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Quick Links for Parent & Educator Resources
Arizona’s Children Part 2: The Families
Part 1 of Arizona’s Children: A two-part series for awareness of Arizona’s foster care system, and the people that help and take care of these children.
Arizona PBS Educators Facebook Group
This group is meant for teachers and educators to share experiences, innovative teaching methods and to seek new lesson plans or advice from fellow teachers and from the resources at Arizona PBS. All teachers and educators are welcome!
Arizona PBS LearningMedia
PBS LearningMedia is a valuable resource for teachers across all age groups and experience level. If teachers register for a free account, they have access to resources such as lesson plans, videos, teaching ideas and more!
Bright by Text
Arizona PBS Educational Outreach has launched a new free service that sends tips and resources promoting child development via text message.
Bright by Text is a free parent and caregiver messaging program for parents with children from age 0-5 years old. The service is designed to be relevant to today’s families, providing quality information and trusted resources to any caregiver, including hard-to-reach, low income families and informal caregivers.
Arizona Early Childhood Registry
The Registry provides the early childhood workforce in Arizona a platform to gather necessary training for professional development, and archive them all in one convenient location. On top of that, there are scholarship options for early educators who want to further their education.
Arizona PBS KIDS
Arizona PBS KIDS features an array of programming to help young children master important skills, ranging from reading and basic math and science to problem solving and emotional skills.
Grant Funded Initiatives
First Things First Statewide Grant(s)
Early Childhood System
- Administrative Home, Arizona Early Childhood Workforce & Professional Development Registry and First Things First College Scholarship Program (azearlychildhood.net). Scholarships for entry level CDA (Child Development Associate) certificate and Associate degrees.
- Administrative Home, PDG (Preschool Development Grant – federal funds awarded to Arizona Department of Economic Security (DES) & Arizona Department of Education) College scholarship program for Bachelor degrees and Certification pathways.
First Things First Regional Grants
Early Childhood Community Professional Development
- Cocopah and Yuma Regions – serving all Yuma county. Provide monthly professional development meetings and an annual conference. Host 3 cohorts (teachers, directors, and home visitors) that meet monthly around essential early childhood issues.
- Navajo and Apache Regions – serving all of Navajo and Apache counties. Convene community and higher education partners to host an annual early childhood conference.
Early Childhood Kindergarten Transition
- Colorado River Indian Tribe (CRIT) Region – primarily based in Parker, Arizona. Provide early literacy and social/emotional school readiness skills for four-year-old children who have not been in formal preschool. In tandem, parents and other adults providing care for the children, will participate in early literacy workshops to better understand early brain development, essential elements in learning to read and support their interactions with their children.
Early Childhood Parent Outreach & Awareness
- La Paz/Mohave Region – serving all 11 sub regions (communities) across La Paz and Mohave counties. Provide parent resources fairs including community, business, education, and health local services and provide parenting/caregiver support groups and education. Workshops and support groups should include early literacy and kindergarten readiness skills, as well as social/emotional resources and early brain development.
- Yuma Region – serving all Yuma county. Provide early literacy and kindergarten readiness skill workshop series for parents and adults caring for young children. Childcare is provided with educational activities mirroring the themes of adult curriculum.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting/Public Broadcasting System
- Ready to Learn – U.S. Department of Education – targeted zip code 85006 with resources for families, educators and young children including PreK-3 formal, informal and after school settings
- Kern Foundation – national pilot for families with children age 3-4 providing family workshop series for social, emotional and character development skills
Archive
The 2018 Arizona PBS Kids Writers Contest is open to all Arizona Kindergarten through Fifth Grade (K-5) students. The contest is designed to promote the advancement of children’s reading and writing skills through hands-on active learning.
Read On: The goal of Read On Arizona is to create an effective continuum of services to improve language and literacy for children from birth to age eight. With the support of different kinds of agencies, philanthropic groups and community stakeholders, Read On is committed to creating an efficient literary system for every child.
PBS Parents: PBS Parents is a trusted resource that’s filled with information on child development and early learning. It also serves as a parent’s window to the world of PBS KIDS, offering access to educational games and activities inspired by PBS KIDS programs.
