Blue Ridge Community Action Inc
Child Development Services
The goal of the Child Development Program is to provide a safe, loving environment for children and to ensure that all children are healthy and ready to learn when they enter the public school system. Head Start and Day Care programs are provided at our licensed centers. All of BRCA's child care centers are registered by the state of North Carolina and participate in the USDA Child Nutrition Program. All meals are provided by Grace Hospital. All centers are 5-Star centers and have superior sanitation ratings. All teachers and staff members participate in regular training activities and are certified in first aid and CPR. All teachers hold a two-year degree in early childhood education or related fields, and many have four-year degrees and teaching licenses.
BRCA's Child Development program encourages children to explore and experiment with their environment. Our centers provide age appropriate, open-ended activities to help children develop a positive sense of self worth. Children participate in activities fostering both independent play and group cooperation. Planned daily activities place emphasis on the actual learning process rather than the final result, allowing children to feel good not only about themselves, but also about the world around them.
Our programs focus on readiness – children's readiness for school, families' readiness to support their children’s development, and schools' readiness to prepare the children who walk through their doors to one day graduate from high school. We partner with children, families, and the community on the pathway to success, ensuring that children in our community from at-risk backgrounds are provided the cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and linguistic interventions they need to be ready for kindergarten.
Ninety percent of the human brain develops in the first five years of life, setting the foundation for which all later learning will occur. Healthy brain development in these years is determined by experiences children have – the language they hear, the homes in which they live, their interaction with adults, and everything in between. Children living in poverty are less likely to have the enriched experiences they need in their first years of life, forever impacting their development and ability to reach success.
