Bright by Text: Localized Information for your Young Child at your Fingertips

There are many great resources out there for parents with young children in Racine County, but when you have little ones, finding the time to research what you need can be challenging - especially now! Thankfully, there is an easy way to get local information on resources and events for families with young children sent directly to your phone - by subscribing to Bright By Text. 

 

Bright by Text is a national parent texting program brought to Wisconsin by PBS Wisconsin. The program puts expert tips, games and activities, and child development information directly into the hands of parents and caregivers, with content focused on pre-birth through age eight. Signing up is simple: you can text BADGER to 274448 or go to bit.ly/BBTRacine. You’ll submit information on the ages of your child(ren) with your zip code and get 3 to 5 messages per week. Each message includes a link to a page with more detail, short videos, and links to resources.

 

According to the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, in the early years a child’s brain is developing at a faster rate than it will at any other point in their life. The interactions that a child has with adult caregivers at this stage set the foundation upon which all later learning, behavior, and health depend. “With Bright by Text, we want parents to have the best research-based information right at their fingertips,” said Bright by Three President and CEO Jean McSpadden.

 

Bright by Text helps parents and caregivers make the most out of these interactions by illustrating fun and easy activities, providing positive parenting tips and resources, showing how to aid a child’s physical development, and sharing trusted and valued content from national partners like PBS Kids, Vroom, CDC, and Sesame Street. The program is proven to build nurturing caregiver-child relationships and positively impact a child’s healthy development and school readiness.

 

Chelsea Powell, a Racine parent and Deputy Director at Higher Expectations, said “I got a text recently about how toddlers can have very strong emotions that can be difficult to manage with a link to learn more about how to work with my toddler on their emotions - which is super helpful!”

 

In addition to expert content, Bright by Text includes messages about resources specific to the Racine community from our partners at United Way for Racine County, Racine Unified School District, Racine Public Library, and more! Right now, that means localized messages about COVID-19-related resources for families during these challenging times. As things return to our new normal, localized messages will focus on events for families happening in the Racine community - like free museum days, health clinics, and preschool open enrollment periods. 

 

Bright by Text is a great resource for anyone with a young child in their lives: parents, grandparents, babysitters, uncles or aunties, or older siblings. We invite you to sign up today! Signing up is simple: you can text BADGER to 274448 or go to bit.ly/BBTRacine.