Monday, July 8, 2013


You are invited to the next meeting of the

Early Childhood Directors Group

July 11th – 10:00 am – noon

2021 Hennepin Ave. E., Minneapolis  55413 

Join us for networking and learning with other center directors

Discussion Topic:

Learning From The Bumps In The Road

There is no charge for this meeting. Questions? Contact Nancy Johnson at njohnson@thinksmall.org

 

           The Early Childhood Directors Group meets monthly on
 the second Thursday from 10:00 am – noon
Think Small’s Minneapolis office
2021 Hennepin Ave. E., Suite 250, Mpls, 55413
 
Monthly networking meetings are FREE.
Quarterly trainings - $22 fee, 2 hours in-service  
 
To register and pre-pay for trainings contact Nancy Johnson
njohnson@thinksmall.org or 651-233-2260

 

A Message from Barb Yates, Executive Director of Think Small

This was an unprecedented year for early childhood at the Minnesota Legislature. Over the course of the legislative session, over 6,000 advocates sent emails, made calls, wrote letters and signed petitions to support access to high quality early care and education.

The time and energy that early childhood advocates invested this legislative session paid off. BIG TIME!

With the leadership of the House, Senate, Governor and thousands of advocates in the field we ended the session with $60 million more invested in our youngest Minnesotans.

This is the largest funding increase in over a decade and it wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Nearly $20 million in the Health and Human Services budget tied to improving access to quality care.

·          Increase reimbursement rates for 3 and 4-star Parent Aware rated     programs

     Reinstate absent days from 10 to 25

     Continuity of care for children in high quality programs

     Simplified the Child Care Assistance Program reimbursement rate structure. About half of all providers may see a rate increase, no providers will have a decrease.

The largest investment came in the form of $40 million in scholarships for quality early learning.

     Available to three and four year olds and their younger siblings attending the same high quality program

     Available to be used in a wide variety of settings including schools, head starts, family child care and center based care

     $5,000 maximum scholarship amount

These scholarships will serve between 8,000 and 9,000 children. Further information about the roll out and location of these scholarships for 2013-2014 is not yet available.

We have great momentum with more to do for our youngest Minnesotans. Think Small will continue to play a role to support policies that benefit children across the state. 
 

There’s still time to Register for the

MNAEYC– MNSACA Summer Leadership Institute


Professionalism and Practice: Leading Others


July 18, 2013 - 8:30 am – 4:15 pm

Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN


Featured Keynote Speaker – Joan Steffand, local newswoman, HGTV celebrity, and author




Join us for an overview of the new CDA 2.0 Process
July 11th 2013

8:00 PM – 8:45 PM

 
Click on the link and you will be in the online meeting center


If you would like to test your connection prior to the training,



 Could a T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MINNESOTA scholarship be for you?
Watch an informational webinar on the T.E.A.C.H. home page,

 YouTube link: http://youtu.be/qOIssS4Qhxg.

We are currently accepting T.E.A.C.H. applications for contracts starting in the Fall of 2013. Applications may be found here, and they must be postmarked by July 8. Please let qualified candidates know about this higher education financial aid opportunity.

40,000,000 NEW REASONS to consider Parent Aware...

For the growing numbers of providers choosing to volunteer for the Parent Aware quality rating and improvement program, the 2013 Legislature dramatically improved the available rewards:
 
·       NEW SCHOLARSHIPS. $40 million will be made available over the next two years to fund scholarships for approximately 8,000 Minnesota parents to spend at Parent Aware–rated providers. 
 
·       CCAP BONUSES.  County Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) bonuses previously only available to accredited providers will also be given to providers that have strong Parent Aware 3- or 4-star ratings.  In fact, the Parent Aware 4-star rating will receive the highest reimbursement rates in the new system.
 
·       COACHES AND GRANTS.  Funding for Parent Aware quality improvement coaches and grants will continue to be available to help providers volunteering for Parent Aware through 2015.
 
For more information about taking advantage of Parent Aware rewards, contact your local Child Care Aware agency by calling 888-291-9811 or visiting www.childcareawaremn.org.

Message from Parent Aware for School Readiness (PASR) a business-led nonprofit dedicated to promoting the Parent Aware Ratings.
www.pasrmn.org

 

Did you miss the virtual Rally4Babies on Monday, July 8th?

ZERO TO THREE, in partnership with more than a dozen national organizations - including the Education and Care Consortium, NAEYC, and Child Care Aware - hosted Rally4Babies: Learning Happens from the Start, to spark a national conversation about how early learning begins at birth. Updates will be posted on www.rally4babies.org.

The White House has also posted a very comprehensive web page of information about the future of early childhood programs.


Posted: 03 Jul 2013 06:44 PM PDT

The web is a terrific resource for early-childhood educators looking for lesson plans on, say, presenting nursery rhymes. But few are actually free.

That's one reason the Washington-based American Federation of Teachers started www.sharemylesson.com one year ago.

The website offers a searchable, no-cost database of lesson plans for grades K-12 on topics ranging from July 4 to Bastille Day to Ramadan. Many are aligned with the Common Core State Standards. In the past 12 months, more than 260,000 lesson plans have been posted. They are furthermore reviewed and rated.

And now, in celebration of www.sharemylesson.com's  first birthday, the 1.5-million-member national teachers' union is offering 100 prizes for those who register, upload, or download lessons. Goodies include spafinder.com and Starbucks gift certificates and even Roku LT TV boxes.

So now, if you're lucky, you can find both a new activity to go along with the "Wheels on the Bus" song and get a hit of caffeine while you're working on those school bus die cutouts.

- Julie Blair