Help for Families
- Parents as Teachers
- Dolly Parton Imagination Library
- Enhanced Early Education
- Countdown to Kindergarten
Help for Providers
- Quality Enhancement
- Child Care Training
- Child Care Scholarships
Through collaboration, Aiken County First Steps empowers families and caregivers to prepare their children for school success by delivering, enhancing, and expanding high-quality early childhood services.
Parents as Teachers (PAT) is a voluntary early childhood development program offering research-based curricula that help families raise children to be healthy, safe, learning, and ready for school.
PAT services include personal visits from a parent educator at least twice monthly; monthly group connections with other PAT families; screenings and assessments to identify developmental concerns; and connections to outside resources that families may need to succeed.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library mails free, high-quality books to children from birth until age five, no matter their family's income.
Children enrolled in the program receive one book per month by mail. Each title is selected by a panel of early childhood literacy experts, who choose books that meet the age-specific developmental needs of young children.
Quality Enhancement programs promote quality in child care by providing early educators with one-on-one coaching and support. Classroom educators work with Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs) to set goals, review progress, and improve their strategies and skills over time.
Over a one-year period, participating classrooms receive rigorous quality assessments, on-site technical assistance at least twice monthly, a minimum of 8 hours of training, and funding for equipment and materials.
Our affordable, high-quality professional development offerings are certified through SC Endeavors and include topics in the areas of nutrition, health and safety, curriculum, child guidance, and program administration.
Registered and certified trainers provide high-quality training to child care provider staff.
Countdown to Kindergarten program is part of a statewide initiative including community events, professional development opportunities, and an annual public awareness campaign.
Teachers complete six one-hour sessions with each child's family, five in the family's home and a final visit in the kindergarten classroom.
Through First Steps and DSS-funded child care scholarships, eligible children receive tuition-free enrollment at quality child care centers.
Scholarship funds are paid directly to child care centers to serve eligible children.
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