Montgomery County Early Childhood Coalition

10/01/2025

Thank you SPARK Learning Lab, your presence in our community will be greatly missed!

09/23/2025

It was a Carnival of Curiosity at the 5th Annual Early Learning Expo! We welcomed 70 local educators to Crawfordsville High School this past Saturday for a morning of education, celebration, and support. This year's event focused on the importance of play and STEM activities in classrooms, showcasing how much children learn by simply just playing.

Our Keynote Speaker Kasey Kile Wilkinson presented "The Power of Play," with great lessons and fun pieces from KODO Kids. Participants then cycled through stations and displays from Kodo Kids, Lakeshore Learning, and Flourish Studio & Classroom to learn how they can incorporate more play in daily routines. Our guests also enjoyed treats from The Warehouse Bakery and Sunoco Midwest Clean Fuel while they visited with vendors and wrote letters to local legislators. No one left empty-handed thanks to special classroom giveaways from KODO Kids, Lakeshore Learning, Penguin Random House, and all of our participating vendors!

In the face of tough budget cuts, early childhood professionals continue to lead with passion, creativity, and heart. This event is more than just fun- it's an opportunity to celebrate the profession and thank the teachers who shape young lives every day.

The Montgomery County Early Childhood Coalition and the Montgomery County Community Foundation are proud to host this annual gathering to show our local educators how valued they are in the community. We send a big thank you to everyone who attended and helped make this another great event!

09/11/2025

Montgomery County Providers, let's continue to raise our voices and share our stories! Indiana AEYC wants to hear from you and will share your story with our legislators. Please visit the link below to participate.

INAEYC is collecting stories from families and providers to deliver to legislators about the impact of the CCDF Funding cuts. To have your story included, visit inaeyc.org/ccdf-stories

09/08/2025

Many of our local providers participated in this survey. We encourage you to review the report to gain a clearer understanding of the challenges our child care providers are currently facing.

Early Learning Indiana conducted a statewide survey in August, gathering responses from more than 440 child care providers across 67 counties. The results show deepening challenges in early learning across the state. Providers report declining enrollment, staffing shortages and significant funding instability. See the survey results. https://earlylearningin.org/current-challenges-in-child-care/

09/05/2025

Attention Montgomery County Early Learning Providers: Indiana AEYC has issued an Action Alert regrading the latest funding cut to hit our early learning programs. Please read this important announcement and RAISE YOUR VOICE! Now is the time to ACT and ADVOCATE for our children AND our providers!

Today’s announcement from the Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learn More

09/03/2025

Time is running out to secure your spot for the 5th Annual Early Learning Expo! Join us on September 20th for the biggest event of the year dedicated to our community of early learning educators.

Registration closes Friday, September 5. Click below for more information. 🎡🍿🎪

5th Annual Early Learning ExpoJoin us on Saturday, September 20 for the 5th Annual Montgomery County Early Learning Expo! This year's theme is Carnival of Curiosity, an interactive professional learning event designed specifically for early childhood educators. This STEM-focused expo will feature en...

08/18/2025

Come one, come all- registration is NOW OPEN for the 5th Annual Early Learning Expo! 🎉

Join us Saturday, September 20 for a "Carnival of Curiosity" as we explore how science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) come alive in early learning environments. Register now at https://www.mcecc-in.org/educators-events

08/08/2025

INAEYC invites early childhood professionals to attend the Lafayette Regional Listening Session on August 21, 2025, from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at IVY Tech Community College – Lafayette. This engaging session will feature Lisa Walter, MCCF-Early Learning Director, and many other early learning leaders!

This is a valuable opportunity for participants to share their experiences, offer feedback, and contribute to the ongoing conversation about early childhood education in Indiana.

📍 Ivy Hall Auditorium, Ivy 1333
🔗 Register now: inaeyc.org/event/listening-session-lafayette

REGISTER NOW for the 1st stop on the INAEYC Listening Session Tour! Our First stop is August 21st at 6 pm at IVY Tech Community College in Lafayette.

inaeyc.org/event/listening-session-lafayette

07/25/2025

Camp Milligan campers and staff had a blast meeting Jenna Morello and viewing her latest masterpiece!

06/17/2025

🎪 Save the Date! 🎉
We’re thrilled to announce the 5th Annual Early Learning Expo: Carnival of Curiosity is coming soon!

Join us as we celebrate this exciting milestone with our amazing community of early childhood professionals. 🌟 It’s going to be a day full of learning, laughter, and inspiration — all under the big top!

📅 Saturday, September 20th, 2025
📍 Crawfordsville High School
🕘 9:00am-1:00pm

Stay tuned — registration opens later this summer!
We can’t wait to see you there! 🎈

06/06/2025

Camp Milligan’s Summer Programming is off to an incredible (and BUSY) start!

Our campers have hit the ground running with an exciting lineup of activities—from field trips and creek stomping to swimming, games, and so much more! We’re thrilled to welcome back our returning campers, staff, and families, as well as greet many new faces this summer. With eight more weeks of fun ahead, we can’t wait to make even more unforgettable memories!

Here are just a few highlights from our first two weeks:

We kicked things off with a trip to the Columbian Park Zoo, where we got a little soggy but stayed stylish in ponchos! Luckily, we dodged the rain long enough to catch a fun showing of Lilo and Stitch! ☔️🎥

Camp was buzzing with excitement as we welcomed some amazing guest visitors! Huge thanks to City of Crawfordsville - Mobile Integrated Health and Miss Calli for a hands-on water safety lesson, Miss Karen and the Crawfordsville District Public Library for her continued storytelling magic, and Miss Mindy from Purdue Extension - Montgomery County for teaching our campers all about nutrition and healthy living! 🏊‍♀️👨‍🍳🍎

Week 2 wrapped up with a splash at Waynetown Aquatic Center and Tremaine Park followed by a sweet trip to McCord Candies and Flourish Studio & Classroom. Campers created candy-themed art, made candy sticks in the iconic candy cane room, and of course—brought home delicious treats! 🍭🎨

Stay tuned—there’s so much more to come at Camp Milligan! Happy Summer! 🌞😎

05/23/2025

Now enrolling Infants and Toddlers at Fuzzy Bear Ministry Preschool & Daycare!