Do you need help with your child care business?

Child Care Answers has a free mentoring program to help with your child care business. All Licensed Child Care Homes, Centers and some Unlicensed Registered Ministries in Marion, Hendricks, Johnson and Hamilton counties can take advantage of this service. If your Child Care Site joins our mentoring program, Paths to QUALITY, you will have access to a mentor that will come right to your site. You will be provided participation incentives and access to other supplies and resources to help you improve the care that you offer to children. To learn more about this free and voluntary program please contact Lynn Harris at 317-636-5727 x 238 or lynnh@childcareanswers.com.

If you are an Indiana Child Care Provider that does not live in the above counties but would like to participate in a free mentoring program contact your local Child Care Resource and Referral and ask them about Paths to QUALITY. To find your local CCR&R follow this link http://www.iaccrr.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=103

Week of the Young Child April 19 - 25

I just got an email from NAEYC about the Week of the Young Child that I thought that you might find interesting....

The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. The theme of Week of the Young Child (WOYC) is "Bring Communities Together for Children— Children Bring Communities Together" and it's time to start planning your WOYC 2009 events. See our web site for information about planning and ideas for WOYC events . Please feel free to share your ideas with us online.

Some ideas from previous years include neighborhood parades, family fun fairs, art displays, and collaborations with local organizations and businesses. For more inspiration, please see our Web site.

NAEYC has developed a free communications kit that you can use to promote WOYC. The WOYC Event Handbook includes:
» Week of the Young Child News Release » Invitation to television stations to cover event » PSA Script » Letter to the Editor » Proclamation for the Governor or Mayor » Business Flyer Template » Participant Flyer Template
For your own editable copy of the WOYC Event Handbook and for more information, please see our Web site.

BREAKING NEWS – ECONOMIC STIMULUS UPDATE

The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies just released this update.

Senate Passes Bill, Heading to Quick Conference!
On Tuesday, the Senate passed its version of the economic stimulus legislation, “the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act”. The measure now goes to a joint House-Senate conference committee to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions. The conference meetings are likely to happen very quickly and it is possible that a final conference agreement could be reached (and passed) by this Friday, February 13. Your help is needed to ensure that this crucial funding for child care remains in the bill.

Although both the House and Senate passed stimulus bills include $2 billion for child care, conferees will be under great pressure to find further reductions in spending. The Senate passed measure eliminated a number of popular provisions: an increase of $14 billion for K-12 school construction, an increase of $6 billion for higher education facilities construction, an increase of $900 million for Pandemic flu preparedness, and health insurance for the unemployed. Other provisions in the Senate passed measure shaved back spending increases on many popular programs. At the same time, the Senate bill funded initiatives not included in the House bill such as suspending taxation of unemployment benefits, which would be helpful to families during the recession. Therefore, the conferees have many decisions to make and nothing should be taken for granted. It is very much a zero-sum approach at this point, so if some funding is to be restored, other funding has to either cutback or eliminated.

Below is a chart showing the differences in funding amounts in the House and Senate bills. In addition, language in the Senate bill for CCBDG funding is targeted for quality improvements. It is vital that this language be included in the final conference agreement to ensure that children are in safe, stable care.

Early Childhood Development Highlights in the House and Senate Bills
($ in Millions)

Program

Child Care & Development Block Grant* - House Mark 2,000.00 Senate Mark 2,000.00

Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) - House Mark 0 Senate Mark 400

Head Start/Early Head Start - House Mark 2,100.00 Senate Mark 1,100.00

Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) - House Mark 1,000.00 Senate Mark 200

Child & Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) - House Mark 631 Senate Mark 0

School Construction (K-12) - House Mark 14,000.00 Senate Mark 0

Special Education/Preschool Grants - House Mark 13,000.00 Senate Mark 13,000.00

Special Education/Part C - House Mark 600 Senate Mark 500

Pell Grants - House Mark 1,563.00 Senate Mark 13,869.00

*Of this amount, $255.2 million would be reserved for quality funding and of this quality set-aside $93.6 million would be targeted to improve infant and toddler care.

2009 Market Rate Survey

It is once again time to conduct the Market Rate Survey. The state uses our rate survey to determine reimbursement rates for the CCDF voucher program. This is your chance to possibly impact the payment rates in your county.

This year the state is asking Child Care Answers to enter the weekly rates for licensed homes, licensed centers and unlicensed registered ministries in Marion, Hendricks, Hamilton and Johnson counties. If I have updated with you in the last 6 months I can still use your rates. If, however, you have changed your rates you can go here and send me your newest rates.

If you have not updated with me in the last 6 month - you can call me at 317-636-5727 ext. 249 or you can go here and fill out the form and send it back to me.

Helping children learn their shapes

Here are some great ideas to try to help children learn their shapes....

• Hunt for shapes throughout the room
• Pass around a shape and have children look at it and feel it with eyes open and closed
• Have children hunt for shapes in a magazine and paste them on a page
• Have the children make objects using a variety of shapes
• Have ten cutouts of all different shapes and envelopes with that shape in them, kids place shapes into their corresponding envelopes
• Place one of each shape on a magnetic board or flannel board. Have the children look through a basket of shapes and place a shape next to its corresponding match
• Select several sheets of paper and draw one large shape (can also use numerals). Set out 20 inch long shoelaces or string. Invite the children to create the shapes or numerals by placing the laces on top of the shape or numeral on the construction paper sheets.
• Use pieces of masking tape to make large outlines on the floor of a circle, square, triangle, etc. Let the children take turns walking, crawling or hopping around the edges of the shapes. Or ask the child to first identify the shape before walking around it.