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Welcome to this month's issue of the Better Kid Care E-Newsletter - A newsletter for those caring for children.
Notable Quote: "Listening is the shortest route to the heart" - Anonymous
Subsidy payments are funds you may be entitled to receive from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). These federal food program reimbursements (normally arranged through your state and local agencies) provide funds for purchasing food for breakfast, lunches, and snacks. It is based on set rates per meal and changed periodically. Contact your state child welfare agency to see if you qualify. For information, visit the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) - Child Care Tax Tips on the Internal Revenue Service Web site.
Sample Reimbursement Rates:
Sample Reimbursement Rates for July 2003 through June 2004:
Meals Served in Day Care Homes (All States Except Hawaii and Alaska)
The Week of the Young Child is a time to recognize that children's opportunities are our responsibilities, and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that each and every child experiences the type of early environment--at home, at child care, at school, and in the community--that will promote their early learning. Contact the National Association for the Education of Young Children for more information about Week of the Young Child.
Where do you find the best ideas on caring for children? From child care providers, of course! Do you have a great tip or good thing? Send us your best tips in writing and your tip may end up in our newsletter! If your tip is chosen for the newsletter, you will receive a little something from the Better Kid Care Program. Mail tips with your return address, place of work, and the number and ages of those you care for to:
Better Kid Care Program
c/o Christine Belinda
Tips from Child Care Providers
253 Easterly Parkway
State College, PA 16801
E-mail to: crb16@psu.edu
by Christine Belinda
Communication is an important part of what we do as caregivers. Think about who you communicate with every day while working. Who do you need or want to share information and ideas with? Who do you want to communicate with you?
Of course we communicate with the children, but we also communicate with families, co-workers, visitors, bus drivers, neighbors, custodians, or anyone who is involved in our work with children. When we value all whom we interact with on a daily basis, we are sending the message that we care and we are involved. Valuing communication values community.
If we want to communicate well with anyone, we need to get to know them on some level. To be respectful to families, children, staff members, and those we work with, we need to learn about their background, culture, traditions, and values as well as what their jobs are, their needs, and what they might be expecting of us as caregivers.
To offer quality communication with children and their families as well as the community, we need to know all we can about the program we work in. Most importantly, we need to know its mission or philosophy. We also need to be aware of any information that pertains to the center or program. Program handbooks are a good resource, or if in a home care establishment, be sure to create a philosophy statement or mission statement, or speak with the owner/director.
One of the best ways to successfully communicate is to listen. Are you a good listener? To be a good listener takes conscious effort and thought. Good listeners gain important information.
Valuable communicating occurs when everyone has the chance to be heard, to listen, and to discuss ideas. Encouraging those you work with to communicate with you lets them know you care and want to hear their ideas.
Communicating well with one another allows us to share and process important information and to create a sense of truly understanding one another. Communication becomes a valuable tool in supporting positive relationships and in making meaningful connections.
Better Kid Care resources are available for child care providers by contacting your local Penn State Cooperative Extension office. A Better Kid Care resource library, with resource and activity books, is available for those caring for young children and some counties also have theme kits containing small toys, puppets, puzzles, and books.
A math skill you can easily teach young children is to identify shapes and colors. Shapes and colors are a part of daily life. The best way to teach shapes and colors is to talk about them naturally when you talk about the things children see and use. Shapes and colors are all around us, in toys, in furniture, and in books. Point out shape and color names when you are reading a book together, using a toy with a child, outside taking a walk, or even just sitting at the table together having a snack.
Teach children to count by starting with objects that are easy for them to understand. Count their fingers when they wash their hands. Count their toes before putting on their socks and shoes. Count the number of crackers on their plate and other things on the table as they are eating. Count the crackers again after the child has eaten one. Everyday things that children can see, hold, use, and play with are perfect for learning to count.Just being able to recite numbers in order isn’t the same as learning to count real objects and understanding the difference between having one thing and having two things.
With your help, children can learn math skills easily and naturally as they spend their days playing and exploring their world.
This is a selection from the Better Kid Care Web-based lesson, Math Basics for Young Children . To view this lesson, a complete listing of all distance education lessons, and additional information and resources, visit the Better Kid Care Distance Education page. Complete distance education lessons to earn PA Department of Public Welfare/PA Pathways training hours
Meets the Keystone STARS Core Series Training Requirements - This three part series shows how to establish, run and maintain a successful child care business and presents important information about understanding and supporting the developmental needs of each child.
Receive the videos and workbooks in the mail. Complete the entire series and return assignments to the Better Kid Care office for review to earn six Department of Public Welfare training hours.
To order: 1-800-452-9108 or betterkidcare@psu.edu
Reading aloud with children is a wonderful activity. Children of all ages love to be read to. Support the love of reading for children in your care by trying the following books:
Shapes! Shapes! Shapes!, by Tana Hoban, published by Harper Trophy, ISBN 0688147402. Using photographs of items found within our own environments, Hoban discover many shapes.
Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count on, by Lois Ehlert, published by Red Wagon Books, ISBN 015216281X. This book shares colorful fish with patterns galore that move about to rhyming feats. Count and predict how many fish while enjoying a flowing story of rhyme and adventure.
I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art, by Lucy Micklethwait, published by Harper Trophy, ISBN 0688161588. Children will problem solve and search for items suggested by the author in productions of fine art. Children are introduced to works of art while counting and finding the missing items.
When a Line Bends…A Shape Begins, by Rhonda Green, published by Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0618152415
10 Black Dots, by Donald Crews, published by Harper Trophy, ISBN 0688135749
Contact your local children's library or your local Penn State Cooperative Extension office to find out about more books on making friends and child care. Reading with children creates lifelong readers. Enjoy your time reading with children!
Some thirty children die every year due to accidental poisonings, and approximately one million phone calls are placed to Poison Control Centers annually by adults seeking help when children have swallowed something harmful. In an effort to prevent such tragic events, National Poison Prevention Week was established by the U.S. Congress on September 16, 1961 (P.L. 87-319). Shortly thereafter, the Poison Prevention Week Council was organized to coordinate this annual event.
Contact Poison Prevention online or write to Poison Prevention Council, P.O. Box 1543, Washington, D.C. 20013 or call (301) 504-7058 or FAX (301) 504-0862.for more information. E-mail contact is kdulc@cpsc.gov
Join with many other caregivers at live satellite training workshop offered in Pennsylvania and across the states. To participate in these workshops, visit the Satellite Workshop link.
Do you have questions about caring for other people's children, such as:
Call the Better Kid Care Mentoring Line at 800-859-8340 or e-mail your questions to betterkidcare@psu.edu for information about child care and children's issues.
The New Staff Orientation curriculum is now available to child care centers in Pennsylvania. This curriculum is specifically designed for new staff members in child care centers. Included are a thirty-page workbook and thirty units on seven videotapes. The easy-to-understand information is reinforced with activities and assignments. Units are designed to be used during naptime or other small blocks of time as staff/child ratios permit. Meets the Keystone STARS Performance Standards.
Do you provide care for children in your home? The kit, which is free for Pennsylvania residents, includes booklets with activities, child care ideas, information about distance education training, a children's development chart, and much more. Complete our on-line registration form or call 800-452-9108 to order.
PA Pathways Professional Development for Child Caregivers has information, training, and educational opportunities for child care providers across Pennsylvania. Visit PA Pathways or call toll-free 800-492-5107.
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