http://www.playtacoma.org/blog/director/ en-us Fri, 18 May 2012 19:47:06 PDT Fri, 18 May 2012 19:47:06 PDT SiteCrafting.com GearBox 1.0.10 http://playtacoma.org/blog/new-place-to-play/ Children's Museum of Tacoma finds a NEW HOME We found a new home for the Children's Museum of Tacoma!  Wow, this has been years in the making.  Just last week, I celebrated 11 years working at the Children's Museum of Tacoma. The majority of that time, we have been looking for a larger place to play.  What an exciting opportunity to move forward with museum dreams a decade in the making.   The new space will be the whole first floor of the United Way building on 1501 Pacific Avenue.  The building has lots of great features to incorporate into playful explorations, creative journeys, and lots of hands-on fun!   Itâ??s 50% larger than our current site.  It has lots of windows for natural light and space for outdoor activity.  Plus, it's close to other museums, parking, and the light rail.    Thanks to all of you who have visited and worked with our museum over the last decade (and more the museum is almost 25 years old!). You have helped shape our vision of what our community needs for young children.    Now the fun begins.  Help us get ready to throw open the doors in late 2011 by sharing your vision and needs for the new museum on our survey www.surveymonkey.com/s/TL2B3JT.  Or you can read more on our website www.childrensmuseumoftacoma.org/capital-campaign and you can share a comments here. Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:54:00 PDT http://playtacoma.org/blog/do-to-support-youngest-children-1/ I've been thinking quite a bit lately about the article "Washington’s children paying the biggest price" by Joel Ryan. He clearly shows that the status of many young children and their families in our community is fragile and that we should all be concerned. I agree with Ryan; we must all act now and do what we can - not just our legislators, but also individually. At the Children's Museum we've already asked: what can we do? The answer: let families with young children play for free. When the Museum opens the doors of its new home on January 14, admission will be by donation. We are taking a risk with the loss of admission income. But, as Ryan says, investments in developmentally appropriate learning opportunities for young children will pay off for all of us. When basic needs are hard to meet, play sometimes gets left behind, which means children are less effectively and less joyfully meeting their milestones. Providing access to play is the Museum's social obligation. We can't do it alone. Others are joining us to ensure play for all children. KeyBank pledged $250,000, young children are joining our Piggy Bank Brigade, and the Board is committed to securing $1 million to sustain this Pay As You Will program for Pierce County. What can you do to support our youngest children?  It will pay off! Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:57:00 PST http://playtacoma.org/blog/poverty-early-learning-rainbows/ I have my Google alerts set to send me interesting tidbits each day about topics I want to stay current on: young children, Pierce County, early learning, poverty, and rainbows (because after reading about the affects of poverty on learning, you need a little sunshine in your day!). @font-face { font-family: "Times"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Recently, I came across an article in the Washington Post by Valerie Strauss about school reform in Memphis. “What does this has to do with young children in Pierce County?” you ask. Well, near the middle of the article was just the reason the Children’s Museum is launching a Pay As You Will admission program.   “Poverty increases family stress, leads to poor nutrition and medical care, and, importantly, means children are talked to less and end up with vocabularies that are about half that of middle-class children. Research suggests that the first years shape a child’s capacity to learn. Science tells us that it is essential to brain development that babies are spoken to, read to, cuddled, and allowed to engage in physical play. National Institute of Health studies have indicated the foundations necessary for higher learning ďż˝" working memory, vocabulary, spatial recognition, reasoning, and calculation skills ďż˝" are set by the time a child reaches puberty.”   So, the time to act is early in life. And who better to address those pre-school years than your Children’s Museum? And how? Let families of young children play for free. It's sure to add a little sunshine, and maybe a rainbow, to their day! Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:10:00 PST http://playtacoma.org/blog/office-early-learning-race-to/ Applause, tongue biting, and finger crossing This month, the US Department of Education proposed a dedicated Office for Early Learning. I'm thrilled (you'd expect that from a Children's Museum Director). Yet, while I'm applauding the effort, there is a little part of me that's saying: what took you so long? That's because we as a state, a region, and a museum have collectively done so much already to promote and ensure quality early learning opportunities for our children.Washington State established the first cabinet level position for early learning in 2006 and adopted a ten-year early learning plan this last year. In 2006, we also established Thrive by Five, a nonprofit, public-private partnership commitment to providing families and caregivers the information and support they need to help their children. Locally, we launched First 5 FUNdamentals in 2007 to coordinate early learning resources in Pierce County. Thank goodness we've done so much, so early, because this past May U.S. government announced Race to the Top funding. It's $500 million in grants to states to improve early learning and develop programs for young children that: Increase the number and percentage of low-income and disadvantaged children in high-quality early learning programs; Create an integrated system of high-quality early learning programs and services; and Ensure that early learning assessments are meeting national standards. The Washington State Department of Early Learning led our state's application for the grant. It could bring up to $60 million over four years to support early learning. We'll know if we are recipients in December. So, I applaud the U.S. Department of Education, bite my tongue, and keep my fingers crossed for Race to the Top funding! Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:29:00 PST http://playtacoma.org/blog/blessings/ It's the time of year when the calendar points out that we should take a few minutes out of our busy schedules to appreciate our blessings.So, this morning I shut down my computer, set aside project schedules, tucked away budget updates, and headed out for a long walk. Long walks are my time - time to think and sort out ideas. Today, I took the opportunity to really appreciate all that is happening in my work- even in the rain! I am thankful for a supportive Board of Directors who are dedicated to creating a model place to play, supporting early learning, and eliminating financial barriers to play. Their steadfast leadership and sound guidance is making the opening of a all-new, Pay As You Will based Museum a reality.I appreciate the dedicated staff who are spending countless hours planning and building a new Museum for our community. Thank you for bringing the power of play to our community every day!I am indebted to the many community supporters. From the lead gift by the Sequoia Foundation and the Cheney Foundation, to the many individual donors and the enthusiastic efforts of our Piggy Bank Brigade kiddos, each of you plays a key part in enriching children’s lives and ensuring that more of our region's families learn through play. I am so proud that together, we are helping build strong children - today, and for the future.  We'll see you at the new Museum in 5 weeks! Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:54:00 PST