(to Further Smart Beginnings Regional Childcare and Preschool Programs)
The Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY) has awarded a three-year, $180,000 grant to United Way of Southwest Virginia for work to improve the health of young children throughout Southwest Virginia. With this grant, Smart Beginnings Southwest Virginia and Smart Beginnings New River Valley will assist regional childcare and preschool programs to offer the Al’s Pals curriculum.
Al’s Pals is a nationally recognized, resilience-based early childhood curriculum and teacher training program that develops social, emotional and behavioral skills in children 3 to 8 years old. With puppets, music, stories, and fun activities, teachers help young children express their feelings appropriately, think about others and make healthy choices. Teachers lead the 15-minute activities with children twice a week for 23 weeks. Research has shown that Al’s Pals has a positive effect on children’s behavior in the classroom and the program is recommended by a number of national organizations.
More than 120 classrooms throughout Southwest Virginia have already signed on to participate in the program. During the first year, 40 classrooms will receive Al’s Pals kits and teachers will attend a two-day training workshop that more than 700 children will learn from. By the end of the third year, 2,000 children should be enrolled in Al’s Pals programs in Southwest Virginia
Buckey Boone, director of Smart Beginnings Southwest Virginia noted the tremendous response to this opportunity and that Smart Beginnings can facilitate bringing this curriculum to centers that might find it difficult to afford on their own.” Smart Beginnings has been working with many of the same child development centers that participate in Smart Beginnings’ Virginia Star Quality Initiative.
Through grant from VFHY, Smart Beginnings will also work with the partner childcare and preschool programs to encourage families to keep their children safe from tobacco products. Information about the benefits of smoke-free homes will also be distributed to families.
Forty teachers will begin their training for the Al’s Pals curriculum in August and begin implementing the program in their classes this fall.
