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News & Updates
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What Families Need to Know About the Child Care Scholarship Program Enrollment Freeze
The Maryland State Department of Education issued an enrollment freeze for the Child Care Scholarship (CCS) Program that began May 1, 2025. During the freeze, the Program will temporarily be unable to give scholarships to new families. Please note that the freeze affects new CCS Program applications only. Currently enrolled…
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Raising Awareness of Maryland Afterschool Programs
Afterschool programs provide supervision, care, and education for children outside of school time. According to an America After 3 PM report from Afterschool Alliance, 7.6 million children in the United States are unsupervised when the school day ends. Enrolling children in afterschool programs will reduce the risks of leaving children…
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Discover Informal Child Care
Did you know that you can have a trusted friend or family member care for your child and receive financial assistance to help pay for it? In Maryland, families have several child care choices. Besides licensed child care centers and family child care providers, there’s also informal child care. This…
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New Child Care Portals for Families and Providers
Child Care Portals The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has recently introduced new online portals for both Child Care Scholarship families and providers, which are designed to enhance and simplify various processes related to the Child Care Scholarship (CCS) program. Here’s a summary of the key information provided in…
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Tips for Choosing Quality
Are you looking for child care? If so, this short video series from Maryland EXCELS is for you. Learn about the most important how-tos for choosing a quality early education program in Maryland. Then you’ll be ready to select the right program for your child through the Maryland EXCELS…
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Build a Support System to Give Your Children What They Need
Life happens fast, and with young children, it’s common to have a busy schedule. It is often difficult to find time for oneself. Building a good support system this year can help you manage your life, care for yourself, and give your children what they need. A support system includes…
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Is it open?
Holiday, severe weather, and emergency closing policies vary from one child care program to the next. Quality child care programs have written policies and procedures that explain how the program handles different types of closings. Be sure you are able to see which days the program…
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Play, Baby, Play
Again. Again! Again!!! Babies and toddlers love, love, love their playtime. And they very often love to engage in the very same kind of play – time and again. This can be fun for you… but sad to say, it can also easily turn into a boring routine. After all,…
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Showing Gratitude
When our child demands a toy or refuses to cooperate, it can feel like we’re raising one of the less-appealing characters from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Children’s demands can hit especially hard when we’re working long hours to make ends meet—or just trying to get dinner on the table. We’re also reminded of…
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Paying for Child Care
Child care is one of the biggest costs for families in the United States. It’s important to know what resources are available to help with child care costs in Maryland. High-quality child care programs may cost more than other options. But when children are in a quality child care program…
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Your child’s education begins at birth!
STORYTIME Read a book or tell a story to your baby every day beginning at birth. It doesn’t matter how young your child is; even newborn babies are learning when their parents read with them. PEEK Look right into your baby’s eyes! Infants recognize faces early on – and…
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Recognizing and Identifying Emotions
According to the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning, understanding feelings and emotions is critical to children’s overall development. As adults, it is our job to teach children to understand and deal with their emotions in healthy and positive ways. Helping to recognize and identify emotions…