Early Childhood Director's Group

 

Welcome ALL center directors and assistant directors

The EC Directors Group meets on the second Thursday of the month from 10:00 am – noon at the Think Small offices at 2021 Hennepin Ave. E. in Minneapolis. Monthly networking meetings are FREE. Every quarter, one of our meetings is a TRAINING with a Minnesota Center for Professional Development registered trainer. The cost for these 2 hour trainings is $22.00 and in-service certificates are given. You can pre-register by contacting Nancy Johnson at 651-233-2260  or  njohnson@thinksmall.org  or you can register and pay at the door. 

November EC Directors Group TRAINING

  

"Managing Legal Risks:

Hiring and Supervision Challenges" 

 

November 8th - 10:00 am – noon  -  $22 Fee

 

Think Small, 2021 E. Hennepin Ave., Suite 250, Minneapolis, 55413

 

Books will be available for sale

Training description

Tom Copeland's workshop will guide directors through the legal issues and ramifications of the employee hiring process. Using common scenarios that arise in child care centers, he will engage directors in discussion of: employee reference policies, drafting job descriptions, job interviewing, the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), and civil rights and awareness of cultural differences in the hiring process.

In this training Tom will also address supervision challenges including reflective vs. directive supervision, facing confrontation, progressive discipline steps, dealing with difficult to document behavior like hearsay and “attitude,” complying with the ADA, and confidentiality requirements.

Trainer bio

Tom Copeland, J.D., is a national trainer, advocate, author of nine books published by Redleaf Press, and an expert on legal and business issues for early childhood programs.  Tom’s latest book, Managing Legal Risks in Early Childhood Programs, with co-author Holly Elissa Bruno, will be available at the workshop.

Notes from the Early Childhood Directors Group

October 11th

Training by Sharon Rosenberg-Scholl  -  How Early Childhood Programs Can Be Welcoming Places for Lesbian and Gay Families and Staff

Sharon Rosenberg-Scholl, the director of curriculum and lead pre-kindergarten teacher at Temple Israel Early Childhood Center in Minneapolis, discussed definitions, background, current legal issues and the context for LGBT families’ experience today. 

Some highlights for directors from Sharon’s workshop include: When orienting new staff, discuss your programs’ approach and expectations for inclusiveness of LGBT families. Rethink holidays like Mothers and Fathers Days from the child’s and parents’ point of view; for example, let children choose from several different art projects with 1 choice of making a gift for a parent or grandparent on Mothers or Fathers Day. Also, “some” is a magic word. Using “some” works for all families and allows you to keep things open and inclusive, e.g, “some families have two mommies.” On family intake forms, use “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” instead of Mother and Father. Also at the intake, it’s helpful to listen for and use the language that families use, e.g., if parents refer to themselves as “married,” and what their child calls each parent. Directors can also ask parents of the same sex “What does your child call you?”

Sharon recommended the Welcoming Schools curriculum and training sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign. A list of Sharon’s book recommendations for adults and for children will be added to the ec directors blog soon. 

NEWS YOU CAN USE

Want to know the why’s and how’s of advocating for kids during elections?

Visit  www.everychildmatters.org  for slides on “Why it’s important to be a Voice for Kids.” Get the facts, anecdotes, resources, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Is Parent Aware Right for Your Program?

 Have you heard about Parent Aware Ratings and wondered whether it’s the right decision for your program? You are invited to attend an information session immediately following the EC Directors Group on November 8^th, 10 – noon. You’ll learn the details and expectations for Parent Aware and how to apply. Contact Brandi Baker to register: bbaker@thinksmall.org A list of upcoming information sessions is available under “Providers” at: www.thinksmall.org  The next Parent Aware cohort  starts January, 2013.

For information contact: Nancy Johnson 651-233-2260, njohnson@thinksmall.org or Carol Stromme 651-641-6664 - cstromme@thinksmall.org.

 

October is Children's Health Month

 

FREE WEBINAR

 

October 31st, 1:00 – 2:30 pm CST

Small Steps to Improve Children’s Environmental Health

in Your Early Childhood Program 

Sign up at: www.ecewebinars.com

Have you ever wondered how the environment or the chemicals used in your program impact the children and staff?  As an administrator, there’s a lot you can do to improve the environmental health of your program. Join this session with three national experts to learn about their experiences making children's environments healthy. In this webinar you’ll learn why children are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards, take an in depth look at lead and plastics, and learn free or low-cost preventative actions to reduce environmental health risks.

Also, Think Small’s Redleaf Press just published Early Childhood Activities for a Greener Earth filled with information to excite children, engage families, and encourage your community to be green. Age focus: 3-8. Softbound, 224 pgs. For ordering information visit: http://www.redleafpress.org/Early-Childhood-Activities-for-a-Greener-Earth-P771.aspx

Red Leaf Press also has The Green Rating Guide for early childhood programs. http://www.redleafpress.org/Go-Green-Rating-Scale-for-Early-Childhood-Settings-P356.aspx

Every Child Needs Nature and Nurture

A posting on Exchange Every Day reminds us that even in urban settings, we owe it to our children to provide them time to explore with natural materials and play in natural settings. Play that includes natural materials (wood, sand, stones, shells, water), and play areas with grass, flowers, trees, vegetables, and taking walks outside all give  children an essential ingredient for their optimal development: access to nature.

Louise Chawla, author of Living Conditions: The Influence on Young Children's Health (www.bernardvanleer.org), shares the following research findings:

• Studies show links between access to nature and ability to sustain concentration, delay gratification and cope with stressors.
• Ethnographic observations of children's play show that games are more imaginative and creative in natural habitats.
• Play in nature has been found to promote physical agility and social confidence.
• Natural environments tend to encourage play that is gender-neutral or that brings boys and girls together.

Doing Daily Health Checks  

The National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care reminds centers to check out their standard on conducting daily health checks: (http://nrckids.org). They  also have a new search tool: http://www.cfoc.nrckids.org  that allows searches of Caring for Our Children by keyword(s) or by standard/ section/chapter number. You can also easily print just the standards that you're interested in with the click of a button. 

 

“Look Before You Lock” Campaign

The Office of Child Care and the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched the “Look Before You Lock” campaign at: http://transition.acf.hhs.gov/programs/occ/news/look-before-you-lock-pledge,

The website provides information to the early care and education (ECE) community and parents on the importance of double-checking cars, buses, and vans to make sure that all children arrive safely. Additional information, including posters and other campaign materials, can be found at www.nhtsa.gov or www.safekids.org. 

CEOs Champion Unfinished Business of Investing in Quality ECE

High-quality early education programs are vital to future economic growth and maintaining a highly skilled workforce. Support and investments at the national, state, and local levels for early education programs must continue to be a priority despite the downturn in the economy. CEOs and prominent business leaders must assume a more active role in advocating for early education programs.”

This is how the Committee for Economic Development (CED) sums up its latest recommendations for investing in young children, from birth to third grade. Its recent report “Unfinished Business: Continued Investment in Child Care and Early Education is Critical to Business and America’s Future” summarizes the research on high-quality early education and urges CEOs to champion the issue, “invest at least 1% of your corporate earnings in public-private partnerships that support early childhood in your community or state,” and adopt family-friendly policies in their companies.

“Our nation now faces tough choices to renew the economy, but fiscal prudence cannot be served at the expense of under-investing in the well-being and future of our children – and thereby preventing unnecessary remedial expenditures. CED believes it is vital for our country’s future that investments in our youngest children remain a major national and state-level priority,” the executive summary states.

“Early education is the first building block of a good education, CED President Charles Kolb said in a news release. “American companies and business leaders must step up and ensure that we continue to expand and improve early education programs. The CED report is a call to action for business leaders and a research-based blueprint for getting our children off on the right foot in their education.”
 

Notes from the Early Childhood Directors Group on September 13th

Access to Quality - MinneMinds Campaign Launched

Todd Otis, director of community partnerships at Think Small, updated us on a new, coordinated effort of ECCE funders and advocates: The MinneMinds Campaign. Many children in Minnesota do not have access to quality early childhood education and parenting support programs. To increase public and private funds for quality ECE, the MinneMinds Campaign will raise visibility of the need for ECE investment  with voters and communities to influence policy makers on behalf of young children.

 Todd encouraged directors to reach out to candidates now and to their elected state legislators after the election. Directors know much more than legislators about what it takes to  provide safe, healthy, nurturing, learning-based programming. Just telling the story of your center, Todd said, and what you provide your children, staff and families is an effective way to build influence with your representatives at the Capitol.

Leading From Vision

During the discussion of Fortifying Yourself With a Vision, we looked at the director’s role in inviting staff and parents to help shape their program’s vision and inspiring  participation. For the vision to “come to life,” the director nudges, provokes and elevates staff and parents’ knowledge, thinking, and behavior.

Several directors shared that they recently revisited their vision with staff and they all left feeling invigorated and more committed. At future early childhood directors group meetings we will use the triangle framework in the Visionary Director as a jumping off place to explore the director’s role for breathing life into their program’s vision.

 

The Status of Minnesota’s Child Care Workforce

Jennifer Valorose, research associate at Wilder Foundation in St. Paul shared the results of the study: Child Care Workforce in Minnesota, the final report of the 2011 Statewide Study of Demographics, Training and Professional Development. The link to the report:

  https://edocs.dhs.state.mn.us/lfserver/Public/DHS-5115A-ENG

Thank you to Nichole Schelitzche, parent education specialist at Think Small, for facilitating the July meeting and organizing the tour of top-rated Parent Aware child care centers in August.