Hillary Clinton visits Educare Tulsa
March 25, 2014
Children at Educare Tulsa at Hawthorne greeted a special guest on Monday, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Clinton, along with long-time Educare champion George Kaiser, participated in story time and a sing-along with the children as they launched a new local campaign, “Talking is Teaching,” that aims to improve children’s readiness for school. “Talking is Teaching” was developed by Too Small to Fail, a joint initiative of Next Generation and the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, in partnership with the George Kaiser Family Foundation, CAP Tulsa and Educare Tulsa.
The campaign will provide parents and caregivers with resources and tips to help build a child’s vocabulary and understanding through talking, singing and reading aloud.
By age 3, the average child in a low-income household knows fewer than half as many words as a child in a high-income household. But simple activities parents and caregivers can do every day can boost young children’s brain development and build their vocabularies.
“Through my involvement with Educare, I was taught that I can be the very best teacher for my children,” said Rondalyn Abode, an Educare Tulsa parent. “It’s good to have resources and support to help me do this.” Clinton said quality early learning programs like Educare can also narrow this word gap.
“Research on the children enrolled here in a Tulsa Educare center and the other high-quality programs that are offered through the Community Action Projects of Tulsa demonstrates… that their vocabulary is improving because of their access to early childhood education at this high-quality program,” Clinton said.
