Blog, News & Events

Small Talks: A Think Small Speaker Series is Back! On December 4th, join us at the Wilder Foundation for this in-person session “From Awareness to Action: How Trauma-Informed Care Builds Supportive ...

Think Small is proud to announce that the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has accredited Think Small Institute’s professional development in early childhood care and education. This ...

Ready to celebrate Pride Month 2024? There’s something for everyone from babies to grownup in this booklist from the Debra Fish Library. Pro-tip: Track the books you & your children ...

  Small Talks Slides White Paper   About the Event Join us for the third and final event in our Small Talks early literacy series. This entire in-person, hour-long event ...

Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month is an annual campaign that raises awareness of the inclusion and contributions of people with developmental disabilities (DD) in all aspects of community life. It highlights ...

CISA KELLER NAMED NEW CEO AT THINK SMALL Respected Early Childhood Leader and Expert Chosen to Succeed Retiring CEO Barb Yates St. Paul, MN – Today, the Board of Directors ...

  Recording Small Talks Slides White Paper About the Event Only 30% of Minnesota 8th graders were deemed proficient in reading in a recent national assessment (NCES 2022). Addressing this ...

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day honors the great Civil Rights leader and has the distinction of being the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service. On this ...

It’s no secret that Minnesota is in the midst of a child care crisis. Quality child care in Minnesota has become hard to find, hard to secure, and even harder ...

“Our hearts go out to the families and all those affected by this tragic event. Everywhere that children gather or visit should be a safe place without fear of gun violence. Especially now more than ever, we need to be a voice for our children working together to protect schools and to prevent all forms of violence – including gun violence – in our schools.” - Barbara Yates, President and CEO of Think Small  

My goal is to support the ongoing growth and development of a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment for all Think Small Leaders.

“This is the biggest challenge we face: Can we build an equitable system that prepares all children for kindergarten, or will we continue to shortchange those experiencing opportunity gaps? We ...

On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday in the United States. The Juneteenth holiday celebrates when the last enslaved African Americans were notified of their freedom on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas...

By Dianne Haulcy, Senior Vice President of Family Engagement, Think Small WAKE UP! This morning I woke up with that Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes song that became popular ...

By Kristie Thorson, Communications Specialist Whether you’re a family child care provider who wants to share a program success or a parent who is struggling to find high-quality care, your ...

By Barbara Yates, President and CEO of Think Small As another school year begins, we have another opportunity to reflect on children’s readiness for the learning ahead. Think Small’s strategic ...

By Barbara Yates, President and CEO of Think Small Today marks the re-launch of the Minnesota Children’s Cabinet, and I am excited about the possibilities it presents for our youngest ...

By Kristie Thorson, Communications Specialist St. Paul mother Stephanie Henderson knows her son Oliver has benefited from high-quality early care and education.  “It was just so great for him,” said ...

Submitted by Jane Kretzmann, on behalf of Elders for Infants (Glenace Edwall, Dave Ellis, Sandy Heidemann, Jim Nicholie, Glen Palm, and Katie Williams). Elders for Infants is comprised of professionals ...

Submitted by Jane Kretzmann, on behalf of Elders for Infants (Glenace Edwall, Dave Ellis, Sandy Heidemann, Jim Nicholie, Glen Palm, and Katie Williams). Elders for Infants is comprised of professionals ...

Minnesota’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) helps make child care affordable for income-eligible families.  This can often be life-changing for children and parents, as it was for the Santamaria Mendez family. Four-year-old Aaron Santamaria ...

Think Small’s mission as a nonprofit is to advance quality care and education of children in their crucial early years. We do this by preparing providers, strengthening families and catalyzing ...

We ask the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to stop family separations at the border. Dear Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen, On behalf of Think Small, I ask you ...

By Kristie Thorson At Think Small, we picture a brighter future for Minnesota’s kids.  We picture a day when ALL young children have access to high-quality early care and education ...

Small Talks features leaders who share key insights on early childhood education and discuss innovative solutions to early learning issues in Minnesota. By Kristie Thorson “If this is going to ...

“Our mission is to advance quality care and education of children in their crucial early years.” The theme of our 2017 Report to the Community is ‘Picturing Brighter Futures’ for ...

By Susan Schaffhausen In 2017, Think Small undertook new efforts to increase the number of child care providers who devote their care to ensuring children’s health, safety, and best practices ...

By Kristie Thorson, Communications Specialist There is much more ‘being planted’ in this backyard then simple seeds and seedlings.  These Minnesota children, along with their family child care provider, are ...

The Policies in Play series takes a closer look at the recently passed state legislative policies that affect early care and education. We work with partners to find out what ...

Child Care Providers Can Meet Parent Aware Requirement by Encouraging Families to Sign Up When Woodbury parent Amy Raleigh heads to the store with her 4-year old daughter Fiona, she ...

By Todd Otis The benefits of giving children access to high-quality early learning have been proven beyond a doubt. Nobody has been able to dispute that targeted investment in quality ...

By Todd Otis The early childhood movement has come a long way in the past twenty years, and has a long way to go. The public now understands the importance ...

Winners of the Midwest Book Awards Gala were announced May 12, 2017, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Think Small’s publishing division, Redleaf Press, took home top honors in three categories: Education/Learning, ...

 Did you know Minnesota’s best resources for early childhood professionals are available FREE to you?  April 9 – 15 is National Library Week!  What a great opportunity to explore a ...

By: Gerri Fisher This month marks one year since the start of the Think Small blog. To celebrate, we’re using January to highlight information and initiatives from Think Small and ...

We’ve moved up a few diaper sizes, mastered crawling, and are transitioning to solid foods and walking. This month marks one year since the start of the Think Small blog. ...

The 2017 Legislative session starts in less than one month. In preparation, Think Small created our policy priorities. The priorities all support our mission of advancing quality care and education ...

Think Small is participating in Give to the Max Day on Nov. 17. The annual event, sponsored by GiveMN, encourages Minnesotans to donate to their favorite nonprofits and charities on ...

Governor Mark Dayton has proclaimed today Think Small Day in Minnesota in honor of our 45th Anniversary. Now that’s something to celebrate!  It all started with a bus. As more women ...

Join families, child care providers, and child care centers to discuss what you think about parent engagement. Tell us what changes you’d make, or what you want to remain the ...

Think Small is celebrating its 45th Anniversary on Thursday, Oct. 13 with a community open house. The event will be hosted in our new office space in the lower level ...

By: Maya Fanjul-Debnam The opportunity gap is one of the biggest obstacles our education system faces today. As highlighted in a Minnpost op-ed written by Think Small President, Barbara Yates: ...

By age three, it’s estimated children from low-income families hear 30 million fewer words than their more well-off peers. This word gap contributes to children from low-income families being less ...

By: Maya Fanjul-Debnam Minnesota is heralding in an innovative program to help close the word gap. The word gap–a 30 million word deficit between children from low income families and ...

The Minnesota House Select Committee on Affordable Child Care held a hearing on July 19 at the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board office to hear from the community on child ...

There is much to mourn over recent weeks, with terrible acts of violence in Louisiana, Texas, and our very own home Minnesota. Current events expose great rifts in our communities, ...

Think Small is thrilled to share new, cutting edge approaches to reducing opportunity and achievement gaps at the 2016 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America meeting in Atlanta this month. It’s ...

Meet Lisa Wilson. She is a single mother to a rambunctious 4 year-old. They try hard to make ends meet every month, but sometimes it just didn’t work out. Child ...

This is the third in a series of videos showing the impact high-quality early learning has on children, families and child care providers across Minnesota. Check back here for a new ...

This is the second in a series of videos showing the impact high-quality early learning has on children, families and child care providers across Minnesota. Check back here for a new ...