Last week I had the pleasure of attending a free webinar presented by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) which is in the process of changing its name to Child Care Aware, America. The webinar was about the federal budget process and how it specifically affects the child care industry.  Grace Reef the Chief of Policy and Evaluation gave the webinar and explained, in an easy to understand way, how the federal budget process is directly affecting child care and what we might do to make a difference.

Prior to a brief overview of what she covered...

The Week of the Young Child™ begins April 22, 2012.  NAEYC has all the information you need to get started.  If it's too late to begin planning for this year, start for next year!  

Saying goodbye to children in those early mornings for parents can be quite a challenge, but saying goodbye to a child in your program or class for good can be a very upsetting task for many teachers.

Learning opportunities directed toward the child care professional are not lacking, but sometimes it can be hard to find those perfect learning opportunities or maybe you just don’t have time to look.  ChildCareInfo.com has just made that process easier for you!  Find out how the Learning Center can help you!

Tips for parents saying goodbye to children at daycare such as: Parents ensuring they have extra time at drop-off, always saying goodbye and several tips for caregivers as they try to comfort the distressed little one.  Read on...

Written by: Katina Synder, Mother of 2, BA in Public Relations
Ever made a Leprechaun Trap?  Here's a cute one that Shelby, Age 5, made (with a little help from her mom).

I attended the National Child Care Association conference (NCCA) this weekend and was struck by an accidental but consistent theme by many of the presenters.

The presenters’ successes were embedded in stories of:

Taking Risks
Facing Their Fear of Failure
Adjusting When they Did Fail
Honoring Failures
Being Resilient and Learning to Let Go

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

...

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.

Find out how you are liable and how to protect yourself if you suspect a parent is drunk when they pick up their child.

**Originally published on 7/11/2011 on Tom Copeland's Taking Care of Business

Businesses and Early Childhood Education

Brief overview of the importance of Art in the Young Child's Life

Providers are teachers.  Getting word out to Jo-Ann Fabrics.  Take these strategies and apply them to other companies you think are discriminating against you and your profession.

These days people throw around the term without thinking twice.  I blogged this, she is a habitual blogger, I read on this blog....But like many other things and terms we use, we aren't exactly what defines a blog and why it might be important to you or useful to you, to either read a blog or to create one yourself.  Check out this posting for some quick information you'll find useful.

St. Judes Children's Research Hospital is a hospital that treats all children that have cancer and other "catastrophic diseases."  They never turn a child away for financial reasons and are officially launching their 7th annual Thanks and Giving Campaign.  This campaign is to "Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not."

A contest for awesome and healthy school recipe launched by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and First Lady Michelle Obama is under way.  It is called the Recipes for Healthy Kids Challenge.

You could have an opportunity to:

have your recipe judged at a school event with a panel of judges, compete in a national cook-off, have the public pick your recipe as their favorite; and cook alongside White House chefs!         Cash Prizes are awarded too!  Up to $3,000 for the grand prize winner and a first and second place prize for each food category winner (food categories listed below).

The challenge is to "develop creative, nutritious, tasty and kid-approved recipes that schools can easily incorporate into National School Lunch menus." 

Recipe must fall under one of these food categories: 1) Whole Grains, 2) Dark Green and Orange Vegetables, or  3) Dry Beans and Peas.

The participants need to have a team of the following:

a chef, a school nutrition professional,...

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is the agency that protects us, as consumers, from risks of death or injury from products, including children's toys, cribs, car seats and more.  This post is to let you know where to get the information they are giving you.  Did you know they have a YouTube station, a twitter feed, an app for your iPhone or droid?  You didn't?  Well look at this!

Here are some fun Thanksgiving crafts!  They have been compiled from many different resources, including members of our very own childcareinfo.com community.  Enjoy!

A grant of forty million dollars, to create, execute and manage The National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning to improve the Head Start program,  has been awarded  to Washington University in collaboration with University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, Iowa State University, University of South Florida, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Summary: Families All Matter is a project created by aMaze, a not-for-profit organization that focusing on nurturing the values of family, diversity and community.  A great program that provides curriculum to pre-school and grade school teachers to help with tough conversations about diversity in people's families.

A short synopsis of the Grab and Go lesson provided by CARE Connection about the CACFP Meal Patterns

Synopsis of the webinar “Children’s Museum Experience: Learning Through Play” brought you by the Child Care Aware, Parents Network which is a part of the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.  It was geared toward parents but centered on how children interact in a museum and how the adult with them can enhance that experience.

Provider’s can get certified for providing an eco-healthy child care.  On October 5^th, the Children’s Environmental Health Network launched the Eco-Healthy Child Care Program.  The aim is to provide a child care settings that are free of harmful chemical exposures.