QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

NW-SCC SUMMER 2011
CHILD DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR

Saturday, July 30, 2011
8:00 - 12:00 Noon
(Registration begins at 7:30)
Northwest-Shoals Community College
Bevill Center

"Teaching and Care Giving at its BEST:
Understanding and Working with Children and Families during Good Times and Bad Times"

Dr. Andrea Landers Huntley, M.D., M.P.H., Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Riverbend Center for Mental Health, will present the keynote session on working with children with ADHD. Dr. Huntley is a graduate of the University of Arkansas College of Medicine, UAB College of Public Health and the University of Alabama. She completed her residency training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky. While there she received the 110% Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Residency Training Program. She is an advocate for school bullying legislation and has worked throughout her career to help families and children with limited access to health care. She has much in current information on ADHD and other behavioral problems to share in her keynote address. This session will provide helpful answers to many questions asked by today’s teachers and care givers.

Training Areas: Positive Discipline and Guidance, Child Development, Health, Safety & Universal Precautions

Maximizing Parent Involvement through
Simply Technology
Trainer: Kathy Swindle, Owner and Director of Little Treasures Day School in Red Bay which is also a site for one of Alabama’s First Class Pre-Kindergarten programs.
Training Assistant: Tony Darracott

This class will offer you the resources and SIMPLE technology to involve parents as never before. After attending this session you will be able to help parents establish a home learning area that mirrors your classroom goals. You will also be provided with information on how to establish new ways to form effective partnerships between you, the parents, and the children.

Training Area: Child Development & the Child Care Professional and the Family

“When Disaster STRIKES:
Helping Families and Children Recover”

Trainer: Melanie Allen, Regional Extension Agent,
Alabama Cooperative Extension System,
Family and Child Development


This session will provide information on stress management, available resources and valuable tips for working with families and children after a disaster hits their communities. Emphasis will be placed on those areas hardest hit by the tornado destruction of April 27, 2011.
Training area: The Child Care Professional and the Family & Health, Safety and Universal Precautions

Training Area: The Child Care Professional and the Family

“Helping Teachers – Helping Children:
Safety Habits with Food”

Trainer: Jacque Jefferys, NW-SCC Child Development Center Office Clerk and USDA Food Program Manager

Northwest-Shoals Community College partnered with Alabama State University (ASU) to provide statewide training on food safety through the USDA food program. This training is unique and different from the required annual USDA Food Program trainings. The “Food Safety Development for Early Childhood Educators” training was written especially for teachers working with children daily to emphasize the need and awareness of cleanliness in food settings. Participants will learn the newest information on food safety and how to transfer that knowledge in an appropriate way to young children. Information on food born illnesses, food storage, cross contamination, germs/bacteria and how they spread, and the importance of clean preparation and eating spaces including utensils and HANDS will be provided. This session will leave the participants with a new awareness of the importance of food safety measures as well as provide great learning tools to use with children.

Training Area: Health, Safety and Universal Precautions

Hispanic Resource Library
Shoals Family Success Center, Florence

     

The library is located on the first floor of old Brandon Elementary School -- enter through the back door to the basement, go up the steps or take the elevator to the first floor and enter in the Shoals Family Success Center.  Ask for directions to the room that houses the library.  The library is open the following hours October - December:

Monday --- 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Friday --- 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

SCHOLARSHIP $$$$$ AVAILABLE

Don’t miss this opportunity to return to College and get a degree in Child Development (C.D.A., Short Term Certificate, or Associate in Applied Science). Scholarship money is available and specifically earmarked for child care providers returning to college. The T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship and Leadership Scholarship are available through an application process. Applications and additional information about the scholarship programs can be downloaded on the Northwest-Shoals Community College Child Development home page, selecting the Leadership Scholarship or T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship from the menu. You may also call Diann Durdunji (256-331-5450) or Dianne Pace (256-331-5352) if you would like a hard copy of the scholarship mailed to your home directly.
 

  Today’s Child and You Project
Book Mail-Out

Please be reminded that book packets are mailed out this quarter and again summer quarter. If you are not currently on the book mail out list please contact Sue Gibbs at 256-331-5351 or e-mail sgibbs@nwscc.edu
 

Need a CDA ???
(Child Development Associate Credential)

This summer would be a great time to get started on CDA Training. This training opportunity will allow you on-site help and advising, enrollment and even available scholarship dollars to pay for the training and credentialing if you are currently working in some capacity of child care. ALL courses taken toward the credential at Northwest-Shoals Community College can also be applied to additional degree goals such as the Short Term Certificate, Associate Degree in Applied Science or the Associate in Science ALL in Child Development. You will also have access to the Northwest-Shoals Community College NAEYC Accredited child Development Center and Laboratory School located on the Shoals campus. This site will provide excellent mentoring opportunities as well as hands-on opportunities with the children in the center under the direction of a highly qualified staff. If you are interested in pursuing the CDA Credential contact:

Ms. Diann Durdunji, durdunji@nwscc.edu
256-331-5450 (Monday – Thursday) 

is a quarterly newsletter for caregivers written by Dianne Pace and published by the Northwest-Shoals Community College Child Development Department.  Funding was provided by the Alabama Department of Human Resources.  Questions, comments, and suggestions are requested of our readers. 

Contact:
Dianne Pace
 256-331-5352
Fax: 256-331-5222
email: pace@nwscc.edu

or
 Diann Durdunji
 256-331-5450
email: durdunji@nwscc.edu

 

Homecare Providers' Training

Monday, August 22, 2011
"Make Way for Play!"
Make and Take

This summer’s trainings for the area’s home care providers will be held at two separate locations August 22, 2011. The trainings, “Make Way for PLAY”, will emphasize the importance of free, active play and will include information on the importance of play in both indoor and outdoor environments. Training locations and time:

Franklin and Winston County Training
Trainer: Dianne W. Pace
DHR Office Double Springs
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Colbert, Lauderdale, and Lawrence Training
Trainer: Diann Durdunji
DHR Office Moulton
6:30 – 8:30

Training Area: Child Development, Positive Discipline and Guidance

HISPANIC INFANT / PEDIATRIC
CPR / FIRST AID TRAINING
Tuesday, July 12, 2011

6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Shoals Success Center 

Helpful Resource Information
from the Dept. of Health & Human Services
(Emphasis on Emergency Preparedness)

The National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education, funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in HHS, publishes Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care, 2nd Edition. This guidance includes recommended standards for written evacuation plans and drills, planning for care for children with special needs, and emergency procedures related to transportation and emergency contact information for parents.

In addition, the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) and Save the Children recently released a publication titled, Protecting Children in Child Care During Emergencies: Recommended State and National Standards for Family Child Care Homes and Child Care Centers, which includes recommended State regulatory and accreditation standards for family child care homes and child care centers.

Listings of available services as listed on the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (Child Care Bureau)

(Regarding Federal or State Declared Emergency Situations)

Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL)
Telephone: ( 217) 333-0260
Internet: www.csefel.uiuc.edu
The goals of the Center are designed to strengthen the capacity of Child Care and Head Start to improve the social and emotional outcomes for young children. CSEFEL staff could be deployed to assist with mental health services for affected families.

Child Care Aware
Telephone: (800) 424-2246
E-mail: Info@childcareaware.org
Internet: http://www.childcareaware.org/ 
The mission of Child Care Aware is to ensure that families have access to accurate, useful information about finding child care. Through Child Care Aware, families are linked to their local, community-based child care resource and referral program, and consumer education materials.

Healthy Child Care America
Telephone: (888) 227-5409
E-mail: childcare@aap.org
Internet: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/hcca 
Healthy Child Care America provides and coordinates the delivery of technical assistance to assist States, territories, tribes, and communities in developing and strengthening linkages between child care providers, health professionals, and families. These partnerships ensure that children are cared for in healthy and nurturing environments and have access to necessary immunizations, health screenings, and other health and social services. Health consultants are available in States to provide technical assistance.

National Child Care Information Center (NCCIC)
Telephone: (800) 616-2242
E-mail: info@nccic.org
Internet: http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/
A network of State technical assistance specialists, working with the ACF regional offices, provides onsite consulting support to State grantees.

Child Care Subsidy Program



Child Care
Time and Attendance System (TAS)

The Child Care Time and Attendance System (TAS) is an electronic process of recording attendance of children at a child care provider. TAS will provide for more accurate and timely capturing of time and attendance data utilizing point of service (POS) devices. The system will calculate and make reimbursements to providers based on the time and attendance data collected. The POS device is provided free to providers.

Other major advantages of the TAS is the elimination of manual processes that will save time for state staff and child care providers, allow child care providers access to attendance and payment information, direct deposit of reimbursements to child care provider accounts and increase the frequency of reimbursements to providers.

All area providers should have received by mail information about the TAS Provider Awareness Sessions sponsored by the Alabama Department of Human Resources and had an opportunity to attend an Awareness Session and receive information on installation and training.

“TIPS FOR TODDLERS”

It is important to establish predictable environments when working with preschoolers but especially toddlers. That includes predictable scheduling daily. Also, toddlers pick up on a caregiver’s emotions. If you are nervous and uncomfortable, they will be nervous and uncomfortable. However, if you are confident, have the day well planned, this will encourage children to become more interested and actively engaged. Remember that toddlers learn through play. They also learn language and communication skills through constant verbal engagement including conversations, repetition, sing/song, and lots of quality age appropriate books for toddlers. Don’t forget Nursery Rhymes!

 
 
 

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