Data Manager's Minute

My role at Child Care Answers is an exciting one for me! When I first came on board in April, Mindy asked me if I knew anything about web pages. I have an Associate of Science Degree from Ivy Tech in Information Technology, with my focus on programming. The only reason I went into programming was because they didn't offer a Database track when I was there. So I took a lot of data management classes, then went to IUPUI and took an HTML web design class. That is the extent of my web design experience. I had NEVER done a "real" web page, and I told Mindy as much. She asked me to look at our website and make suggestions and see what I could do. So with my limited experience I set to work revamping our page. I think it turned out pretty well. You can look at it here and let me know what you think! As my role continues to grow more into the blogosphere I found myself somewhat perplexed - I am 40, not exactly a digital "native" but I have had a computer of one type or another since I was 10. I worked in DOS for several years and Windows from its inception. Blogging and "social networking" was foreign to me, as it had never piqued my interests. Recently, we have come to understand that a focused digital presence will open up our services to a whole new audience, one that is comprised mainly of "digital natives" who thrive on social networking and get most of their information from the Internet. My hope with this blog is that our audience will get to know us all better, to understand what we do, why we do it, and for whom we are doing it. Are we going to fall down along the way? Yes. But we will pick ourselves up off the virtual floor, dust ourselves off and keep going.

Thanks for your interest in our blog - let us know how we are doing every once in a while, will ya?

Need help finding Child Care? Have Child Care Questions?

Finding the right child care that meets your family needs is sometimes a very hard process for families. Child Care Answers is here to help families with this decision. One tool that we have for families is a child care checklist and it can be found by visiting our website at http://www.childcareanswers.com/checklist.html. Another tool that you may find helpful is a chart on child care regulations. This chart can be found by following this link http://www.childcareanswers.com/facilityregulations.html.

If you are a parent or grandparent needing to locate child care in the Central Indiana area (Marion, Hendricks, Hamilton or Johnson counties) you can contact us at 631-4643 option 1. Our referral specialists Cathy Sparks and Vicky Cuenca will ask you some specific questions about your individual needs and then access our database of over 1400 child care providers to find providers that meet your needs. If you prefer to you can do a search from our database on your own by clicking the link on the side of our blog under CCA tools.

Never too early...

This video is ALMOST too frightening to watch! But trust me, it all comes out OK in the end! Someone in our office came across this video last night and sent the link via email. I was BLOWN away by this and had never heard of it. I found myself thinking back to the story this summer of the little girl that drowned in the swimming pool of a foreclosed home here in Indy, would she still be alive if she had this training?

Before you view this video a couple of things:

1. This child has already been through this training, several years ago.
2. The child's father is in the pool with him the ENTIRE time, the child was NEVER in any true danger.
3. This training DOES NOT take the place of constant vigilance around any body of water.
4. Child Care Answers does not support or endorse this program, we are merely attempting to provide parents, child care providers and community leaders with tools for child development.

This information is absolutely invaluable in my opinion and something EVERY parent that lives near a body of water needs to investigate!

In Indianapolis this training is offered by:

Barb Davis
Certified Instructor Phone: (317) 529-2763
Email: b.davis@infantswim.com

and

Yiwen Fung
Certified InstructorPhone: 317-489-9221
Email: y.fung@infantswim.com

Website: http://www.indyselfrescue.com/

Child Care Mentors Available

Hi All,
I was just speaking with Marisa, one of Child Care Answers Mentors, who stopped into my office. She had just been out to a child care providers home helping with setting up learning centers. She was sharing how excited she is to be helping child care sites improve their services to children and families. Did you know that all licensed child care sites (home and centers) and some unlicensed registered child care ministries qualify to participate in our FREE mentoring program. If you operate one of these sites and would like to find out about participating in our mentoring program you can attend a FREE Paths to QUALITY informational training. Contact Lynn, our Office Manager, to register 317-636-5727 x 238.

MFDSN

MFDSN (Minority Families Down Syndrom Network) invites everyone to attend their open Panel Discussion with some of Indianapolis Leading Health Care Practitioners on Saturday, January 10, 2009, 11:30 am - 2:30 pm. This event includes lunch and is free however you must register at register@indianadsf.org or by phone 317 925-7617 by Monday December 22, 2008. This event is open to all, but strongly encourage service providers, minority families and expecting and new parents of children with disabilities to come out and take this opportunity to speak with a diverse panel of experts. Both the panel discussion as well as print material will be in English and Spanish.

Training on Preventing Childhood Obesity

Hi Everyone,
I just received a notice from our friends at WFYI and United Way about a free training that they are doing for in home child care providers that live in the 46201 or 46208 zip code area. The training will be on Tuesday, December 16 from 9 am - 11:30 am at the John Boner Center. The topic is Preventing Childhood Obesity. They will provide Free Food, Door Prizes and Free Child Care. This free training is available to the first 25 providers who register by calling 921-1232. The Free Child Care is limited to 5 children (ages 1-5) per provider. Have a great day and try to stay warm. I hear that snow is possible tomorrow.
Mindy

Follow Formula Mixing Directions

This was a terrible tragedy that was narrowly averted! The mother in this story had just taken infant CPR training the day before and is very glad she did! This story shows that not just providers, but parents can benefit from learning infant CPR. If you are interested in learning CPR, check out the list of trainers we have on our website here.

Looking for a Bachelor's Degree?

Early Childhood Education is important in Central Indiana. In fact the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children is teaming up with Ball State University to offer classes that you can use towards earning your Bachelor’s Degree in ECE. This is a great opportunity for ECE in Indianapolis, and we are hoping for a strong turn-out so that this program will continue with Ball State. Even if you are only curious about what this program has to offer, please make plans to show up. For more information click this link and make your reservations today!