Parenting Information and Classes
Early Learning Coalitions
A network of statewide and local organizations reaching out with tips, tools, and connections for parents, caregivers, child care providers, and communities.
Children's Home Society of Washington
Family support and parenting resources across the state.
Parent Map Magazine
Connecting parents with the information and resources. Covers the Puget Sound region.
Parent Trust for Washington Children
Parenting tips, database of parenting classes, support groups, and family fun activities statewide.
PBS Parents
Get tips on how to support your child socially and academically.
Program for Early Parent Support (PEPS)
A non-profit organization that serves parents of children birth to age 3.
Ready 4 K
Handouts, documents and links from Minnesota's nonprofit group, dedicated to giving their youngest citizens a strong start.
Talaris Institute
Working to improve the social, emotional and cognitive development of children from the prenatal period through age 5 by providing parents with tools to raise their children effectively. Talaris Institute offers a selection of 60-second video clips focused on the child development. The video clips are based on research summaries. These resources are available in Spanish.
Tufts University Child and Family Web Guide
The WebGuide is a directory that evaluates, describes and provides links to hundreds of sites containing child development research and practical advice.
U.W. Center for Infant Mental Health & Development
The Center on Infant Mental Health and Development (CIMHD) works to improve the social and emotional aspects of development for young children during their formative years. Special emphasis is placed on vulnerable children at risk due to maternal mental health problems, extreme poverty and homelessness, absence of social supports, parental substance abuse, and related factors. Children already exhibiting developmental delays as a consequence of these factors are also of central interest to the center.
Zero to Three
A national site that focuses on the healthy development of babies and toddlers.
Choosing Child Care
Family, Friend & Neighbor Care
Family, friend and neighbor providers (FFN) include grandparents, aunts and uncles, elders, older siblings, friends, neighbors and others who help families take care of their kids on an informal basis.
Getting Help Paying for Child Care & Preschool
Child care can be expensive. State child care subsidy programs help eligible families with children pay child care costs.
Washington State Child Care Resource and Referral Network (Parent Page)
Tools to locate child care and find information on child development and caring for children with special needs.
Washington State Department of Early Learning (Child Care & Preschool Options)
Assistance with choosing high-quality child care. Also offers Also offers Child Care Check, Washington State's Licensed Child Care Information System which provides basic licensing information and the history of any complaints made about a licensed child care provider that was found to be valid.
Child Care & Early Education Research Connections
A comprehensive, up-to-date, and easy-to-use collection of more than 14,000 resources from the many disciplines related to child care and early education.
Child Development
CHILD Profile
Regular mailings containing health and safety information designed to help parents make decisions about their young child's health care. This resource is available in Spanish.
Healthy Families America
Healthy Families America, a program of Prevent Child Abuse America, strives to provide all expectant and new parents with the opportunity to receive the education and support they need at the time their baby is born.
ParentHelp123.org
ParentHelp123.org connects you and your familiy to food and health resources in Washington state.
Smart Start
Smart Start is North Carolina's nationally recognized and award-winning early childhood initiative designed to ensure that young children enter school healthy and ready to succeed.
Whole Child Leon
Florida's Whole Child Leon seeks to engage the entire community in a commitment to its youngest residents and strives to holistically address the needs of young children.
WithinReach
Essential resources for child and family health, safety, nutrition, and information for expectant parents.
Childrens Museums in Washington State
Childrens Activity Museum of Ellensburg
The Children's Activity Museum provides a fun, safe learning environment for children and families.
Childrens Museum of Skagit County (Mount Vernon)
Childrens Museum of Tacoma
The museum's imaginative environment reaches beyond home and school experiences, nurturing growth and development as young children and their adults explore the world together.
Childrens Museum of Walla Walla
The Children's Museum of Walla Walla inspires visitors of all ages and cultural backgrounds to learn, explore, and think creatively through interactive play.
Imagine Childrens Museum (Everett)
The Mission of Imagine Children's Museum is to make children's lives better by creating a place where they can playfully learn.
KidsQuest Interactive Museum (Bellevue)
KidsQuest is a unique place for fun and exploration. Art, science, technology and daily life experiences are integrated in world-class exhibits with strong ties to the Pacific Northwest.
Mobius Kids (Spokane)
A center of hands-on science, arts and cultural education, inspiring kids in every stage of life.
The Childrens Museum, Seattle
The Children's Museum, Seattle offers a hands on experience full of wonderment for children, birth to age 10, and families.
The Hands On Childrens Museum
The Hands On Children’s Museum stimulates curiosity, creativity and learning through fun, interactive exhibits and programs for children, families and school groups.
The Kids Discovery Museum (Bainbridge Island)
KiDiMu engages bodies and minds through interactive play, inspires a lifelong journey of discovery and expands connections to our local and global communities.
The Orcas Island Funhouse
The Funhouse is a non-profit community center that fosters fun and learning with dozens of hands-on kid-friendly science exhibits, complete audio and video production studios and much, much more.
Three Rivers Children's Museum (Pasco)
The Three Rivers Children's Museum and Heritage Arts Center serves as an educational resource, complementing and extending the learning of home, school, and community in the arts, sciences and humanities.
Yakima Valley Museum
The Childrens Underground provides hands-on activities that complement the core museum exhibitions. This interactive center features child-sized replicas of period costumes and buildings, which allow children to experience history through constructive play. Children can also explore the natural history of the Yakima Valley through live animal displays and educational exhibits on the area’s environment.
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Child Health and Safety
American Academy of Pediatrics (Parenting Corner)
Dedicated to the health of all children.
Apple Health for Kids
Through the Department of Health and Human Services, this new state medical assistance program helps families find health coverage for their children.
"Cavity Free Kids"
An oral health curriculum that was developed by the Washington Dental Service Foundation for early learning programs, including Head Start and child care. The curriculum includes both classroom activities for children and parent education materials. WDS Foundation offers Cavity Free Kids training and materials at no charge to early learning programs in Washington state.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Information on vaccines. This resource is also available in Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese.
Childrens Defense Fund
CDF is a non-profit child advocacy organization that champions policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education, and a moral and spiritual foundation.
Council for Children and Families
CCF promotes the optimal development of children and families by leading Washington state in its efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect.
Kid's Oral Health
Your child’s baby teeth are important. Beginning with the very first tooth, healthy teeth are part of a healthy body. Some people think baby teeth don’t matter because they fall out, but that’s not true. Early prevention and intervention—preferably by a child’s first birthday—are critical to improving children’s oral health.
Mayo Clinic (Baby's Health Page)
Explore information on newborn care, baby care, baby development, infant development and baby illnesses.
MedlinePlus
A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. This resource is available in Spanish, Amharic, Vietnamese, Somali and Russian.
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Find information on more than 4,000 product recalls and recall alerts.
Web MD (Children's Health Page)
Information on children’s health issues provided by doctors.
School Readiness
Child Care Aware (from the National Association of Child Care Resources & Referral Agencies) Getting Your Child Ready for Kindergarten (and the World) talks about the skills most children need when they enter kindergarten, what you can do to help your child get those skills and what to do if you think your child isn't "ready." This resource is available in Spanish.
First Five California
Simple things that parents and caregivers can do to help their child develop and be ready to succeed in school when the time comes. This resource is available in Spanish.
Foundation for Early Learning
Tips for parents and caregivers on how to encourage children's early learning. Also supports Getting School Ready Web site. PDF versioins of the Getting School Ready booklet is available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali and Russian.
Head Start and ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program)
Comprehensive preschool programs that provide free services and support to eligible children and their families to help ensure all Washington children enter kindergarten ready to succeed. The programs include early learning preschool, family support and parent involvement and child health coordination and nutrition. The ECEAP enrollment form is available in Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali and Russian.
National Reading Panel
Updated regularly with new publications and materials to help children learn to read.
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Washington's state agency that supports the K-12 system. Site includes links to local school districts and an online report card for the state, school districts and individual schools.
Reach Out and Read
Reach Out and Read makes literacy promotion a standard part of pediatric primary care, so that children grow up with books and a love of reading. Be sure to check out their Reading Tips, What Children Like in Books, and Developmental Milestones of Early Literacy.
Success By 6™
Sponsored locally by United Way of Snohomish County, Success By 6™ is providing the tools and training for parents, teachers, and child care providers at 54 sites to improve school readiness.
Washington State Department of Early Learning
Offers a child's checklist for school readiness.
General Early Learning Research and Information
Administration for Children and Families
Within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACF is responsible for federal programs that promote the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals, and communities.
Child Care & Early Education Research Connections
Offering a comprehensive, up-to-date and easy-to-use collection of more than 13,000 resources from the many disciplines related to child care and early education.
Children's Alliance
Washington's Statewide child advocacy organization, championing public policies and practices that deliver the essentials that kids need to thrive.
National Association for the Education of Young Children
NAEYC is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational and developmental services for all children from birth through age 8.
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child
NSCDC is a multi-disciplinary collaboration comprising of leading scholars in neuroscience, early childhood development, pediatrics, and economics.
National Institute for Early Education Research
Supports early childhood education initiatives by providing objective, nonpartisan information based research. Publishes annual State of Preschool.
The Society for Research in Child Development
Promotes multidisciplinary research in the field of human development, to foster the exchange of information among scientists and other professionals of various disciplines, and to encourage applications of research findings.
U.S. Child Care Bureau
Supports low-income working families through child care financial assistance and promotes children's learning by improving the quality of early care and education and afterschool programs. |
