| Building Families Newsletter April 2009 |
Building Families Vision:
Every child, beginning at birth, will be healthy and successful.
Building Families Mission:
Building Families’ mission is for children, youth, and families to live in safe and nurturing environments that promote health, independence and success. Building Families will create a continuum of supports and services that embrace children and their families.
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Eagle Grove Preschool Staff: Congratulations on meeting the all 10 standards of the 85% required criteria for the four year old preschool IQPPS Standards! You have put a lot of hard work in developing a quality program.
We are proud of your district staff for making such a huge commitment to early childhood!-Building Families
April 7th, 2009
Pregnancy Prevention Committee Meeting from 10:00 to12:00
Prevent Child Abuse Council Meeting from 12:00-1:00
At Building Families Offices
Board and Committee Meetings
Next Building Families Board meeting will be at 3pm on April 27th. Tentative agenda will include the reading of the revised by-laws with input from the board and community. We will also begin to work on our re-designation form. The community plan is in draft form and is being worked on by board members. It will be shared for comments and changes. You are invited to attend any Building Families board or committee meeting. For more information call Ann.
QRS mini grants are due! Ann is working with Kaplan and Lakeshore to receive discounts on orders!
By-Laws
Building Families is seeking input on our revised by-laws. The draft document can be located on our web site. Comments can be made by contacting Ann by e-mail or phone or by attending the next committee meeting on April 16th or the board meeting on April 27th.
5th Annual Provider Appreciation Night
Friday May 8th. 2—9
6:00 to 8:30 PM
Best Western Starlight Conference Room
Jct of Hwys S7 and 169, Ft. Dodge
MUST RSVP to Julie Kuhlmann by April 24th
1-800-567-3951 or email jkuhlmann@udmo.com
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| Go ahead, indulge yourself, and put more play in your life! |
Play for the fun of it!
A report from the American Academy of Pediatrics says, “Free and unstructured play is healthy and –in fact-- crucial for helping children reach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient.” Take an active role in facilitating play:
- Allow plenty of time and space for play. Play outdoors, use a big box or a card table with a blanket spread over the top to create play areas.
- Plan for toys that invite open ended play. Provide toys that can be played with alone such as staking toys or puzzles. But also provide toys that invite cooperation such as balls, or a board game.
- Find tine to play with children, and help facilitate play with other children. Play peek-a-boo with babies; plan a park outing with the classroom or with another family, play Go Fish for the 100th time!
- Encourage cooperation and problem solving. Be available to children as they play. Help them find their own solutions to problems by encouraging use of words and asking them to share ideas about how conflicts and problems can be solved.
(Taken from the Family Resource Center parent Pages Aug. 2008)
| Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.
Fred Rogers
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| Registration of Child Care Homes |
Legislation was introduced during the 2007 Legislative session to make the registration of child care homes mandatory should a provider be caring for three or more children.
A legislative interim committee conducted meetings during the summer and fall of 2007 to learn about the Iowa’s current regulatory system, professional development and supports for regulated and non-regulated child care in homes. The committee was also provided the most recent research on these issues from state and national bodies including the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA), the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), and Iowa State University.
The legislative interim committee issued a set of recommendations, which included the establishment of a workgroup to address these key issues:
- the possible implementation of a mandatory system of registration (of home-based child care providers) or a voluntary licensure system;
- planning for the phase-in and costs for additional inspection visits, increased expense for state child care assistance slots, state child care reimbursement strategies to reward quality;
- professional development of child care providers for improving the workforce, while insuring articulation between other programs and services serving young children and their families;
- enhancing community engagement to support early childhood needs within a coordinated system.
See full report from Every Child Counts website http://www.everychildcountsiowa.org/
Download the Home-Based Child Care Study Report and Recommendations for Revising the Regulatory System. Prepared by the Iowa State Child Care Advisory Council.
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FCCERS (Family Child Care Environmental Rating Scale)
Webster City on June 2, 9, 16, 23 from 6:30-8:30 pm
Location TBA
Mail registration to Graettinger CCR&R office
Healthy Families America Training
This training uses a nationally approved curriculum from Healthy Families America. The trainers are required to present the curriculum according to the 12 Critical Elements of the Healthy Families America home visiting model. The trainers will present the training with fidelity to the model and will not be able to address modifications programs may make to the model.
Additionally, the assessment section of the training is related to the procedures, skills, and tools required for the HOPES-HFI programs sponsored by Iowa Department of Public Health and other programs in the state of Iowa that replicate the HOPES-HFI program. The training will be held on May 4-8, 2009 at the Grace Lutheran Church, 3010 52nd Street, Des Moines, Iowa. Empowerment scholarships are still available. For more information regarding the training session, contact Nancy Krause at (319)830-0824 or nancy.krause@lsiowa.org.
Iowa Program for Infant Toddler Care (IA PITC) Academy for Program Directors
The Iowa Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) Network is developing a new Academy for child-care center directors, board members and owners; Early Head Start directors; and school-based infant toddler program administrators. The purpose of this three-day academy is to introduce directors and administrators to the IA PITC philosophy of care and support services available as programs strive to continually improve the quality of infant toddler care. The first Academy will be offered July 28-30, 2009 at the Gateway Hotel in Ames. NAC approval for continuing education is being requested.
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