Newsletter for July 2010

[GSC Web Admin]

The Great Start Collaborative (GSC) of Ionia County is pleased to provide community members with information on early childhood topics that they can disseminate to parents of young children in their organization. The articles will feature a different topic each month that is written by someone who works in the county with young children. The article will appear in three different formats: a long article with in-depth information, a short paragraph with the major points highlighted and one to two sentences with a key message for parents to remember. You may select whatever format best suits your needs and use it in isolation or put it into a newsletter, church bulletin or use a paycheck insert. Parent members of the GSC have told us that having information and knowing what resources are available to them in their community is their greatest need. There has been a significant amount of research lately that has focused on the impact that communities have on the outcomes of its youngest citizens. According to the Carnegie Corporation (1994), “We can now say with more confidence that a family's effectiveness as a childrearing system is bolstered by the existence of a supportive social network that includes people outside the immediate family. There is also increasing evidence that when people feel responsible for what happens in their neighborhoods, children benefit.” We hope that you will take the step and partner with us by providing parents in your networks accesses to this information.


Topic: Kids and Lead Poisoning

Paycheck insert: The most common cause of lead poisoning today is old paint with lead in it. Here are some things you can do to lower your family's risk of lead poisoning: read more...

Newsletter short version: Lead has not been used in house paint since 1978. However, many older houses and apartment buildings (especially those built before 1960) have lead-based paint on their walls. read more...

Newsletter full version: Toddlers explore their world by putting things in their mouths. Therefore, young children who live in older buildings are at especially high risk of getting lead poisoning. Children can get lead poisoning by chewing on pieces of peeling paint or by swallowing house dust or soil that contains tiny chips of the leaded paint from these buildings. read more...

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