"Smart Start Georgia strives

to foster quality early learning experiences so that each child in Georgia

is ready to succeed by the time he or she enters kindergarten," said

Sharen Hausmann, director of Smart Start Georgia. "Smart Start Georgia

encourages early learning providers to achieve higher levels of education,

which in turn helps our children achieve future successes in life."

Since its inception in April

2001, Incentives has distributed nearly $3.5 million to more than 2,000

recipients in 124 Georgia counties.

"Research shows that children

who experience quality early learning are less likely to drop out of school,

repeat grades, need special education, or get into future trouble with

the law than similar children who did not have such exposure," said

Marsha Moore, executive director of Georgia's Office of School Readiness.

"Initiatives such as Smart Start Georgia's 'Incentives'

program help promote the high-quality, stable learning environments needed

for children to succeed later in life."

According to the National Association

for the Education of Young Children, those who experience high-quality,

stable child care engage in more complex play, demonstrate more secure

attachments to adults and other children, and score higher on the measures

of thinking ability and language development.