From Play to Possibilities- Explore the ELCHC Q2 Newsletter

The latest Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County newsletter is here, and it’s packed with exciting updates! From program highlights to an inspiring employee spotlight, we’re sharing all the ways we’re supporting early learning in our community. Plus, find new resources to make family engagement fun and get tips to boost early literacy at home. Dive in and discover how we’re turning play into endless possibilities for our youngest learners!
Why Play Matters
Day of Play

We’re thrilled to share the success of our recent Winter Day of Play event hosted at Jackson Springs Community Center with 20 community partners and over 350 attendees. Day of Play is more than just fun and connecting to local resources—it’s a chance for families to discover the power of play-based learning. Families in attendance received books, tambourines, and other play-focused resources to spark learning and fun at home. Through hands-on activities and meaningful connections, parents learn how play supports their child’s growth, learning, and success.
Lissette Godwin, Manager of Program supports at the Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County, shares that play provides the opportunity for children to develop a variety of skills that they will use throughout their lives, such as encouraging social-emotional skills, gross and fine motor development, cognitive development, language, and communication and arguably the ability to just have fun. Day of Play remains just that, a wonderful opportunity for families across our county to play, connect, and to just have fun.
Family Engagement

Last November, we celebrated Family Engagement Month, also known as Florida Family Engagement in Education Month, a time to honor the vital role parents, caregivers and families play in supporting their children’s education. As a coalition, we participated by creating a calendar filled with creative and fun activities designed to help families bond while boosting their child’s growth.
From hands-on learning games to meaningful conversations, these play-based learning activities are an exciting way for parents to engage in their child’s development, making education a shared experience. Family engagement is at the heart of early education, and we’re excited to continue empowering families to be active participants in their little ones’ growth and success.
Building Bright Futures
The Power of Early Literacy

The most significant brain growth happens between birth and age five, with the brain tripling in size during the first year alone and becoming nearly fully developed by the time a child starts kindergarten. (SOURCE: What’s Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life.) Literacy plays a vital role in this early brain development. Research from neuroscientists at Stanford University ( Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) highlights that a child’s reading ability is closely linked to the growth of the brain’s white matter tracts.
The Early Learning Coalition is dedicated to supporting literacy through impactful programs. One such initiative, Literacy All Year (LAY), supports early literacy education within the classrooms.
This program equips educators with training to enhance phonemic awareness and emergent literacy skills such as reading and writing. It also provides classrooms with valuable resources, including Big Book stands, a comprehensive Big Book Collection, listening centers, and book sets on CD, ensuring children have access to the tools they need to thrive. How do you help your child build strong literacy skills- PLAY!
Connecting Play to Literacy
Big Discoveries with Small Ideas

Watch how even the smallest ideas can lead to big discoveries through play! In this fun and informative video, board member Dr. Jacquelyn A. Jenkins takes us on a journey of creative learning, pulling items from her bag and demonstrating the countless ways we can engage with children to spark imagination and support early literacy.
This video was shared last October during Head Start Awareness Month and offers inspiring ideas for parents, educators, and caregivers to encourage playful learning at home and in the classroom.