Blog

Welcome to the Way to Grow blog! Here you’ll find parenting tips, early childhood resources, and stories from home visits across the Twin Cities. We believe parents are their child’s first and most important teacher, and our home visiting model is built around that: bringing tools, activities, and encouragement right into the home. Browse for book recommendations, everyday learning ideas, program updates, and family stories from across our community.

12 Days of Growing: Day 12 150 150 Way to Grow

12 Days of Growing: Day 12

Day 12 – A Team of Twelve – Whether they’re cheering us from the sidelines or fighting on the frontline for our children and families, we are indebted to the team of individuals and organizations who help make Way to Grow one of our city’s strongest advocates for early learning. Our Team of Twelve includes…

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12 Days of Growing: Day 11 150 150 Way to Grow

12 Days of Growing: Day 11

Day 11 – Eleven Thousand Visits! That’s how many home visits our Family Educators and Resource Advocates conducted in 2013! Way to Grow’s home visits address all aspects of family life, health, and early education. Home visits produce positive results in developing early childhood literacy and preparing children for success in kindergarten and beyond. To…

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12 Days of Growing: Day 10 150 150 Way to Grow

12 Days of Growing: Day 10

Day 10 – 10 out of 10 – That’s the rating we’ve given Family Educator Marie Huey for her recent guest blog post for the Twin Cities chapter of Young Education Professionals. Marie wrote poignantly about the challenges of changing ingrained practices and mindsets when it comes to teaching a young child the literacy skills he…

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Twelve Days of Growing: Day 9 150 150 Way to Grow

Twelve Days of Growing: Day 9

Day 9 – 9 children – 9 out of 10 Way to Grow children entering kindergarten were up-to-date on recommended immunizations during 2013. Our commitment to health and wellness extends from prenatal checkups and new parent support groups to Cooking Matters and our Dream Tracks teen parenting program. With key community partnerships and connections to…

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Twelve Days of Growing: Day 8 150 150 Way to Grow

Twelve Days of Growing: Day 8

Day 8 – Great by Eight. Our Great by Eight program expanded our successful and statistically proven home-visiting model to include children from kindergarten (age 6) through 3rd grade (age 8). Building on the strong foundation of knowledge families receive in our early learning program and through intentional collaboration with all 34 elementary schools in…

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Twelve Days of Growing: Day 7 150 150 Way to Grow

Twelve Days of Growing: Day 7

Day 7 – 7 Different Languages – Did you know that Way to Grow’s Family Educators and Resource Advocates speak 7 different languages? This language-to-language, culture-to-culture approach is the benchmark of our Home Visiting model. It allows our educators to help parents teach the foundations of literacy in their own home. We also help our…

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Twelve Days of Growing: Day 6 150 150 Way to Grow

Twelve Days of Growing: Day 6

Day 6 – 6 Volunteers – That’s how many volunteers we like to have on hand to help with our Family Game Nights. It took twenty volunteers to pull off our Early Learning Graduation and dozens help put on our Annual Gala. Volunteer groups from Target, General Mills, PricewaterhouseCoopers, BMO Harris, Little & Co., and…

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Homework Kits from PricewaterhouseCoopers Way to Grow

Homework Kits from PricewaterhouseCoopers

A team from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP recently volunteered their time to prepare homework kits for our families. These donated school supplies will help create an environment for learning in our families’ homes. Thanks for your support, PWC!

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Twelve Days of Growing: Day 5 150 150 Way to Grow

Twelve Days of Growing: Day 5

Day 5 – 5 years old. The age at which most social service interventions for children begin – five years too late. Way to Grow works with kids from the time they’re born to make sure they’re healthy and have a solid education. Studies prove that if a child receives support in developing physical, cognitive,…

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Twelve Days of Growing: Day 4 150 150 Way to Grow

Twelve Days of Growing: Day 4

4 – 4-Stars Shining. Way to Grow’s Preschool Pals is a 4-Star Parent Aware rated preschool, meaning it meets benchmarks for the following best practices: Exemplifies a truly engaged school readiness partner for parents Ongoing assessment of child’s progress Continually adapts lesson plans and goals to meet individual needs Regularly updates parents on child’s progress…

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Twelve Days of Growing: Day 3 150 150 Way to Grow

Twelve Days of Growing: Day 3

3. – Three-year-old Abi was only speaking in grunts and made-up words and would throw violent tantrums when his mom couldn’t understand him. Way to Grow worked with Abi to get him enrolled in early childhood special education classes and with Marina on her parenting skills. In less than six months, Abi spoke in full…

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Twelve Days of Growing: Day 2 150 150 Way to Grow

Twelve Days of Growing: Day 2

2. – Over 2,000 parents and children received high-quality home visits focused on early childhood education this year. Way to Grow’s Family Educators and Resource Advocates engage parents with their children’s education—showing them how to teach through everyday interaction and play. During our 12 Days of Growing, we’ll share with you 12 examples of how together we…

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