Beautiful little girl having fun outdoors and showing her dirty hands
Myth Busters

Here are few parenting myths we've debunked just for you.

Resources

Attention Parents: These "Bad" Childhood Habits are Actually Healthy (Reader's Digest)
Parents Sitting On Sofa Cuddling Baby Daughter At Home
Modern Family

What defines a family? That depends on who you ask.

Resources

The U.S. ranks last in every measure when it comes to family policy, in 10 charts (Washington Post)
There is No Longer Any Such Thing as a Typical Family (Time)
Home visitor interacting with happy mother with two children
Save Home Visiting

The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) is up for reauthorization in September. Without this crucial evidence-based program, many at-risk pregnant women and parents with young children will not get the services they need to be healthy and productive.

Resources

Home Visiting: A Common-Sense Investment (Center for American Progress)
The Bi-Partisan Case for Reauthorizing Home Visiting Program (The Hill )
Home Visiting Program—Maryland (HRSA )
Blonde toddler girl in child care setting
Child Care Transitions

Changing child care setting can be stressful on young children and negatively affect their social development.

Resources

Unstable Child Care Can Affect Children by Age 4 (Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute)
Toddler boy in onesie looks straight at camera
To End Violence

There is a proven way to reduce violence, crime, and addiction - invest in children.

Resources

Early Learning Affects Health & Crime  (Heckman Equation)
Toddler boy and mother.
Place Matters

Having a strong start in life is a major factor in determining how long one lives.

Resources

Life Expectancy Can Vary By 20 Years Depending On Where You Live (NPR)
Study: Where You Live Can Affect How Long You Live (WJZ)
a hand drawn chalkboard shows multi-racial people holding hands around the world to show care for the earth, peace, and unity
U.S. Lags In Ece

The U.S. ranks 32nd out of 35 Western nations when it comes to investing in to early childhood education. We owe it to our children to do better.

Resources

U.S. Falls Behind Other Developed Countries in Early Childhood Education Enrollment (U.S. News and World Report)
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
young mother and father with newborn
Confident And Compassionate

You want to raise confident and compassionate children. But what’s the best way to do that?

Resources

Are you raising nice kids? A Harvard psychologist gives 5 ways to raise them to be kind (Washington Post)
A Revolution of Tenderness: A Summer Experience to Heal The Harshness and Embrace What Is Sacred (Lisa McCrohan)
colorful puzzle ribbon as symbol of autism awareness
Autism And Early Detection

Early detection can help make a world of difference for a child with autism spectrum disorder and his or her family.

Resources

LOCATE: Child Care Special Needs Service (marylandfamilynetwork.org)
Learn the Signs. Act Early. (CDC)
Early Intervention for Toddlers with Autism Highly Effective, Study Finds (Autism Speaks)
Symptoms (Autism Society)
cropped shot of a tired father lying on the floor next to his little baby
Depressed Daddies

Becoming a father is wonderful. But many dads, like mothers, can be more vulnerable to depression after the birth of a child. But you’re not alone and help is available. Listen now.

Resources

New dads risk depression too, study says (CNN)
Paternal Depression Symptoms During Pregnancy and After Childbirth Among Participants in the Growing Up in New Zealand Study (jamanetwork)
Dads Get Sad Too (Sage Journals)