From birth to age 5, your child should reach milestones in how he or she plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves. CDC Milestone Tracker helps you track your child’s milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use illustrated checklists; get tips from CDC for encouraging your child’s development; and find out what to do if you are ever concerned about how your child is developing. Photos and videos in this app illustrate each milestone and make tracking them for your child easy and fun!

A developmental screening is a brief, family friendly process that helps parents get answers to questions and concerns about their child's overall development. Our early childhood specialists will direct you to resources, services and strategies that are available to support your child. Screenings are available to all families that live in Wake County with young children ages three, four or five and not yet eligible for kindergarten. Call 919-694-8993 for a developmental screening appointment.

Early Start (español) is a three week summer program for students entering kindergarten at a Title I school, with limited or no prior preschool experiences and who demonstrate an academic need. Students participate in a full day, curriculum based program centered around early literacy and the development of social skills.

Short-term Parent Counseling is available to help parents with concerns about child behavior or development that may impact school success. Parent counselors meet individually with families to provide suggestions and resources.

The Alice K. Burrows Parent Teacher Resource Center (PTRC) at Project Enlightenment contains a wide variety of resources:

• Library for Parents and Teachers
• Children's Library
• Production Area
• Teacher Resources
• Publications
• Diversity and Inclusion Materials
• Community Information
• Spanish Resources
• Video Collection

The lending library for adults and children includes over 15,000 books, videos, articles and brochures that address development, education, parenting and other related issues specific to children birth through kindergarten. Additionally, the PTRC provides resources on sensitive subjects such as divorce, new baby, grief, diversity, inclusion, etc.

Low cost Parent Workshops are available throughout the school year for parents of young children. Topics include discipline techniques, communication, school readiness, and child development. All workshops occur at Project Enlightenment in downtown Raleigh from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Call 919-856-7774 x 27025 for more information about workshops.

Parents as Teachers (PAT) is an international early childhood parent education and family support program serving families throughout pregnancy until their child enters kindergarten, usually age five. The program is designed to enhance child development and school achievement through parent education. Project Enlightenment provides Parents as Teachers services in Wake County. For further information about the Parents as Teachers program, please call 919-856-7774, ext. 27002.

Triple P is an internationally recognized, evidence-based program that gives parents the skills they need to raise confident and healthy children, manage behavior, and prevent problems from happening in the first place. Triple P provides strategies that parents may choose, as needed, for their own situation. This allows parents to create better relationships with their children, solve problems, and become more confident in their parenting skills. Sessions may be accessed in both individual and group settings or through online modules.

• Triple P is available through free parent counseling services at Project Enlightenment for Wake County families with children ages 0-5.
• Additional agencies throughout Wake County provide Triple P services in both English and Spanish for families with children ages 0 - 16.

We offer free and tuition-based Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-k) programs.

Preschool Programs Child Find provide evaluations, at no cost to the family, to children suspected of having a disability and assigns eligible children with disabilities to special education services. We serve children who are 3-5 years old, and not age-eligible to attend Kindergarten. If you suspect your child has a disability and needs services, contact the Child Find Office at (919) 431-7700.

Ready to Learn is available for young children 18 months through age 5 (before they are Kindergarten eligible) and their parents/caregivers who are residents of Wake County. The program provides an opportunity for parents/caregivers to interact with their children in activities that are planned and initiated by a Ready to Learn Facilitator. Activities are designed to promote healthy development across all developmental areas including social skills, language skills, motor skills, and conceptional knowledge.

For general information about Ready to Learn programs, call 919-856-7774 x 26996.

Para información en Español: 919-850-8738 x 26359.

Ready4K is a FREE evidence-based text-messaging program for parents of children birth through third grade. Each week, you will receive three texts with FUN FACTS and EASY TIPS to boost your child’s learning. 

The Ready4K curriculum is available in English, Spanish, and Arabic. 

To sign up for Ready4K, on your mobile phone text "R4K WC" to 70138.

Teacher Parents Consultants (TPCs) address classroom difficulties with behavior, social development, and learning for children enrolled in preschool and child care facilities in Wake County. Child care center directors or preschool teachers may make requests for a consultation. Call 919-856-7774 for more information.

Teacher Workshops provide early childcare educators and child care providers high quality training which:

• improves a teacher’s knowledge
• improves classroom management
• is grounded in scientifically-based research
• provides knowledge and skills to involve families
• prepares teachers to understand and appreciate all students
• prepares teachers to create safe, orderly, and caring environments
• provides teachers with knowledge and skills to collaborate