Grab your cowboy boots and hats, The Sponsor Association's (TSA) Conference is taking place in Austin, Texas in 2012!  To be exact, SAVE THE DATE for September 20-22, 2012.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a “Nutrition and Autism” seminar (what a hot topic in both communities!) presented by a Registered Dietitian and found that there are many misconceptions and misunderstandings about the cause and effect of Autism related to Nutrition.  It was amazing how much of the disease state is based around managing and trying to placate Gastrointestinal issues, sensory perception with food, rigidity at meal time, and providing a safe and comforting environment for the child to eat a healthy diet.  Whether you are a parent of an autistic child or have an autistic child in your child care setting, it is incredibly important to be dialed into their nutrition needs.  GI issues dont tend to be part of the diagnosis but they are very common.  Many children are unable to verbalize the pain they feel in their stomach and these issues can present as nutritional deficiencies, constipation, unexplained allergies, abdominal pain, diarrhea, irritability, anxiety and social withdrawal.  While the...

Hello!  I hope your 2012 is off to a great start!

What makes change stick??  This is one of the questions I’m going to be focusing on in my blogging and videos this year:  Sustainable Change.  What causes change to last?  What can we do to intentionally bring about sustained change over the long haul in our everyday work and personal life?  We'll be exploring and inquiring in the videos this year about what makes change stick.  This month we look at indicators of change, and offer some questions for beginning this inquiry together.   Click here to see the video.

What are your questions and experiences with sustaining change?

The National Head Start Association wants to share with the world the lives that Head Start has touched since it was founded.  This campaign is called “27 Million Windows,” to showcase the window of opportunity that Head Start provides to children raised within the walls of poverty.

You can make a difference in the lives and well-being of the children in your care by participating in the Let's Move Child Care Initiative.

I always get asked about Kesang Marstrand’s, Hello Night when it is playing in my classroom. It’s a gentle, quiet, folksy/popish lullaby album that you really can play at any time of day. Use it to: 1) wind down the children before nap; 2) during nap; or 3) just something quiet at the end of the day. It's amazing to me at how many parents, teachers assistants and volunteers come to me asking about the album. Adults love it just as much as the children love to wind down to it. Marstrand’s lyrics are simple and dreamy. She gets into a child’s heart and tells these great little stories from their perspective. The acoustic melodies take you into the clouds and easily help you drift off into relaxation or for the children in your program - sleep. I highly recommend adding this indie children’s album to your school collection, but watch out, you may just bring it home for your own collection. *This c.d. can be found on the website www.cdbaby.com

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ChildCareInfo.com is creating a Learning Center section.  We want to provide the child care profession with webinars, in-person trainings and other ways to continue development in the child care profession, this includes business management skills.

We are searching the web for different active webinar schedules, trainings, videos and podcasts but we won’t be able to find them all!

ChildCareInfo is asking for your assistance.  Either comment below or send in companies, individuals or entities that are providing trainings that you think are relevant to the child care industry.

We will need: Contact Name (if available) Website Link Training Specialization (topics) Type of Training (webinar, podcast, video, in-person) Regional or National If you would like to be featured within the Learning Center or on ChildCareInfo.com contact me here. This is what...

Have you ever thought about doing Yoga with the children in your care?  How about combining that with literacy?  Renee Sherkness has written about her book Stories That Come Alive Through Yoga, for the childcareinfo.com community!  Find out why you would want to do yoga with your children and get a sneak peak into the book that helps you do it. 

Did you have any New Year resolutions that had to do with health, activity and nutrition?  Was it for yourself or your child care program? 

If your healthy lifestyle resolution was for yourself why don’t you expand it to your child care environment?!

USE CHOICE to help you!

ConAgra Foods Foundation Community Impact Grants Program (CIG) intends to partner with “high quality organizations to close service gaps and increase children’s access to food and nutrition resources so they can live happy, healthful lives” (CIG Overview and 2012 Eligibility Guidelines). 

What are the grant awards? They’ll range from $10,000 to $75,000.  Average grant size will be around $25,000.

Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge has been in the news quite a bit since the challenge was announced and now the winners have been announced!  Nine states were awarded the funds today.

Find out what it's all about and get links to the states applications and reviews.

Last month my partner and I told you about the holiday season challenges we gave ourselves.  We're back on video to share what has happened for each of us from our personal stretch of the last 30 days.  We also want to share a little holiday cheer with you - a very short outtake from our video recording that we hope you will enjoy watching. 
"Holiday Challenge Outcome"  Click here.
"Outtake: Laugh with Us!"  Click here.

Child care providers – find some great activities, ideas for lessons, ideas for food and resources in general.

Not-for-profits – find people reading relevant books or posting  information about being non-profits and get the word out there about what you are up to.

How about taking on a personal stretch for the holiday season?!  My partner, Debra, and I have given ourselves challenges that we share with you in our latest video.   And we invite you to find your personal challenge that could bring more joy to this holiday season.  Have a look!  Click here.  Happy Holidays!

Potty Training Tips for the Early Childhood Environment.  Get some quick and thorough pointers on how to approach potty training in your your child care setting!  Including what to consider, how to encourage the child's interest and what to do during set backs!

Get 10 useful tips about bottle feeding infants!

Although doctors recommend breastfeeding as the best option, there are many reasons a mother chooses to stop breastfeeding her baby and moves to a bottle. Medical conditions could be preventing her from breastfeeding, but most often the reason is the mother’s need to go back to work. When moving to a bottle, there are several things to keep in mind.

**10 Helpful Tips for Bottle Fed Babies has been republished with permission from Suzanne Cullen.  Original publication on October 20, 2011 on the AuPair.org Blog.

Looking through my notes from the CCFP Roundtable conference 2011 and feeling very lucky that I had the opportunity to attend.  One of my favorite workshops that I was able to attend was “A Taste of the World: Bringing Multicultural Foods and Activities to Your Children” given by 3 women from the Learning Care Group.  Donna Pomerson, Sherrie Gomez, and Staci Larsen provided great examples and materials to take home about bringing multicultural foods and activities into the child care environment.  They said I could share this with you and I am so excited to do so right now!

Take action to transform stress.  Change happens one response/one action at a time to transform stress and create ease in your day’s work.  Never give up!

URL shorteners can help you understand the affect you are having with your social media!  Find out what they are and why the can help you.  Read more here.

Report says more and more parents are using alternative schedules for their children's vaccinations. Is this affecting your child care business or if you are a parent how you choose your child care setting?

I came across this awesome video challenge on the USDA's MyPlate website and wanted to get the entire Child Care Info community participating! Here is the challenge: Create short videos (about 30 seconds) demonstrating how you are adding fruits and veggies to your diet without breaking the bank.  Get really creative...the judges are looking for videos that are inspiring, educational, fun, easy, and cost-effective ways that will motivate others to add more fruits and veggies to their diet too.   There are three categories to choose from: Tips for kids Tips for eating at home Tips for eating away from home The goal of this challenge is to bring more awareness to USDA's MyPlate and their mission to help Americans understand the importance of making half their plate abundant in healthy fruits and vegetables. Timeline: Submit your videos: September 26, 2011 - November 15, 2011 Judging: November 21, 2011 - December 12, 2011...

In my last post I talked about how to simplify in your physical environment.  Now let’s take on the challenge of how to eliminate nonessentials in your thoughts, actions and habits.  This for me is a bit harder than working on my physical environment, but well worth the effort.  Keep your attention in the present moment.  Develop self control of your mind and thoughts.

In the past few weeks there has been a lot of media coverage on unionizing family child care homes.  The nature of this topic is quite contentious and I wanted to open up the room to different ideas.  Please be respectful of each other’s views and opinions and recognize we are all humans with feelings.

I just returned home from The Sponsor Association (TSA) conference with a new sense of needs from our sponsors about social media.  I did two workshops about social media and thought I would have to do some convincing as to why social media is important and how it can be used to their benefit.  Well, Surprise! I didn’t have to do any convincing. 

After reflecting on the desire to use and “do” social media and the readiness to hunker down and get it started I am going to dedicate a blog to social media.  Thoughts or news going on in social media, how you can use social media and what you might want to do with it. 

All of these posts will be written for the novice to average user and many times focused on the child care profession.

I want to show you that you can do this, all of it.  Is worth your while and I will provide you additional tools to help you make that possible!

Tell me what you would like to see on the blog and I would like to try and give you answers.  You aren’t alone. ...

Have you been confused about whether or not to spend the extra cash on organic products?  What about the information you have been hearing that purchasing organic products can help protect you from consuming highly toxic pesticides?  This is something that I get asked quite frequently and wanted to share my thoughts and what being "organic" really means.  

Click on the link and take a read.  I think it will help clear up some misconceptions.

TO BE, OR NOT TO BE ORGANIC

Every week it’s seems to be the same old dilemma.  Like an unexpected curve ball being thrown at you every night (even though we all know that’s not the case).  What should I make for dinner?  And besides that, you dream of having it be a healthy, nutrient dense meal that everyone in the family will love.  Sometimes this seems to be an insurmountable task. 

So let’s make it simple and break it down into smaller pieces so the whole puzzle doesn’t seem so overwhelming.  Oh yeah…we will also make sure it’s healthy AND tasty!



1.     WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE NIGHT?  First things first…what is your favorite night of the week to get settled and plan for the week ahead?  Most people will say Sunday night, which seems the most logical.  The family is settling down from the high-energy weekend and getting ready for the work and school week ahead.  But maybe Friday is your night.  Whatever night it is, use this time to plan your family’s meals for the week ahead.  Browse through your cookbooks, magazines, the Internet, or wherever you gather recipes and begin to feel inspired!

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Whether you feel the need to clean up your classroom or office, get better organized, reduce stress, become more efficient or make a big move, here are some tips to help you create time and space for things you really care about. You can also watch my "Tips & Talks" video, "Simplify Nonessentials", to hear more about specific actions you can take right now to start to simplify your environment.  Click here.  Here are 3 tips for simplifying your environment: Keep it simple.  Simple doesn't need to be sparse, it just needs to be intentional.  Visual simplicity creates calm.  Because there is space available doesn't mean it should be filled.  Whenever possible, store things out of sight - in a drawer or behind a cabinet door.  Order reduces stress.  Create order by using containers that are uniform size, stackable or nesting. Have no excess, have no lack.  Reducing your belongings will simplify your life.  Let go of items you no longer use, are the wrong size, or you simply don't need anymore.  Also, don't settle.  Don't acquire or by things that aren't quite right.  Have what you truly need....