’s not one set path for all!

Gardening Sounds Like a Lot of Work and Maintenance. Why Should You Do It? Here Are Just a Few Reasons:

Growing your own vegetables encourages children to eat healthier and try more foods.
Gardening together with your child promotes family bonding and teaches responsibility.
Including your child in the process of planning, planting and tending your garden fosters their cognitive development.
Teaching your children to eat what they grow sows the seeds for them to become environmental stewards.
Gardening can help decrease your weekly grocery budget as you will eat more of what is in season from your own garden!
Fresh foods taste better and pack more nutrients.

When and How Do You Get Started?
Believe it or not, February is the perfect time for you to plan your spring garden. On average, you’ll see your last spring frosts at the end of March or mid-April. You can check your state’s important frost and planting dates in The Old Farmer’s Almanac or through your local horticultural /agricultural extension office.

Once you figure out your planting calendar, you then need to decide if you are going to plant seeds inside to later transplant or begin with seedlings you purchase from a local farmer or gardening center. Next, decide on what vegetables you are going to include and the best location for your garden. These are all decisions that you can discuss with your child and make together.

How Can You Get Your Child Excited and Involved?

Include them from the very beginning! Make them a part of the process from planning to harvesting.
Coordinate a scavenger hunt for them to find the supplies and materials needed to get started.
Visit local farms, farm stands and gardening stores to look over items and get ideas.
Enlist their help in finding the perfect spot for your garden.

More Information: