Childcare

Visitors smile as they follow a teacher at the preschool outside in winter

Prairie Woods opens its venture into nature-based education for preschoolers

SPICER — If you were to design from scratch what a nature-based, early childhood education center should offer, you would almost certainly come up with what the Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center already has. Its setting in northern Kandiyohi County offers roughly 500 acres of rolling terrain with woodlands, wetlands and prairie, along with seven miles […]

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New Head Start program facility opens in Willmar

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WILLMAR—Willmar’s Bright Light Head Start program opened its doors Wednesday at its new facility located along Highway 71 thanks to the efforts of United Community Action Partnership and the Kandiyohi Power Cooperative. The organizations worked together to create a larger and much needed space for Head Start, which is an early childhood education program. A

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The Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission have started a new grant program for the licensed, home-based day care providers in Kandiyohi County. The funds are to help the businesses during the pandemic. Children work on projects at First Step Family Daycare in Willmar in this file photo. Erica Dischino / West Central Tribune

Kandiyohi County day cares to receive help from EDC

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WILLMAR — Home-based child care providers are another segment of the overall economy suffering during the coronavirus shutdown. “They have not been closed by the governor, but they are facing some challenging times. They are operating at about 50 percent capacity right now,” said Aaron Backman, executive director of the Kandiyohi County and City of

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Willmar’s Head Start to have a new home

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WILLMAR—Living up to both of their names, United Community Action Partnership and Kandiyohi Power Cooperative are working together to create a larger and much needed space for the Head Start program operated by United Community Action Partnership. Kandiyohi Power Cooperative, with Marcus Construction, is renovating the cooperative’s building located on Highway 71 Northeast overlooking Willmar

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Christmas ribbon is cut at new day care center in Spicer

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SPICER—Brand new, pint-sized tables and chairs, books, cribs and colorful toys were unpacked from boxes Monday, and in a mad dash against the clock, were put in place in the new child care center in Spicer in time for a ribbon-cutting Thursday morning. A collective “whew” could be heard by the volunteers and staff from

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Kandiyohi County Rural Child Care Innovation Project

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Family childcare and childcare centers are businesses with accounting measures and regulations to follow. They are essential for maintaining the workforce for our businesses and instrumental in providing early education at a critical stage of child development, beginning the preparation of our future workforce. Understanding the problem A 2018 study completed by First Children’s Finance

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A wall-breaking ceremony takes place Tuesday at the Green Lake Mall in Spicer, launching a project to turn an unused portion of the mall into a YMCA day care center that will provide spots for 90 children in northern Kandiyohi County. The center could be open as early as Dec. 1. Carolyn Lange / Tribune

Making a dent in the daycare shortage

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A wall-breaking ceremony takes place Tuesday at the Green Lake Mall in Spicer, launching a project to turn an unused portion of the mall into a YMCA daycare center that will provide spots for 90 children in northern Kandiyohi County. The center could be open as early as Dec. 1. Wielding sledgehammers and taking a

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Rural Child Care Innovation Program

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The EDC has identified childcare as a goal for 2018 and is participating in the Rural Child Care Innovation Program led by First Children’s Finance in Kandiyohi County. The program is a community engagement process designed to address the challenges of childcare in rural communities. A recent survey of local employers and parents resulted in

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Child care – Important to local and regional economic development

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Family child care and child care centers are businesses with accounting measures and regulations to follow. They are essential for maintaining a workforce for our businesses and are instrumental in providing early education at an important stage of child development, beginning the preparation of our future workforce. Not having enough safe, affordable and accessible child

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