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Resources

Are you looking for other services

in your community?

Office for Young Children has listed some community agencies below, along with websites and current publications to assist you.

As part of the Great Start Child Care Quality Project, the ECIC has launched Great Start Connect to help link parents and those caring for young children with the resources, supports and services needed to give Michigan children a Great Start.

The Great Parents, Great Start program is a parent involvement and education program for all families with children from birth to kindergarten entry. The program is funded from a grant through the State of Michigan Department of Education, so services are at no cost to participating families. To find your county and link to what services are available, click here .

Clinton County Playgroup Schedule - listing of Clinton County playgroups

Eaton County Playgroup Schedule - listing of Eaton County parent/child activities

Ingham County Playgroup Schedule- listing of Ingham County playgroups with registration information.

Shiawassee County Playgroup Schedule- listing of Shiawassee County playgroups and other parent/child activities

The Department of Human Services directs the operations of public assistance and service programs, through county family independence agencies, in every county in Michigan.  

The Department of Education, under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, carries out the policies of the State Board of Education. This website has good information for parents and the importance of invovlement in the child's educational experince.

Many communities have 2-1-1.  It's a free phone service that links people with the human service information they need.

The Michigan Department of Education, Office of Early Childhood Education and Family Services, supports initiatives to assure that our very young children have access to environments that are nurturing, facilitative and supportive of each child's individual interests and needs.

The Ingham Birth-5 Collaborative - Ingham Great Start Collaborative

The mission of Birth to Five, Ingham County's Great Start Collaborative: Every family has access to a universal, comprehensive, and collaborative system of community-based early childhood programs, services, and supports.

Eaton County Early Childhood Connections - Eaton Great Start Collaborative

The vision of Early Childhood Connections, Eaton County’s Great Start  Collaborative: To ensure that every child in Eaton County enters school optimally prepared to learn and grow to the best of his/her ability, agencies, parents, caregivers, and the community commit to providing a supportive environment characterized by respect and by the provision of accessible and coordinated services.

Great Start- Shiawassee 

The mission of Great Start - Shiawassee is to assure a coordinated system of community resources and supports to assist all our families in providing a great start for their children from birth through age 5.

Ionia Great Start Collaborative

The mission of Ionia Great Start is to develop a seamless system of care that utilizes community resources and supports to help our families have access to the tools needed to provide a healthy start for all children birth to kindergarten entry.

Clinton County Great Start

The Clinton County Great Start Collaborative is a partnership of community leaders, business owners, charitable and faith-based organizations, health and human service agencies, educators, and parents.  It is committed to establishing and maintaining a comprehensive early childhood system.

Links to the www.healthcare4mi.com website with the on-line combined Application for 4 health care insurance programs - MIChild,  Healthy Kids,  Plan First,  and MOMS.  Provides immediate eligibility determination at end of on-line application process.

Shiawassee Community Health Center providing family medical care, immunizations, well child visits, lab and x-ray through Memorial Healthcare.

Links to Born Learning, a public engagement campaign to turn everyday moments into fun learning opportunities.

Looking for child care or preschool options in your area? Visit Great Start Connect and click on "Early Learning"

The Office for Young Children's Children and Families Yellow Pages is a resource directory of children, family, and community services in Ingham, Eaton, Clinton and Shiawasesee Counties.  Last update of this publication was 2009.

Below are some links to help answer "typical" child developmental questions you may have regarding your child. If you have concerns and your child is between the age of birth and three years, Early On of Michigan helps families get the assistance they need for their children.

ZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization that supports the healthy development and well-being of infants, toddlers and their families. We carry out that mission through a range of activities that inform, educate and support the adults who influence very young children’s lives. 

Michigan After-School Partnership (MASP) is a statewide network developing a shared vision and influencing others to believe in the power of after-school programs to help all children and youth succeed. MASP links stakeholders interested in improving outcomes for children and youth through school-based/school-linked and enrichment after-school programs.

Child Development websites:

http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,1607,7-140-6530_6809---,00.html - Early Childhood Education and Family Services in Michigan

http://www.sedubois.k12.in.us/~jblackgrove/stages_of_writing.htm - information on writing development 

http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/DLiT/2000/DLT/intro.htm - information on writing development 

http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/en-ca/home.html - encyclopedia of child development information

http://www.howkidsdevelop.com/

http://www.pbs.org/wholechild/abc/ 

http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/erickson.shtml

http://naeyc.org/  - National Association for the Educucation of Young Children

http://www.naccrra.org/for_parents/ - National Association for Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies

http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/ - information helping parent young children

www.kidsacookin.ksu.edu - Information, activities and recipes for children, parents and caregivers.

http://www.cdc.gov/CDCTV/GetThePicture/index.html - CDC put together this short video to help answer the tough questions about childhood immunizations.