Get Involved
Thanks for your interest in getting involved with StartSMART! If you’re ready to help us spread the word about the importance of proper early childhood development, select your area of interest below to see how YOU can make a difference:
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How Parents Can Help
- Complete the StartSMART referral form to find out what types of programs/services you may be interested in learning more about for your children or grandchildren.
- Be sure to prepare your child for kindergarten. Dr. Floyd Creech gives excellent parenting tips on the attached video. YOU are your child's most valuable resource!
- Sign your three or four year old child up for Florence 1 Schools 3K and 4K programs to give them a great head start on kindergarten. Find more details on Florence 1 School’s website.
- Take our School Readiness Quiz to determine where your child’s developmental strengths and problem areas lie. Once you’ve taken the quiz be sure to check out our Year-by-Year Development guidelines to read detailed information about the milestones your child should be reaching based on their age.
- Encourage your employer to become involved with the StartSMART program. Here’s how employers and businesses can help us accomplish our goal of school readiness for every child. Also, use our helpful Child Care Checklist to make sure that your child is in a daycare that fosters proper development.
- Utilize our list of StartSMART resources to learn about all of the options open to your child through wonderful programs such as Text4Baby, BabyNet, and SC Childcare Services.
- Get involved with Parents as Teachers. Parents as Teachers is a nationwide organization that provides weekly home visits from child development professionals to families with children ages 0-17 months who are in need of developmental assistance. Using its own curricula, Parents as Teachers has helped countless children and families across the United States and has generated outstanding results. Learn more about Parents as Teachers.
- Consider utilizing the Parent-Child Home Program. The Parent-Child Home Program is an early childhood literacy, school readiness, and parenting program that helps children prepare for kindergarten. Designed for children ages 2-3, the Parent-Child Home Program includes home visits and is designed to eliminate the educational barriers caused by poverty, limited early education, and language barriers. The Parent-Child Home Program has generated a great deal of success for children right here in the state of South Carolina. View the Parent-Child Home Program website.
- Complete the StartSMART referral form to find out what types of programs/services you may be interested in learning more about for your children or grandchildren.
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How Care Providers Can Help
- Visit the SC Childcare Services website to begin the process of becoming a licensed child care provider or if you’re considering becoming an ABC Quality provider.
- Encourage parents who patronize your childcare center to take the StartSMART Readiness Quiz.
- Visit the SC Childcare Services website to begin the process of becoming a licensed child care provider or if you’re considering becoming an ABC Quality provider.
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How Employers Can Help
- Educate yourself and your management team on the importance of birth-5 for all parents and children. Click here for more information.
- Survey your employees to find out what types of programs/services they may be interested in learning more about for their children and grandchildren.
- Link to StartSmartFlo.org on your company website and encourage your employees to visit the site often to check on their child’s progress.
- Share information with your employees about quality daycare selection. Here’s a Child Care Checklist that parents should reference when evaluating a day care center.
- Encourage employees to check the rating of their current day care to ensure that their children are in an environment that fosters development.
- Find out which child care centers your employees use and consider forming a partnership with the center if the majority of your employees have children there!
- Display brochures from various local resources – contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to obtain these materials.
- Encourage pregnant mothers and new parents to sign up for Text4baby – a free text message service that promotes the health of both mother and child by sending parents informative messages about pregnancy and early childhood topics such as prenatal care, labor signs, nutrition, and safe sleep. Text messages are available in English and Spanish.
- Provide a lunch-and-learn session for your office. You provide lunch for your employees and we’ll provide them with useful information and resources to help them make wise decisions about their child’s development. Send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to schedule a lunch-and-learn session.
- Educate yourself and your management team on the importance of birth-5 for all parents and children. Click here for more information.