Let's Talk … Child Care

I had the opportunity recently to attend the CDA Summit in my state. One of favorite parts of the day was listening to a panel talk about WHY those in early childhood should pursue higher education – particularly a CDA credential. When one of the panel participants was asked what motivated her in that direction, she responded, “Because a parent called me the ‘B’ word.” Yes, that word that is like fingernails on a chalkboard to most of us in the field….a babysitter.

Why does this word make us cringe so? Because for many of us it brings up visual images of preteen girls caring for young children on an occasional basis….not early childhood professionals developing strong relationships with children & families and showing a commitment to the growth of children in all developmental domains and working hard to stay current and relevant to new developments in the field.  Why should we care how others view us? Because how those outside our field view us is directly linked to how much they are willing to pay for our services as well as how those with an interest in young children view their future in the field. 

When we seek that next step (whatever it is for us) in our professional growth, we send the message this is not just a job I do, but this is a career commitment for me. When we work to support standards for our state related to who can care for children, we are providing a better future for children. “Research confirms that teachers and caregivers with higher education levels offer higher quality early education programs with more positive child outcomes. This is particularly true when caregiver education is in child development and early childhood education” (Oesterreich & Hegland, 2012). So while many of us may have entered the field because we “like” children, it is time to step up to the plate and make the commitment to move the field from the “B” word to the profession of early childhood.

To learn more about the Child Development Associate national credential, visit http://www.cdacouncil.org/.  To learn more about scholarships available to those seeking a higher degree in the field, a starting place to visit is T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood at http://www.childcareservices.org/ps/help_school.html Make this investment in yourself as an early childhood professional!

Malisa

P.S. To share your thoughts and resources on this topic, visit us at http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/childcare/notababysitter

Professionalism

I still vividly remember the moment where I knew early childhood education was the right choice for me. I was the lead teacher in at-risk preschool program where each day we did journaling with the children – an open-ended activity where we encouraged the children to “write” or draw about experiences of their choosing and then we transcribed those experiences and read them back to them. The goal was increasing pre-reading and pre-writing skills – helping children understand the use of letters and encouraging some beginning writing. We were more than halfway through the school year when a child wrote “AMMPSABB.” I assumed this was alphabet soup – her understanding of letters randomly on paper. I asked her what she had written and she responded with her fingers pointing to the letters, “A mama pushing a baby.” Yes!! Writing and reading skills growing developmentally appropriately. I think I even got teary-eyed as I hugged her and celebrated her achievement in sounding out the letters to match the picture she had drawn.

It is moments like the one above that I had to recall and relive in my head when I was struggling as an early educator – maybe I was dealing with a less than cooperative parent or wrestling with feelings of envy at friends who wore fancy clothes to their office jobs. The work we do caring and educating young children (and their families!) is so important! We must remember and share those times with each other to stay inspired and encouraged.

When did you first realize you had made the correct career choice for you in the field of early childhood education? We want to hear your inspiring moments at http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/childcare/inspiring-moments/

Malisa

Early Learning, Professionalism

We all know how important handwashing can be, and many of us have come to recognize that we can’t just leave it to chance that children are washing hands well enough or at all the appropriate times. Spend some time observing children’s handwashing practices and you’ll see the child that gets the soap and then rinses it down the sink without lathering or the one that uses water only and no soap. As early childhood caregivers and teachers, we have to give children the support they need to follow the steps. Allowing for some occasional lapses, it can be done – I’ve seen it!

North Carolina Child Care and Health and Safety has some excellent posters that you can download and print showing steps for children to wash their hands, infant handwashing, adult handwashing, proper diapering procedure, and even medication administration. They can be found here – http://www.healthychildcarenc.org/training_materials.htm

How do you support and encourage children to lather for 20 seconds? I’ve seen many providers use a song like ABC’s to help children realize the length of time needed to “make bubbles.”  I recently visited a home child care program that uses a touchless timer. Super idea! Remember if you aren’t teaching it, supporting it, and reminding children, it likely isn’t happening!

Malisa

P.S. Share with us how you support handwashing or ask questions at http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/childcare/handwashing/

Health & Safety handwashing

It has been ten years since Mister Rogers passed away. He had such a wonderful nature with children – calming and accepting and educating. One of my favorite sayings of his is on feelings:

Early Learning, Guidance CSEFEL, feelings, Guidance, NAEYC

A piece of the Environmental Rating Scale tools is looking at what materials you have available to children. The term the books use is “accessible” and is described with the following criteria:

• Within reach
• Open storage
• No barriers such as snapped lids on containers or stored out of sight

I recently visited a family child care home with a group of family child care providers. They were amazed at the variety of materials she made “accessible” and asked great questions as they considered if they could meet the FCCERS guidelines at the highest levels related to indoor materials accessible. Of course, the biggest question was, “How do you keep children from dumping?” She explained that she has program rules about each child only having one bin out at a time and that they must put that one away before choosing another. This takes time to support, but her children have figured it out and monitor themselves for the most part. She also keeps bins and shelves labeled to help ease in putting away materials appropriately. Notice that she does choose to keep lids on a few tubs – those are the “ask me” ones so that she can consider what other materials are already out and if younger children are in the area.

Sue Grossman of Eastern Michigan University offers a great article on this subject titled Offering Children Choices: Encouraging Autonomy and Learning While Minimizing Conflicts. She shares that choices are crucial to children’s development and fundamental to a high quality early childhood program.

Have you offered children a buffet of choices and been met with challenges? We would love to hear your thoughts on this at http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/childcare/materials/

Malisa

Early Learning, Environment Environmental Rating Scales, FCCERS

One of my favorite parts of my job is teaching Environmental Rating Scale classes. I enjoy helping early childhood professionals take a thorough look at their program using a research-based tool and then supporting them in developing a plan to make quality changes. One of the topics we seem to frequently have a discussion on is allowing children to extend art activities over several days and displaying three-dimensional pieces of art done by the children. Some of the barriers that teachers and providers mention is children wanting to take their work home, concern for other children destroying the work, and not enough classroom space to display.

I had a preschool teacher decide she was wasn’t going to let the challenges be barriers – this was something she could give her best effort and see how it goes. She came back the next week thrilled with the results! She didn’t make it a project all children had to participate in, so space wasn’t too much of an issue. Yet she found as children watched friends over the course of several days work on their art, most all children participated. She had a conversation with the group about respecting each others’ hard work and her hope that they could leave work in the classroom a few days without it being damaged, and said she found this wasn’t an issue at all. The children seemed to value the work done by others and had many conversations around their work. This teacher even found a special red table covering to help the work stand out!

I had the pleasure of meeting one of the authors of the Environmental Rating Scales, Thelma Harms, during a visit to Iowa State University campus. She shared that as a child she did not excel at flat art that was typically displayed, but enjoyed 3D art like working with clay or sculpting. Sometimes for convenience sake we overlook celebrating a child’s individual strengths and gifts! If it hasn’t been a part of your usual art activities, I hope you will give some 3D art a try (something with height, width, and depth), perhaps allow the project to extend over a few days, and then proudly display it in your program!

Malisa

P.S. Any favorite 3D art activities to share? Any tips for overcoming what might be seen as hurdles to allowing and displaying 3D art? Hope you will share!  http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/childcare/3d-art/

Environment art, ERS

You hear it said frequently at this time of year “Out with the old and in with the new,” but what if you could turn that old into something fabulously new? That is just what one home child care provider did in Dubuque. Due to the new safety regulations related to crib standards, child care providers had to replace most of their cribs with new ones that meet the current safety standard. She shared with me that she just couldn’t bare to see the still in good condition crib go to the landfill so she got creative.

She turned her old crib into a cozy area for one or two children to read or play quietly. I could not be more in love with this idea! She cut off the legs, removed the slats to make an entrance and shortened the length of the crib and crib mattress. She used lovely sheer fabric to give the privacy effect while still being able to supervise the activities within the cozy area, added a few pillows for softness – and VOILA a new piece that added to the quality of her program. The top bar with the fabric lifts off when children are interested in using the space for dramatic play – think zoo! And BONUS, she did something great for the environment by thinking about how to turn something old into something “new” rather than cluttering the landfill.  Triple win!

I know we have some creative readers out there! What have you transformed into something “new” for the children in your care? To respond to this post, visit http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/childcare/old-turned-into-new/

Malisa

Environment

Shocked, saddened, angered, and concerned. All of these are emotions we as adults are feeling after Friday’s tragic events in Connecticut. It might be easy to assume that young ones are not impacted by tragic events in other parts of the country, but children have a keen sense of radar and pick up on our body language, adult conversations, and news media stories.

All children are born with a unique temperament. Some will be more sensitive to scary news stories or worrisome about their safety and the safety of their loved ones.  We need to be mindful of what we are watching and discussing when small ears are around while also making sure we take time to listen and pick up on cues our child might be sending us. A change in behavior like clinginess or crying might be a signal that a child in your care is anxious over recent disturbing events in the news.

Parents, teachers and child caregivers can help children that are feeling distressed about safety cope with their fears. We recommend the following actions:

Keep regular routines. Stick to your normal schedule and events. Children take comfort in predictable daily events like dinner at the snack at the table and naptime rituals. Knowing what will happen provides a feeling of security.

Watch your emotions. We are all are shocked and saddened when children are victims of a tragic event. Children that are sensitive to emotions can pick up on this and become concerned for their own safety or the safety of others. When adults maintain a calm and optimistic attitude, children will also.

Have conversations. If a child is showing some signs that concern you, talk to the child’s parents. Find out if they have similar concerns, and come up with a plan for talking with the child and answering questions he or she might have. Young children might express themselves through drawing or in their play. Provide reassurance, clear up any misconceptions and point out to the child the many helpful people in emergency events like law enforcement and medical professionals. Talk with the child about what is happening to make him or her safe at home, school or in the neighborhood.

Limit TV viewing. It might be tempting to catch up on the latest news events, but resist that urge. Young children may not understand that scenes repeating on news stations are all the same event.

Find healthy ways to deal with feelings. Taking a walk together, reading a favorite book, or playing a board game can be comforting to both you and the children in your care.

Take action. If a child continues to show concern, he or she may be feeling a loss of control. Doing something such as sending a donation or writing a letter, if developmentally and age appropriate, can help bring back a sense of power and help children feel a part of the response.

Seek professional advice if needed. If a child shows symptoms of distress such as a change in appetite or sleep patterns, recommend to the child’s parents that they speak with a medical or a mental health professional. You can also contact ISU Extension and Outreach’s Iowa Concern hotline at 1-800-447-1985.

Share Resources with Parents.

• A handout from Zero to Three titled Little Listeners in an Uncertain World.
• Extension’s handout titled Loss and Grief: Talking with Children.
• Helpful tips from the Fred Rogers Family Communications Institute.
• Sesame’s Street’s You Can Ask video clips to help adults open conversations with children. There is one specific to fears.
• PBS’s article Helping Children Deal with Scary News
• NAEYC’s Tips for Talking with Children and Youth after Traumatic Events
  

Fred Rogers often told this story about when he was a boy and would see scary things on the news: “My mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers-so many caring people in this world.”

In case you haven’t heard this today, thank you for the important work you do! You make care and safety of young children a priority, and we at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach are proud to work along side you.

Malisa

P.S. Please share with us your conversations, concerns, or questions as you go about your work with young children this week. You may comment on the blog at http://blogs.extension.iastate.edu/childcare/lets-talk-scary-news/

Family Relationships, Health & Safety

November 6 is just around the corner – the day many of us head to the polls to exercise our right to vote. Perhaps some of you have taken advantage of opportunities to vote early. If not and you are still feeling uneasy or overwhelmed, you may want to visit Project Vote Smart – a non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization giving you access you need to be confident in your vote. I especially appreciated the Vote Easy section where I could enter in my zip code and select issues to see how the candidates in my area compared to me. You can see pictures on stakes and as you work through the issues the candidates that you have a higher percentage in common with with will move forward while others move backwards. You can also call the toll-free Voter’s Research Hotline at 1-888-VOTE-SMART to find out how your candidate voted on legislation or how they stand on an issue. Another non-partisan resource to use when researching candidates is the League of Women Voters’ SmartVoter site where candidates provide information. They also have a hotline number at 1-808-SOS-VOTE.

Early childhood programs are a valuable resource to the community and fall both in the education realm and frequently in the business world. Your opinions, voice and vote as an early childhood professional matter and are vitally important! Hope you will share with us your experience in exercising your right to vote as well as how you come to decisions.

Malisa

Professionalism, Public Policy

It is likely we have all heard by now that physical exercise plays an important part of a healthy lifestyle. For early childhood professionals a national website of resources has been established to help in that effort – Let’s Move Child Care. But did you know that the National Association for Sport and Physical Education as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 60 minutes of daily structured physical activity for preschoolers (NASPE recommends 30 minutes for toddlers). WOW! I totally understand the need for more physical activity as we work to reduce childhood obesity. It is the structured part I am still trying to wrap my brain around. For those of us that have been so ingrained in play and young children following their own interests, that 60 minutes of structured activity seems like a scary number.

So, I challenged myself to consider a full day program and if I could work in 60 minutes of structured physical activity. I figured the key was to integrate “activity” time into the daily routine. Here is what I came up with:

• 5 minutes Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes as part of morning meeting
• 10 minutes acting out a story as part of reading time
• 5 minutes completing an obstacle course as part of outdoor time
• 5 minutes moving like an animal transitioning to lunch
• 10 minutes of yoga poses before rest
• 10 minutes dancing to a Dr. Jean song during afternoon large group
• 5 minutes moving like a transportation vehicle transitioning to snack
• 5 minute activity with a parachute outdoors
• 5 minute game of Simon Says before afternoon story

OK, that wasn’t so hard and it is likely most child care providers are doing these activities – we just need to make sure we are intentional about them. Sesame Street has even put together some FREE resource tool kits for child care providers and parents that can be helpful.

So, what do you think? Can you work in 60 minutes of structured physical activity as recommended NASPE? What activities are you already doing that meet that recommendation?

Malisa

Early Learning, Environment, Health & Safety