March 19, 2019 – What a fun visit with the Children’s Care Connection (C3) team today! This group works with children from newborns to those about to start kindergarten to enhance development and behavior and improve school readiness.

I really got to embrace my inner child during this visit, which was structured like one of the developmental classes C3 offers! We started by sitting in a circle on a mat and singing “The Hello Song.”

I then learned about the humble beginnings of C3. It all started at Rady Children’s in 2001 with a small group that created educational flyers and brochures about childhood development and delivered them to places like doctors’ offices and libraries.

Now C3 has three locations (Oceanside, Rady Children’s main campus and Chula Vista) and sees thousands of children every year. They offer developmental assessments, consultations, classes and coaching sessions that provide parents and children the opportunity to practice skills within a small group setting. C3 is a free program paid for by First Five San Diego (through the tobacco tax), and it is popular — staff field about 40 referrals every day.

We then launched into the “All About Me” gross motor skills activity, which involved passing a beach ball to each other and answering questions written on the ball, such as, “What’s your favorite part about working at Rady Children’s?” I learned that this group has great comradery. They are proud of the work they do and absolutely dedicated to helping kids grow and learn.

Next, it was time for “The Fish Game” which tested my hand-eye coordination as I pulled green and blue fish from a “pond.”  On the back of each fish was a question for me, such as, “Why did I choose to come to San Diego?”  “What do I do in my free time?” and even “What was your first job?” The answer to the last question was working at a Chick-fil-A and wearing a goofy uniform!
We wrapped up by singing “The Goodbye Song” (of course), and then the team presented me with a fantastic framed piece of artwork: a bicycle floating in the air, held aloft by a bundle of colorful balloons made from fingerprints. Below the bike was the classic Dr. Seuss quote, “Oh, the places you’ll go!”

It’s inspiring to think about the thousands of young lives C3 has benefited over the last 18 years; all the children team members have helped to develop abilities and learn skills that will serve them well in the future … for all the places they’ll go.