ECI is seeking input from families that are being served by the early childhood system of providers. Please take a moment to share this post with all early childhood programs in your communities and ask that they share with families they serving.

The information will be used to help ECI partners better understand how families learn about services and make decisions regarding their family. Please follow the link to participate in a quick survey

https://tinyurl.com/EarlyChildhoodIowa

Easterseals Iowa Camp Sunnyside Summer Resident Camp has an exciting opportunity to offer, a three-day AAC Challenge Camp during the C7 Challenge Camp Week (July 21, 2019-July 26,2019)! Campers who are interested in the AAC Challenge Camp can choose to attend for the entire week of Challenge Camp with other resident campers, with a cost of $600, or attend the three-day AAC portion only (Sunday through Tuesday), at a cost of $300.

AAC Challenge Camp, July 21, 2019-July 23, 2019, will be a three-day opportunity for campers age 12-17, who utilize an Augmentative and/or Alternative Communication device to support their communication. During these three days, coaches will guide the camper's specific goals and needs. The coaches will be college students majoring in Speech-Language Pathology and will guide expressive language and critical thinking skills with supervision from Speech-Language Pathologists!

Campers will spend their days having fun swimming, horseback riding, doing arts and crafts, and much, much more. Challenge Camp (Week C7) will offer a variety of opportunities that will challenge and reward campers for their efforts.

Registration is limited-so sign up today. Visit the Easterseals Iowa Camp Sunnyside wevsite and register for week C7, Challenge Camp at http://www.easterseals.com/ia/shared-components/documents-library/2019/camp-and-respite/resident-application-2019.pdf.

Once you have submitted this application, notify the Easterseals Iowa Assistive Technology Team that you will be joining us for camp by emailing atinfo@eastersealsia.org, calling 866-866-8782, or calling TTY at 515-289-4069. The AT team will contact you to gain some additional information about the camper's AAC device so that they are ready to go for camp!

For more information: Easterseals Iowa Assistive Technology Program at 866-866-8782 (Toll Free) or 515-289-4069 or atinfo@eastersealsia.org.

StoryWalk will be held at the Children's Fair at the Fremont County Fair in Sidney from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. For more information please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/fremont-county-fairgrounds/childrens-fair-story-walk-at-the-fremont-county-fair/416039729238567/

Research shows that good literacy skills have a long-term impact on your child's development! Reading proficiency by third grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation and career success. Also, children who have good literacy skills are less likely to experience grade retention or school failure, drop out, or exhibit delinquent behavior. When they become adults, they are less likely to be unemployed or underemployed.

Dates: Fridays: June 28, July 5, 12, 19,26.

Time 10:00 AM- 11:30 AM

Location: East Side Library (2559 Hubbell Ave, Des Moines)

There will be a Rodeo StoryWalk on August 3rd in Sidney, Iowa. There will be a free book for the first 30 families who complete the storywalk. This book is about a little cowboys hopes and dreams.

This is a two day conference on 8th-9th. Keynote Speakers are Jim Sporleder and Tasha Schuh

Our first session in the Spotlight is:

"Teens for Love" Youth Programming - presented by Emmalee Bowlin, Director of Youth Engagement at Please Pass the Love.

We know that empowering our young people and giving them a voice can dramatically change the culture in schools. Our goal at Please Pass the Love is to increase mental health supports in our schools and a large piece of that is our youth programming. Through our Teens for Love program and our annual Youth School Climate Leadership Summit, we empower students to become leaders and mental health ambassadors in their schools. They have a voice and we help them find it. In this session, you will learn about our youth programming and what it takes to get a club started in your school. We will have a panel of our youth leaders that will share their stories and their experience with T4L and the annual Summit.

If you are interested please visit:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd6GtFUPn2Uc6D3oMCJ7G6ve5Sn16MNoJ1stZGCwFFUffwPYQ/viewform

Research shows that good literacy skills have a long-term impact on your child's development! Reading proficiency by third grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation and career success. Also, children who have good literacy skills are less likely to experience grade retention or school failure, drop out, or exhibit delinquent behavior. When they become adults, they are less likely to be unemployed or underemployed.

Dates: Tuesdays July 16, 23, 30, August 6, 13

Times: 9:30 AM-11:00 AM

Location: Kirkendall Public Library (1210 NW Prairie Ridge Drive, Ankeny)

To Register: Turn in registration card to Kelly Munter or Sherry Schlundt at Kirkendall Public Library.

Questions: contact Library at 515-965-6460 OPT #4 .

EveryStep is providing a three day supply of food, measured by family size through their mobile food pantry. All you have to do is show up at Bright Kavanagh Center between 2-4 PM on the 2nd or 4th Tuesday of EVERY month with a photo ID for every adult member of your household and some other form of ID for all the children in the household. At the Mobile Food Pantry, you will go through a short intake process. A volunteer will help you as you select the items you want.

This is a series focused on strategies for using your time. money and skills wisely to save money and prepare nutritious and safe foods. There will be three sessions: August 28th, September 4th, and September 11th from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. The cost is 30 dollars for all three sessions. You must register by August 26th. To register please call 712-374-2351.

Barnes and Noble offers a summer reading program for children grades 1-6. Their reading program gives young readers the opportunity to earn a free book. All they have to do is:

1. Read any eight books this summer and record them in your Summer Reading Journal (download here for English https://dispatch.barnesandnoble.com/content/dam/ccr/pdf/2019/summer-reading/123233A-05-bn-tear-sheet-bndotcom.pdf or Español here https://dispatch.barnesandnoble.com/content/dam/ccr/pdf/2019/summer-reading/123233A-04-BN-tear-sheet-spanish-cropped-edit.PDF). Tell us which part of the book is your favorite, and why.

2. Bring your completed journal to a Barnes & Noble store between August 1st and August 31st, 2019.

3. Choose your FREE reading adventure from the book list featured in the journal.

For more information on summer reading for all ages, visit BN.com/SummerReadingand click your child’s age category! You can also follow along on social media using the hashtag #BookYourSummer .