Early Education Newsletter

Hello Child Care Owners & Directors,

Each year Chances And Services for Youth (CASY), Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R), works to provide support for emerging programs while working with current programs to keep your information up to date for families, connect you with partners when needed, and provide resources both within our newsletter and upon request. We strive to provide quality services within the role of CCR&R and are always looking for ways to improve our services. You may receive a very brief but important survey through survey monkey in the coming month. Please keep an eye on your junk email. We hope that you will take a moment to tell us how we're doing!

~Trisha Guinn

tguinn@casyonline.org

(812) 231-8919

Learn more about the CASY CCR&R Team

Kick off the 2024 school year and the new Early Learning Standards with the IDOE Office of Kindergarten Readiness! Three free training sessions are available to learn about the new standards, ideas for teaching them, and ways to assess learning in all settings. Join us Tuesday, August 8, 15, and 22 from 4-5 p.m. EST in the Indiana Learning Lab. After you create your free account, register for each session. If you have any questions, please contact the IDOE Office of Kindergarten Readiness or the Spark Help Desk.

The Early Learning Marketplace is a free tool designed for child care providers to connect with local families. Gain a competitive edge by creating a custom profile that's searchable by families seeking child care in your area. Families can also view and claim available seats in real time!

When you join the marketplace, you can showcase your program's strengths, highlight available openings, communicate directly with families, schedule tours, initiate the enrollment process, and so much more. To sweeten the deal, Early Learning Indiana is offering some incredible incentives:

1. Claim your listing and receive a $25 gift card
2. Update your program profile with available seats and receive a $25 gift card
3. Update your seats once per month for three consecutive months and be entered to win a grand prize of a $1,000 gift card. Winners will be drawn quarterly over the next year, so you will have multiple opportunities to win
4. Link your bank account to the Early Learning Marketplace profile to accept payment from families and receive a $50 gift card

Learn how to update your available seats and add your bank account information by watching this video. It's quick and easy!

On My Way Pre-K is now available to more Hoosier families. This program provides FREE, high-quality pre-K to 4-year-olds in low-income households. Thanks to recent legislation, 11,000 additional children are eligible for child care assistance in Indiana through On My Way Pre-K and CCDF. Let your families know about the increased availability and encourage them to apply at OnMyWayPreK.org.

The Harvard Business Review found that up to 80% of staff turnover can be attributed to poor hiring decisions. This is important for out-of-school time (OST) programs, which traditionally experience higher-than-average staff turnover rates, made worse after post-pandemic employment shifts. Despite these new challenges, many of our hiring practices remain largely unchanged.

Revolutionize your hiring process — join the Indiana Afterschool Network on August 9 at 11:00 a.m. ET for an informational webinar. This session will challenge you to think about hiring in new and innovative ways. You'll assess all areas of your hiring process to find opportunities for small changes that add up to a big impact for the OST field.

Non Formal CDA Brochure

pd@inaeyc.org

(855) 484-2392

To be eligible for the Non Formal CDA Course, applicants must:

1. Be a resident of Indiana who is at least 18 years of age.
   
2. Employed in a childcare center, childcare home, or childcare ministry that is licensed, registered, or certified as a LLEP CCDF provider by OECOSL.
3. Work 25+ hours per week in Indiana.
4. Have a current Criminal History/Background check on file with the FSSA, Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning.
5. Earn $25.00/hour or less as a teacher/teacher assistant, family childcare owner or director/administrator.
6. High School Diploma or High School Equivalency Diploma (HSE)

Watch this Sesame Workshop video on YouTube:

Helping Hands - Learning Pro-social Skills / School Readiness

When children reach elementary school, they’re expected to sit still so they can learn. With calm bodies and minds, they’re more attentive, receptive learners. But why do so many kids have ants in their pants, and how did they get there?

Turns out, the ants are usually a result of too much stillness during the early childhood years.

The Problem of Stillness

Young children in previous generations spent much more time doing big-body play. Since the early 2000s, we have had a fundamental cultural shift away from child-directed free play towards more sedentary endeavors.

What is wrong with stillness?

Find out in this Community Playthings article.

Community Playthings also offers activities you may incorporate into your classroom. Children find and make art everywhere. Here is a unique art medium for children to explore. You can create “sand-cement” right in the sandbox and preserve some of those awesome sand cake decorating skills.

Items Needed:

1. Bowl and spoon
2. Old container lids
3. Glue
4. Pretty nature items
5. Sand
   

Helpful Tips:

If you're using a deeper container, brush it with a little oil first to make sure it pops out when dry. If you wish to hang it as an ornament, push the objects deep enough that they stick and poke a hole through the sand while it's still soft.

Email: admin@casyonline.org
Website: www.casyonline.org
Location: 1101 South 13th Street, Terre Haute, IN, USA
Phone: 800-886-3952
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CASY.Inc