Every child in Michigan deserves a chance to be the best they can be. What we do now shapes their future health, happiness, and success in school and beyond. Michigan has a number of quality programs to help families stay healthy and support their children’s development, especially during the early years, when children develop the most.
MiKidsMatter is your place to find information, support and resources to help you find the program that is right for your child. Here is a list of some of the best programs available in Michigan, many of them at little or no cost.
Home Visiting programs connect you with a trained professional who will support you within your home, community and culture to give your child their best start in life. These programs provide you with prevention-focused family support services for pregnant women and families with children from birth to age five.
These early learning at home programs range from maternal health to developing early learning for your child, to connecting you to community services such as food, housing and mental health. Early learning at home programs include:
It’s natural to worry about whether your child needs help and what others might think. But the sooner you get help, the faster they will be able to cope with the challenges they face. Here are two free programs and resources that can help with development delays.
Early On can help you give your child their best chance for success. If your child is developing slower or has health issues like cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome or sight or hearing problems, we can help. We’ll work with you to evaluate your child’s current development and figure out the next steps.
Developmental milestones can help identify when a child is struggling and provide direction to find out why. Children who are not meeting milestones or are struggling to learn may need additional support to help them prepare for kindergarten. Intervening as early as possible can in many cases resolve, or at least limit, a child's roadblock to learning. Build Up can help you find the help you and your child need.
It’s important to find child care you can trust and that will give your child quality early learning opportunities. Finding the right preschool is just as important. Great Start to Quality rates the quality of licensed Michigan child care and preschool options to help you decide what’s best for your child. There is no cost to use this service. You also may be able to get help paying for child care.
These resource centers provide information about quality programs, financial assistance, and other resources. They also have free lending libraries with learning materials you can use with your child.
Preschool is an important time for your child to develop social and learning skills, while getting ready for kindergarten. Michigan has a variety of preschool programs run by the intermediate school districts (ISD). Contact your local ISD to learn how to apply and when the enrollment period is for your county.
The Head Start preschool program was created to give children of eligible families a free early learning program that prepares them to enter Kindergarten ready to succeed in school and later in life. Teaching takes place in a classroom within your community. Head Start will work with you to make sure your child's individual needs are being met in the classroom and at home.
Michigan's Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) is a state-funded preschool program for four-year-old children with factors which may place them at risk of educational failure. It is a free, nationally recognized Pre-K program that prepares children for kindergarten and beyond. Research shows that kids who go through this program do better in school, are less likely to drop out and are more likely to succeed as adults.
