Operation First Five (OF5): Potter County Parent Survey

"This conference presentation will highlight how community partners from Operation First Five (OF5) coalition, a nonprofit organization focusing on the needs of young children, have come together to identify strategies to help infants, toddlers, and preschoolers develop the foundational skills that will help them be successful when they enter school. The OF5 organization is a diverse grassroots group of individuals and organizations with similar interests in early childhood initiatives that have united to support parents of young children by connecting them to services and/or resources that may help young children in our community have a more successful start in life. The mission of this community-wide organization is to help children succeed through a comprehensive and collaborative early childhood system that supports families and unites like-minded service providers (Zero to Five website, 2021). The coalition partners have a common vision that all children in the area grow up healthy, experience nurturing relationships, live and grow in stimulating early learning environments, and enter school ready to succeed (OF5- Amarillo Facebook page, 2021). In this presentation, the presenters will share their research study that is currently collecting survey data from the local area regarding parents' general knowledge of child development and parenting perspectives related to raising young children ages birth to 5 years old. Data collected will be used to determine a baseline of parents' knowledge before wide-spread intervention initiatives are implemented throughout the targeted community. These interventions will include research-based strategies for helping parents understand the vital role they play in their child's development from birth to age five. Although many unique strategies are planned, a prominent intervention component will focus on "The Basics", a community-wide effort to raise awareness of five basic parenting or caregiver principles (the basics.org, 2021). These principles help parents and other caregivers support young children's social, emotional, and cognitive development (the basics.org, 2021). A key objective of this conference presentation will be to share with the audience more about The Basic principles which include: 1) Maximize love, manage stress, 2) Count, group, and compare, 3) Talk, sing, and point, 4) Explore through movement and play, and 5) Read and discuss stories. This presentation will spark participant discussion surrounding the importance of developing parents' and child caregivers' understanding of ways they can easily help develop the foundational skills that children need before entering school. Through discussions with the researchers, participants will increase their own knowledge and gain insight into how intentional early childhood interventions may be an answer to the common question of "Is my child ready to be successful when they start school"?