Think Small

Aligned with our 2019-23 Strategic Plan and our population level result that “All children will be ready for kindergarten,” we look to accomplish the following goals:

Prepare Providers: Think Small works to retain and increase the number and percentage of high-quality childcare slots in the seven-county metro area. We also work to retain and increase the number and percentage of licensed family- and center-based child care providers participating in and earning high ratings from Parent Aware. We do this by providing training, peer-to-peer learning communities, and coaching in multiple languages. Targeted outreach efforts are focused in low-income and diverse communities across the metro area.

Strengthen Families: Support low-income families in Hennepin and Ramsey County through increased access to Early Learning Scholarships for families to enroll their children in programs with Parent Aware quality ratings. We also work to increase the number of individuals who sign-up for our ParentPowered Texts, an evidenced based, age-targeted, text message program for parents and early childhood providers to enhance parenting skills and support children’s healthy cognitive, social, physical, and emotional development.

Catalyze Change: Increase and strengthen our advocacy and policy efforts to educate, organize and mobilize early learning stakeholders to advocate for policies that increase access to high-quality early learning programs. We do this by activating our statewide e-advocacy network of stakeholders and offer advocacy training's in the Twin Cities metro and Greater Minnesota to providers, parents and individuals from early childhood and grassroots organizations. Finally, Think Small will continue to strengthen its position as the go-to resource for all things early childhood in the seven-county metro area and across the state.

Early Childhood Quality: Increase and retain the number and percentage of licensed family and center-based child care providers participating in Parent Aware in the seven-county metro area.
• Increase percent of programs that have earned a three or four star Parent Aware rating
• Decrease the number of programs closing that have earned a three or four star Parent Aware rating
• Decrease the number of programs hesitant to participating in Parent Aware

Early Childhood Access: Fully optimize all financial assistance funds Think Small administers.
• Controlling/managing/reallocating administrative costs in order to optimize available funding for children and families
• Educating eligible families on the most efficient use of funding supports to cover the costs of high-quality early care and education
• Identify other pots of money to braid with early learning scholarship funds

Parent Engagement: Parents and caregivers of children under five and expecting parents are supporting and preparing their children for kindergarten.
• Think Small will advance and develop innovative ideas that allow us to educate, engage and empower parents and caregivers so they have the information and resources they need to prepare their children for kindergarten
• Think Small will commit to fostering meaningful engagement with parents and caregivers by applying a ‘parent engagement’ lens to our work throughout the agency

Policy: Create and change legislation to support increases in access to quality early learning opportunities that meet the needs of families and increase the number of high-quality slots.
• Fully fund early learning scholarships
• Increase Parent Aware participation
• Ensure CCAP funding meets all CDBG re-authorization requirements and is tied to quality
• Ensure families have robust high-quality early care and education options, including LFCC and CCC, that meet their needs
• Every child receives a school readiness assessment during transition to kindergarten
• Provide strategic leadership in early childhood efforts as applicable
• Engage Think Small staff in policy strategy plan

We are skilled at meeting the early learning workforce where they are and supporting them in building their quality to support school readiness of the children they serve. We serve the entire state of Minnesota as experts and leaders in early learning. We are managed by a board of directors who are knowledgeable community leaders with a wide range of backgrounds from corporate business, non-profit management, academia and policy.

Think Small has almost a 100 outstanding employees, who speak English, Spanish, Hmong, Somali, Oromo, Amharic, and Karen. Finally, Think Small is supported by three cultural Advisory Committees (Somali, Southeast Asian and Spanish) with 30 members to help guide our work.

Think Small provides a wide range of programs and activities based on research and best practice from the early childhood field. Our direct services are focused on families and providers in Minnesota, and Redleaf Press publications serve customers around the globe.

If children have access to high-quality child care with sufficient dosage they will be ready for kindergarten. We stand on the result of being ready for kindergarten. Think Small’s contribution is to ensure high-quality early care and education is available and accessible.

Think Small’s mission is to advance quality care and education of children in their crucial early years. This mission statement describes our purpose and answers the fundamental question “Why does Think Small exist?”
To achieve this mission, Think Small must embrace a continuous improvement process in which we seek to answer the question:
“How do we advance quality care and education of children in their crucial early years?”
Accumulating evidence shows that access to quality early childhood experiences will result in positive outcomes for young children, both in regards to kindergarten readiness and lifelong success. There is a robust set of research findings, both locally and nationally, supporting
this conclusion. Minnesota currently utilizes Parent Aware, the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), to measure quality early childhood experiences. As a QRIS, Parent Aware is unique in that it is developed and implemented through the lens of kindergarten readiness.

In order for us to make progress on our population level result, we are aware that we must address issues of racism and equity to eliminate barriers to opportunities and achievement for our youngest learners. This includes the use of dis-aggregated data, whenever possible, to track our progress in closing the opportunity gaps that are persistent in Minnesota.