Smart Start Central Oklahoma Inc.

Smart Start Central Oklahoma's primary goal is to prepare children for success in school. Engaging with children during the first five years of life is critical to the future success of the child. Research shows that when investments are made in early childhood education, the community benefits in reduced expenditures on remediation, teen pregnancy, incarceration, and public assistance.

Early Birds is a free support and school readiness program for anyone caring for children from birth to five including parents, grandparents, foster parents, and childcare providers. Although the majority of Smart Start families are low-income, we do not have program eligibility requirements. We have seen that programs work best when parents from diverse backgrounds can come together and share their experiences.

Expecting families attend a prenatal class, and then parents and caregivers attend classes three times per year based on their child's age. This is a total series of 16 classes, with follow-up support offered in between sessions. Each class lasts for 90 minutes and covers five core areas: developmental milestones, parent and child activities, everyday learning, purposeful parenting, and family health and wellness. Classes are available in both Spanish and English. Through Early Birds, parents are taught how to take advantage of teachable moments throughout the day. With each class, families receive kits filled with community resource information, activities, educational toys, and books to stimulate their child's development and learning. Early Birds promotes healthy parent-child relationships, provides children with positive early learning experiences, and supports parents as their child’s first and most influential teacher.

Smart Start has built a network of community partners including public school districts, other nonprofits, and federal and state agencies that work together to provide a holistic approach to serving families. Our partners provide meeting space and help market Smart Start programs to families needing support. Additionally, Smart Start serves as a clearinghouse for families looking for services and helps connect them to partners that can provide specialized help including food insecurity, housing needs, or healthcare services.

Smart Start is known as an expert in early childhood development with the resources to teach parents and caregivers how to build school-readiness skills in their children. We have a proven track record of helping young children living in Central Oklahoma achieve kindergarten benchmarks as assessed by public school faculty and staff.

Smart Start believes all children deserve access to quality early learning opportunities, no matter their situation. We are currently expanding to rural areas around the state to ensure that ALL children get a smart start in life.

Smart Start is forming partnerships with change-makers in new towns across Oklahoma in order to bring our parenting support and early childhood education programs to underserved regions of our state.