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Delivering Support to Families with Young Learners
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Mental health plays a major role in a child's social and emotional development from birth. Helping your child manage feelings and stress at an early age can affect their future actions.
Coping skills like identifying emotions promote good mental health in your child. Encouraging these skills in young children can allow them to grow into kind, healthy adults.
Find children's mental health resources here.
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Video: Let's Talk Tantrums
Did you know that toddlers have not fully developed the parts of their brain that control bodily impulses? Without the ability to share their feelings, they may have tantrums, which is a normal, healthy release. Learn more about what to do when your child has a tantrum in this video from PBS.
Watch the video.
Fitting Self-Care into Your Busy Schedule
With family, school, work, and other parts of your life taking up much of your time, you might notice that self-care is at the bottom of your to-do list. But taking care of yourself is even more important when you are busy. You can have more energy to handle your hectic day when you recharge through self-care.
Finding time for self-care can be hard with a packed schedule. So check out these tips to fit self-care into your day and boost your well-being.
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Try quick self-care ideas, like pausing what you are doing to take a deep, grounding breath, standing up and stretching to reset your body, or setting aside your phone to refocus.
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Get creative with your schedule. If there does not seem to be much room in your calendar, look for short windows of time to reclaim for self-care. Get up and move between work meetings, or take time to breathe when you get in or out of your car.
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Be patient with yourself. It can take time to adjust to changing your schedule or building new self-care habits. It may also take some time to find habits that work for you. Continuing to commit to self-care, even if you forget once in a while, is still beneficial. Keep going!
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News Alert: Child Care Scholarship Program Enrollment Freeze
The Maryland State Department of Education issued a temporary enrollment freeze for the Child Care Scholarship (CCS) Program that began May 1, 2025. Due to recent growth, the program has reached its maximum budget capacity and will instate an enrollment freeze.
This means that scholarships for new families who apply and are approved will not be issued right away. They will be placed on a Frozen Status List (also known as a waitlist).
Over time, children will age out or leave the CCS Program. This frees up funding that can be used to help new families. Families on the Frozen Status List will be notified when a scholarship is ready for their use. Through this process, families already in the program can continue to receive support.
Please note that the freeze affects new applications only, with the exception of eligible families that receive Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for a disability. Currently enrolled families will still receive benefits, as long as they meet program requirements and renew on time. Currently enrolled families will also be able to add a new child to the scholarship.
Learn more on our CCS Program freeze website.
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