Born Learning:
Tools to Advance
Early Childhood Campaigns
Why is United Way Involved In Early Learning?
• United Way of America is transforming itself
– from fundraiser to community leader
– focused on galvanizing communities to change lives
– bringing unique strengths to the table
• leadership & collaboration
• business relationships
• community need insight
• funding
United Ways Have Long Been Engaged
• 80%+ United Ways support early learning
– funding agencies serving children
– advocating for early learning policy
– leading early learning community impact initiatives
• United Way’s Success By 6
– 350+ local & state public-private-nonprofit partnerships
working to boost school readiness
– America’s largest network of early learning coalitions
– 17 years of local innovation that works
It’s All About Economic Opportunity
Early learning is one of United Way of America’s top 3
strategic initiatives…
… because we know it’s essential to break the cycle
of poverty & to build a foundation of success.
UWA wants to renorm thinking around early learning
The Unacceptable Gap
• Half of America’s kindergarteners are coming to school
behind
• The most vulnerable children are at least 1-2 years behind
• By the age of 5, many children in high-risk environments are
already developmentally behind
This gap only grows over time -- undermining school readiness
and success in life.
-- Dr. Craig Ramey, Center for Health & Education, Georgetown University
Parents & Caregivers Need Help & Information
• Parents & caregivers dramatically undervalue their role in
school readiness -- 1 in 3 incorrectly believe their loving
interaction has little impact on their child’s learning
capacity.
(2000 study done by Civitas, Zero To Three & BRIO)
• Caregivers know the early years matter, but don’t know
exactly what to do to promote early learning – and don’t
think they have time to do what it takes.
(Ad Council & UWA public opinion research, 2004)
The UWA Response
That’s why United Way is investing in a public
engagement campaign to give parents, caregivers &
communities tools to support school readiness
Goal is to help parents, caregivers & communities
create early learning opportunities for young children
Q. What Is Born Learning?
• One strategy to reach family, friends & neighbor caregivers
• Unique national-to-local effort: national visibility ($44
million worth in 1st year) designed for local adaptation
• Free community engagement toolbox available to any state
or local early learning coalition
• 500+ online tools, tips & templates to support public
awareness, caregiver education & community action
A. All of the above…
Born Learning Headlines
• News Flash # 1 – Born Learning leverages new research
saying that relationships are the engine of a child’s
development – not flash cards or fancy toys
• News Flash # 2 – It gives any early learning coalition prepackaged, research-based tools to support community
change
– You don’t have to be a United Way
• News Flash # 3 – It’s a free, multi-media toolkit that’s
continually updated to help you engage your community
Built on Partnership
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United Way of America
Civitas
Families and Work Institute
The Ad Council
375+ local & state Born Learning campaigns
Strong partnerships & corporate support
– Publix and Nationwide illustrate corporate involvement
– Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and First Book
– Association of Children’s Museums
– American Academy of Pediatrics
– National League of Cities
– Birth to Five Policy Alliance
The Message Framework –
Everyday Moments
• Telling stressed, overwhelmed parents, grandparents &
caregivers that early learning isn’t hard or expensive…it’s
nurturing relationships that matter
• Communicating that children are active participants in their own
learning…literally born learning … and here’s how you can
support learning
• Targeting adults impacting children in the early years
• Helping adults create environments to support a child’s social,
emotional, cognitive development – at home, in child care & in
the community
Awareness,
education &
community action
Awareness Opportunities
• PR tools online to help you generate headlines
– Media relations tips & event ideas, messaging, “swiss cheese”
press releases & editorial columns, parent column with tips
• Two rounds of Ad Council PSAs to 24,000 media outlets
– TV, radio, print, billboard, Web ads (localizable by United Ways)
– Top 10 Ad Council performer
• Exceeding Ad Council average of $30 million in donated media per year
• 1 billion impression so far from all campaign components
• 226 million impressions for women 18+ (double Ad Council average)
– 1.4 million people taking action by visiting campaign Web site each
year
• 122,000 Web visitors per month seeking more info
Education & Parent/Caregiver Outreach Opportunities
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Continually updated product line of research-based material
– Downloadable & localizable to promote you, partners & sponsors
•
It’s reaching people
– More than 1.2 million parents reached (reported by less than half the
United Way Born Learning campaigns)
– Estimate of 10 million educational materials disseminated
•
Helps you maximize with strategic distribution tips & tools
– Ideas & strategies to reach targets, especially vulnerable populations
•
Mostly written for 3rd-grade reading level
•
Virtually all in Spanish (along with Spanish PSAs & Web site)
•
Only cost is printing
Community Action Opportunities
Online community engagement guide & tools
– Details & stats on early learning
– Links to latest expert research
– Outline of research basis & strategy behind Born Learning
– Fact sheets with graphs & research that make the case
– Communication tools to persuade business leaders
Best practices from across the country & proven to work
Make The Case to Business
Communications Toolkit
Designed for & tested with
business leaders
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“Why Early Learning Matters”
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Adaptable PowerPoint & brochure
Drop-in policy slides
Champion Action Tips with specific asks
User Guide offers best outreach strategies
Flash Video for emailing
Online Birth to Five Policy Alliance
Resource Library – “best of show”
Center for Law & Social Policy, Committee for Economic
Development, Fight Crime Invest in Kids, National Center
for Children in Poverty, National Conference of State Legislatures,
National Governors Association’s Center of Best Practices, National
Scientific Council on the Developing Child, Ounce of Prevention
Fund, Zero to Three
Why Early Learning Matters brochure
online, adaptable & free (you print)
Seven Levels of Born Learning Engagement …
Action
Education
Awareness
LEVEL
WHICH MEANS…
PSA Placement
• Working with media to ensure local placement of PSAs
Public Relations
• Reaching out to reporters & editors
• Getting media coverage of the issue
Localizing & basic
fulfillment
• Localizing material
• Sending material to callers upon request
Opportunity-based
distribution
• Looking for opportunities to distribute material
• Not engaging in direct contact with parents or caregivers
Third-party
distribution
• Asking “trusted advisors” to talk about the materials
• Asking advisors to help parents apply the concepts
Strategic &
intentional outreach
• Communicating campaign messages & materials to target
audiences where they live, play, work, shop, worship etc.
Using campaign as
community change
tool
• Strategic, proactive media & material distribution activities
focused on results
• Using campaign in integrated strategy to make community
change, including public policy and system change
What’s Happening On the Ground?
Generating new energy, partners & focus on early learning
• Increasing parent outreach & education
» Greenville: home visitors using materials as parent coaching tools
» Brownsville: incorporating into neighborhood-based meriendas
• Involving new community partners
» Topeka: partnering with movie theaters
• Engaging hospitals, pediatricians & state agencies
» Highland City, FL: doctors’ offices are Born Learning “kiosks”
• Enlisting new champions
» Atlanta: reaching out through pastors & pulpits
• Generating new sponsors
» New attention by TV stations, major employers
• Enrolling the business community
» Employers turning break rooms into family support centers
How Can Born Learning Support You?
• Has tools to support strategic goals of any coalition or
organization focused on early learning
• Local United Ways can use Born Learning to help:
– Raise awareness – with or without a SB6
– Build knowledge of parenting & child development
– Connect with business leaders around early learning
• Helps you engage your community in early learning
– Tools & templates to boost visibility of issue can boost support
– Step-by-step community engagement tools on Campaign Central
on www.BornLearning.org
Driving to National Parent Behavior Outcomes
All components of campaign – PSAs, material, Web site –
drive toward national outcomes for parents:
• Extending language & literacy through talking, reading,
telling stories, writing, singing & rhyming with children
• Responsive care giving through responding sensitively to
children’s needs, establishing routines, sharing love &
affection, talking lovingly with young children
• Reinforcing the valuable role of parents & informal
caregivers in supporting early learning
• Using everyday moments – fun, loving interaction – to
reinforce learning
Born Learning Evaluation
• Awareness tracking (Ad Council)
• perceived awareness and importance of the issue
• changes in attitudes and beliefs
• key changes in behavior that promote early learning
• Activity tracking by each campaign (calls in, materials out,
people touched etc.)
– activity & output tracking tools, white papers, models & more
available on Campaign Central
• Parent & caregiver behavior
– 55% who saw ads are using everyday moments more to support learning
Parent &
caregiver
material
Born Learning Products
A line of research-based, high-quality products for parents,
grandparents & caregivers support advertising and Web messages
– and offer specific support to caregivers on key topics.
• Created and market-tested with consumers by Civitas
• Content approved by national panel of early childhood experts
Born Learning Product Overview
Registered Born Learning campaigns get pre-designed toolbox of
materials to localize, print and distribute:
• Grocery list fridge pad with parent tips for in-store learning
• Language & literacy activity card booklets
• Playbook brochure equates play with learning
• Kid Basics “snapshot” cards with action steps
• Your Child @ series on ages & stages (birth–5)
• Parent Tools offer interactive supports
• Poster spells out 5 keys to early learning, ties with parenting
video & series of stickers on each idea
• Parenting & grandparenting videos & Talaris interstitials
Fridge Tip Pad
Grocery store tip pad
15 parent tips for use
in grocery store
Magnetic pad
English & Spanish
Localizable
Recipes for Learning
60 different language &
literacy activity cards
Bound as booklet
Organized into activities for
infants, toddlers and
preschoolers
English and Spanish
Localizable
More Recipes for Learning
Playbook Brochure
5-panel brochure helps make the most of a child’s playtime
Also available in Spanish and downloadable PDF format
Kid Basics Card Ring
9 topical cards providing quick facts and recommended action steps
Topics: well visits,
connecting with kids,
child care, sleep, play,
dads, discipline, feeding,
literacy
Also available in Spanish & in
downloadable PDF format
Your Child @ Series
10 covering ages & stages
(English & Spanish)
 Birth
 2 months
 4-6 months
 6-12 months
 12-18 months
 18-24 months
 24-36 months
 3 years
 4 years
 5 years
Includes seal from American
Academy of Pediatrics
Low-literacy version available
Parent Tools
12 guides for parents:
checklists, logs and
ideas/activities
Topics include child care,
feeding, sleep, fathering,
activities with grandparents,
making reading fun &
understanding your child’s
feelings
Also in Spanish
Five Key Ideas Poster
11 x 17” poster highlighting key
messages about creating a
nurturing environment
for a young child
Ideal for child care centers
Also available in:
• low-literacy format
• 15 x 25 “supersize”
• Spanish
Can be used together with 5 Key Ideas
stickers & “Begin with Love” video
Parenting & Grandparenting Videos
Begin with Love &
Grandparenting DVD
Two 30-minute videos aimed at new
parents (narrated by Oprah)
& grandparents (narrated by Maya
Angelou)
• Offers tips for connecting with young children
• Focused on responsive caregiving &
language & literacy outcomes
• Packaging can be localized
Begin With Love endorsed by American Academy of Pediatrics
Talaris Interstitials
:30 and :60 videos that model parent
behavior & provide action steps
Topics: storytelling, reading, print awareness
3 English / 1 Spanish
Co-produced by Civitas &
Talaris Research Institute
Ideal for doctor’s offices, parent resource centers etc
(cannot be used on broadcast TV)
Packaging can be localized
Bits of Understanding
Monthly email newsletter
on topics of interest
Parents, grandparents
and caregivers can sign
up at
www.BornLearning.org
Learning On The Go Tips
On the Web
at www.BornLearning.org
And in downloadable PDF with
“Learning On The Go” tips
New online tips & PDFs in 2007
Maximizing Born Learning for Community Impact
If your focus is on raising awareness:
• TV, radio and billboard messages increase visibility and
raise awareness about early learning
• If localized, PSAs raise visibility of your initiative as an early
childhood leader
• With news coverage, speaking opportunities & opinion
leader outreach, key messages begin to reach business
leaders and the people with authority to change systems and
policies.
Maximizing Born Learning for Community Impact
If your focus is on parent education:
• Parent tools - made available where families live, work, play,
pray and shop - can increase understanding about how
children learn and what adults can do to shape their learning
• PSA or parent education videos in clinic waiting rooms, faith
communities, retail outlets, etc. help caregivers develop a
deeper knowledge about what they can do to help their
young children learn
• If parent tools are also integrated in parenting classes or
home visits & explained by trusted advisors (i.e.
pediatricians and faith leaders), it drives parent/caregiver
behaviors that support early learning.
Maximizing Born Learning for Community Impact
If your focus is on changing systems:
• Integrate parent tools, Mind in the Making, and evaluation in
local Head Start programs for parents
• Launch an Imagination Library project and send parent tools
to all enrollees (along with list of parent training resources)
• Convince your state’s health department to include parent
tools, Mind in the Making and evaluation in home visiting
programs across the state
• Work with your local Association for Education of Young
Children to train child care providers to promote early
learning using the parent tools
• Establish a support group system for family, friend and
neighbor caregivers that includes education and social
engagement. Use the research and parent tools as
conversation starters.
Maximizing Born Learning for Community Impact
If your focus is on public policy:
• PSAs and research-based tools will elevate visibility of your
initiative
• Media tools and templates will help expand your sphere of
influence
• Community mobilization tools will help you garner needed
allies from the non-profit and advocacy community as well as
build grass-roots support
• Opinion leader tools will help you enlist business leaders as
champions and advocates
• Research-based messages, tools,and templates will help
you equip business leaders to influence policy makers
How To Get it All?
Available to any registered Born Learning Campaign, along with 500+
awareness, education & engagement tips, tools and templates on
Campaign Central on www.BornLearning.org
Any registered
Born Learning
campaign can
get strategy,
ideas & step-bystep help to
engage
communities
around early
learning
For more on Born Learning
• Check out parent tips at www.BornLearning.org
• Learn more about United Way Success By 6’s support of early
learning
http://national.unitedway.org/sb6/
• Contact Rachel Perry
Communications Director
United Way Success By 6
rachel.perry@uwa.unitedway.org
(828) 254-5503
Thank
You