Educational Resources
Every car ride, walk and meal should be a learning experience for your preschooler. These resources provide a ton of real life examples of how you can turn your everyday activities into fun teachable moments without your child even knowing they are learning!
Porter County Education Services Preschool Assessment / Developmental Milestones
A coalition of educators, parents, organizations, and others who want to help young children connect with nature and care for the environment.
Natural Start Alliance
1000 Hours
Free global initiative to increase children’s playtime outside. Free resources including hour trackers to color are available on the website, there is also an app available to download to track hours. The creator of 1000 Hours Outside, Ginny Yurich, also has a free podcast and has written multiple books encouraging outdoor play. The 1000 Hours Outside social media pages (Facebook, Instagram) are also good sources of creative ideas for outdoor play.
Local Resources
Free books monthly via Dolly Parton available through Porter County Library System.
Westchester Public Library Programs & Events
** Tickle Tales is an excellent event - Join Miss Ronnie for some storytime fun. Each week will include short books, songs, rhymes, finger plays, and maybe even a craft. Practice social and early literacy skills which lead to becoming a lifelong reader and learner.
For Babies Ages 9-24 Months and Their Caregivers.”
“Help Me Grow (HMG) is not a stand-alone program. It’s a system that uses existing resources to develop a comprehensive approach to building early childhood systems in communities. The HMG model helps communities leverage existing resources in order to:
Promote the optimal development of all young children
Help identify concerns and needs among families with young children
Link families to community-based resources
Work in partnership with families by prioritizing parent and caregiver goals for their children’s well-being
Follow-up with families as well as their service and health care providers to ensure a cooperative approach to support
HMG is a framework that can be adapted to fit local context.”
Duneland Early Learning Hub
Free classes and resources coordinated by the Duneland School Corporation.
Ready, Set, Kindergarten
Classes to prepare children ages 4-5 for kindergarten in the Duneland School Corporation.
1000 Books Before Kindergarten
Available at Westchester Public Library, incentive program to encourage parents to read to their children in order to best prepare them for Kindergarten.
