Posts by Mel Gravely
Embracing Technology for Differentiated Instruction
This blog was provided by Dr. Nermeen Dashoush, Chief Learning Officer at MarcoPolo Learning and Clinical Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. The Gravely Group recently partnered with MarcoPolo Learning on a free webinar titled “How Can Technology Provide Greater Access for Families?” A big part…
Read MoreFamilies that are Categorically Eligible to Enroll in Head Start
A month ago, Head Start released a memo stating that families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are now categorically eligible for Head Start. What that means is that if families can provide documentation of their eligibility for SNAP benefits, they are automatically eligible to be enrolled in Head Start. They do not need…
Read MoreBack to Basics: Nutrition in Head Start
In Columbus, Ohio, where The Gravely Group is located, the city council voted last week to remove the city-wide mask mandate. Columbus Public School District, Ohio’s largest, did the same, removing any mask requirements for both children and staff. Experts are stating publicly that this might be the beginning of the end of the pandemic,…
Read MoreConsidering Head Start’s Place in Black History
Every year, Black History Month is dedicated to recognizing and honoring the contributions that black Americans have made to American history. It was first recognized as a national educational initiative by Gerald Ford in 1976. In researching for this blog, I myself learned some things about the history of Black History Month and how it…
Read MoreMulticultural Principles for Early Childhood Leaders
We here at The Gravely Group recently started piloting a new training on the Multicultural Principles for Early Childhood Leaders. We’ve been using this document for years, incorporating its lessons into many of our trainings, such as on ERSEA and Family Engagement. But we recently decided to review it again in its entirety after our…
Read MoreThe Gravely Group 2021 Year in Review
We’ll be honest. If you had asked us during our last Year in Review blog if we’d still be talking about COVID-19 affecting our day to day lives, we’d have said, “I sure hope not!” In December 2020 when we were writing it, the vaccines had just become available for those at highest risk and…
Read MoreHow to Recruit Head Start Staff During a Labor Shortage
Early childhood education programs across the country face unprecedented shortages in staff, a problem that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The child care industry employment rate is down more than 10 percent from pre-pandemic levels and child care staff hiring has become more challenging than ever, as the Office of Head Start (OHS)…
Read MoreHead Start Announces ‘Head Start Forward’ Campaign to Help Programs Get Back to Full In-Person Enrollment
This past June, we wrote a blog outlining Head Start’s expectations for programs in the 2021-2022 school year. In it, we explained how the Office of Head Start (OHS) is expecting all programs to work towards full in-person enrollment for this program year. We explained that while OHS had originally supported virtual and remote services…
Read MoreThe African American Boys Project: Implementing Culturally Responsive, Strength-Based Practices
This is the fourth and final blog in our series on the OHS publication Supporting School Readiness and Success of Young African American Boys Project. In our first three blogs, we talked about the origins of the project, defined the culturally responsive lens, and talked about why it focuses on African American boys in the…
Read MoreThe African American Boys Project: Understanding Young African American Boys
This is the third blog in our four-part series on the training document, Supporting School Readiness and Success in African American Boys Project. In our first blog of the series, “An Introduction to the “Supporting the School Readiness and Success of African American Boys Project’’, we discussed how the Office of Head Start’s National Center…
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