Involving parents in early childhood education

The AVANCE early childhood parent education program is entering its third year at Sassarini Elementary School.

This free, three-hour weekly program for children under 3 and their parents is conducted in Spanish. The program aims to help parents to build skills and confidence to support their child’s education. AVANCE still has openings for this year and the local coordinator, Maureen Crumly, is asking for the community to help spread the word about the program.

AVANCE is a national program funded here through a grant that the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation received from First 5 Sonoma County. For the first hour each week, the parent or grandparent meets with a toy instructor to create hand made toys and learning all the possibilities the toy has to help their children learn through play. The second hour, they spend with a parent educator learning about child development and parenting skills. The last hour of the program is used to introduce parents to the various resources in the community. Last week, parents met with a representative from La Luz and the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center.

Parents interested in AVANCE should contact Crumly at 775.9116 or mmcrumly@ comcast.net.

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