What We Do
Birth to 3 is the new pre-K and kindergarten!
Most parents have to return to work 6 weeks after a baby is born. That's when crucial skills required for success in school and life begin to be wired into a child's brain. According to the New York Times, "foundational skills that affect whether people thrive or fall behind in the modern economy are developed early, and achievement gaps appear before kindergarten." A recent article stated that the most important skills to teach "have to do with playing with other children .... human skills that machines can’t easily replicate, like empathy, collaboration and problem-solving." (NYT, "How to Prepare Preschoolers for an Automated Economy").
Parent, Caregiver, Nanny & Babysitter Classes
Operation Ready By 3 (ORB3) will support you as you find your way through the world of babies and toddlers. For parents and caregivers, ORB3 classes offer parents and other family members/partners opportunities to learn about brain boosting activities for school readiness skills. For the nanny or babysitter, ORB3 classes can help you get the job you want and receive the money you deserve as a trained child care provider who understands brain development in children 0-36 months.
Using ORB3 goals and activities as well as other coaching materials, all class participants will learn about the stages of infant-toddler development and the ways that family, culture, play and sensory development influence the growth of children. All participants will learn how to encourage development for skills that 21st century children need to to succeed, such as curiosity, flexibility, creativity, the ability to search, filter and forget and the ability to work collaboratively.
Early Childhood Educator & Daycare Provider Classes
Operation Ready By 3 (ORB3) will work with providers at a facility/center to be sure providers are keeping their early childhood education skills up-to-date. As all professional providers already know, the birth to 3 period in a child's life is not just about diapering, dressing, feeding and sleeping. There are countless skills to teach a child and to observe in order to insure that a child in one's care is developing on track and that brain connections are being made.
Using the ORB3 Goals and Activities in a daycare or child care setting, providers will build a baby or toddler's brain in ways that gets each child ready for school by the age of 36 months. Providers will be able to share goals and activities with the families of the children in their care so that families can also build brain connections at home. When everyone aims to build a child's brain, this forms a deeper partnership between providers and families as well as prepares a child for school and life.
The Operation Ready By 3 Team
Creator, Founder and Birth-3 Specialist
Cindi Z. Stevens Copeland, a trained parent coach, early intervention specialist and mom with over 20 years of experience, loves to share her knowledge, experience and expertise with others who want to build the brains of 0-36 month old children. Since publishing the Operation Ready By 3 Infant-Toddler Curriculum in 2013, Cindi has made parts of the curriculum available to parents, grandparents and other caregivers as well as child care providers so that they could build crucial skills in the developmental areas of language, emotional, social and sensory processing in children under 3 years old. In an effort to get all children ready for school by the age of 3, Cindi works closely with individuals with little ones in their lives to boost brain development, to track critical areas of development and to seek help/support from other professionals when needed.
Parents and Caregivers
Operation Ready By 3 knows that there are many people who are on the same team for a developing child. Along with parents, there are grandparents and other family members/partners, nannies and babysitters and/or daycare providers who aim to ensure that development is on track, or even exceeding expectations! When everyone in a baby or toddler's life is armed with Operation Ready By 3's information about development and has brain-boosting goals and activities at the ready, that baby or toddler is more likely to be ready for school by the age of 3.
Other Professionals
No Operation Ready by 3 team working to help babies and toddlers in McLean and Vienna, VA succeed would be complete without other professionals in a child's life. Cindi aims to work with other professionals, such as a pediatrician, therapist or home visiting professional, in order to make sure a child 0-36 months of age is healthy and developing as expected for the best start in life. Cindi regularly collaborates with other professionals and individuals who serve families with babies and toddlers in McLean as well as babies and toddlers in Vienna. Cindi also visits child care centers in order to work directly with professionals who need continuing education training and hours.