Research has shown that early learning can provide the means for children to achieve greater successes as they grow into adults. Such education is linked to less involvement in crime, higher education levels, and higher income. Families and caregivers understand that the early years of a child’s life are important, yet many don’t know what actions to take to encourage early learning and prepare children for school. In response, United Way is partnering with the Ad Council and Civitas to bridge this gap between what we know and what we feel we can do for children in their early years.

Born Learning is a groundbreaking national campaign designed to help parents, families, caregivers, and communities create quality early learning opportunities for young children. Through national public service advertising, parent materials, and community mobilization activities, it provides action steps that are fun, simple, and that can be done in everyday moments to help prepare young children for school.

Televised public service announcements from the Born Learning Campaign show parents and caregivers how to turn everyday activities into learning activities for their young children. One of the messages shows a man pulling his son around town in a wagon, reading street signs and billboards aloud to the young boy. Such an activity helps build the speech and language abilities of young kids, familiarizing them with letters and giving them a head start on learning how to read. Print materials for parents and caregivers provide tools and tips on incorporating learning into a child’s everyday activities. Brochures include "Five Key Ideas for New Parents" and "The Playbook: ...make the most of your child's playtime" The combination of these public service announcements, brochures, and the Born Learning website, www.bornlearning.org, provides communities with what they need to invest in children’s success early on.

Almost 75 percent of the 1,350 individual United Ways nationwide currently support early childhood development by funding early learning programs and agencies with programs in this area. In Broome County, these programs include the Building Brighter Futures for Broome coalition and those at many United Way partner agencies, including the Broome County YMCA, Family and Children’s Society, YWCA of Binghamton/Broome County, Boys and Girls Club of Western Broome, Catholic Social Services, ACCORD, and Jewish Community Center. The Born Learning campaign takes United Way’s commitment to early learning to a national level, spreading its message not only throughout Broome County, but also across America.

The Born Learning campaign includes nationwide television, radio, newspaper, magazine, billboard, transit and Web banner ads (all in English and Spanish). The parent and caregiver education materials can be customized locally. The website provides action tips, information and resources for parents and caregivers; and support for community mobilization activities. The campaign is unique in its collaboration. It galvanizes early childhood stakeholders with research-driven products, broadly disseminated with innovative distribution strategies. And it reaches parents through a nationwide grassroots network that includes community impact leaders across America.

The Born Learning campaign is built on three cornerstones:

1. Awareness – Born Learning advertising assures parents that it’s easy – and fun – to turn everyday moments into quality early learning moments…and that’s important because children are born learning. This year, an estimated $30 million worth of advertising from United Way and the Ad Council will deliver this message through almost 28,000 media outlets, including those in Broome County.

3. Action – Born Learning seeks to strengthen community support of early learning. Community mobilization and impact tools, strategies and support provided to all participating communities are helping to galvanize public-private partnerships to change policies and systems to support early learning. Intensive technical assistance will be offered to 10 enhanced campaigns in states and communities.

In Broome County, United Way has developed two Born Learning Trails.