THE COMMUNITY IMPACT OF EARLY LEARNING
ELCOC remains committed to providing quality early education and child care for all children in Orange County, supporting their future success and that of our families and communities.
Research strongly correlates early childhood learning with later success in school and in life.
By investing in foundation-building early learning programs in the years from birth to age five, when a child’s brain development is peaking, we strengthen and reinforce the many skills children will need throughout their lives, such as cognition, memory, reasoning, analysis, and social and emotional intelligence.
Early childhood care has also become a societal necessity for parents and employers.
With reliable child care in place, parents:
- are more available to work
- can better support their families
- have more discretionary income
- are less dependent on social services to make ends meet
Employers also benefit from greater access to workers who can be more focused and productive, knowing their children are thriving and safe.
High standards of care
To ensure the consistent high quality care parents count on, ELCOC supports and monitors all our provider sites throughout Orange County, assuring that state standards are met.
Where needed, we provide additional support from specialists in fields such as inclusion services and mental health.
And learning isn’t limited to our young students: providers and families also benefit and grow through a wide variety of workshops, seminars, training, and other resources.
A caring community
It takes a community to raise a child.
With the help of our dedicated staff and providers and the generosity of volunteers, donors, and funders, we continue to support and empower Orange County’s families and to grow our programs and services, recognizing the life-changing importance of quality early education to our children and families, and its critical role in building the prosperity of all who live and work in our region.
Community involvement
Orange County volunteers greatly enrich the experience of both our early education teachers and students.
We welcome the involvement of community members and offer numerous volunteer opportunities.
For example, volunteer readers, including local business owners and first responders, enhance our young students’ early literacy skills, by reading aloud to them during regular storytimes at our childcare centers.
ELCOC welcomes and appreciates the community of individuals and organizations who support our programs and enrich the lives of our children, families, and providers.
Thank you for caring about Orange County’s youngest citizens!