Success By 6 aims to help area children

Arts, crafts and face painting are in Cape Girardeau's future as part of Messy Morning, set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 5 at the Show Me Center.

Attendance typically averages about 3,000 for the free event, which celebrates Week of the Young Child by providing hands-on, educational activities for children, according to Janice Jones, coordinator of the United Way of Southeast Missouri's Success By 6 initiative.

Jones said usually there are more than 30 stations set up by various community agencies and businesses. The DARE car and a firetruck will be on hand, as well.

Messy Morning was part of the discussion, along with early childhood education, children's programs, parent education and provider training, at a Success By 6 leadership team meeting Tuesday at the United Way of Southeast Missouri office.

"It's amazing what they come up with for the children to do. One of our programs has always set up a really fun music area where the children can come in and play music. There's all kind of arts and crafts, face painting, almost anything you can imagine for the children to do," Jones said.

The Southeast Missouri Food Bank also brings a barrel and those attending are asked to bring a can of food to help support it.

"It's important to let children know it's important to help other people, too," Jones said.

A Facebook page also has been set up for Messy Morning. This year's chairwoman is Enola Watters.

When United Way started Success By 6, Jones said, about 25 percent of Cape Girardeau students weren't quite where they needed to be on educational screenings. Now, she said, it's about 15 percent.

"It's not so much what we've done, but it's all these programs working together trying to address those issues of early childhood education and making sure parents are aware," Jones said. "Like we were talking about, it starts at birth. You start working with your children and you don't wait" until just before they start school.

"All the reading, the singing and the playing you do with them, those little brains are making those connections. We want children to do well in school. We start early working on those skills and developing those skills. Those early years are very important," Jones said.

When a child turns 2 and people start having more conversations with them, if parents talk to their children, telling them about oranges or bananas at the grocery store, for example, or reading to them, it makes a difference, she added.

" ... If you want children to have big vocabularies and have a broader understanding, you want to read to them. That's so important. ... Anything you read, that's one of the best things you can do to help children be ready for school and be successful in school," Jones said.

Other discussion

* The team heard results from the comment period on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's new teacher certification requirements. According to a DESE news release, teachers, school administrators and representatives from higher education, professional organizations, the Missouri Advisory Council of Certification for Educators, the department and members of the Missouri General Assembly provided feedback through the public comment period, which ended Jan. 1.

Much of the feedback pertained to early childhood education, with more than 40 percent of the comments focused in that area, the release said. The rest of the nearly 700 comments were spread over other aspects of certification, the release said.

* The group also discussed some language changes for the mission and vision statements for Success By 6.

* Heard that Love and Logic sessions will be April 23, April 30, May 7 and May 14 at the Educare office, 301 N. Clark St. Jones said Love and Logic is a "parent education piece to help parents with discipline and helping children. There's always going to be the normal tensions that go on with parenting and how to handle those in an appropriate manner."

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

Show Me Center, 1333 N. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.