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Officials mark Young Child week

SPRINGFIELD - Several area legislators saw firsthand the benefits of early childhood education yesterday during a visit to Springfield Day Nursery on Main Street.

State Reps. Michael Kane, D-Holyoke, and James Welch, D-West Springfield, engaged a classroom of preschoolers sprawled across the floor, singing songs and clapping their hands.
" Just being here, seeing the smiles on their faces and watching the teachers and other workers doing what they do, it's obvious that everybody is winning here," Welch said. "There is a dividend."

The visit by Kane, Welch, state Rep. Sean F. Curran, D-Springfield, and other area politicians was part of Week of the Young Child activities held throughout the nation and the state.
The week is set aside annually to focus attention on the benefits of early childhood education programs and the need for additional funding for such programs.
" Research has shown there is incredible brain growth in a child's first five years in cognitive, psychological, social and educational development," said Joan Kagan, executive director of the Springfield Day Nursery.

"It's important that the Legislature understands that an investment in early education is an investment in our future," Kagan said.

With an $8 million budget and a staff of 150 people, the 122-year-old child care facility provides before- and after-school care programs for more than 900 youngsters at five centers throughout Greater Springfield, Kagan said.

Kagan said at least 6,000 children statewide, of which 660 are from Springfield, are in lower-income families awaiting subsidized early education child care slots.

"We can always do more in terms of funding," Kane said. "As things turn around (economically), I think early child education, child care, could be one of the areas that would make a good investment."

Kane said he has signed on to a bill - "An Act Establishing Early Education for All" - filed during the fiscal 2006 session that would implement a voluntary program that would provide universal early childhood education for all preschool-age children in the state.

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