Early Education Newsletter
April 2021
Are you ready for the 2021 Week of the Young Child™?
CDA Renewal Amnesty Extension
Now is the Time to Renew your CDA®!
You recognize the importance of providing our youngest learners with the education they deserve. If you need to renew your CDA credential, the Council is extending the deadline for the Renewal Amnesty program to December 31, 2021. Check out the new tutorial and discover how easy it is to become active again.
We hope this extension will provide the time you may need to take advantage of this special opportunity. The program allows anyone with a CDA credential expiration date going back as far as January 1, 2010, to complete the renewal process and make their credential active again.
Get Ready, Set and…Learn more here!
Are you working on a CDA? Did You Know There is a Scholarship Available?
- If you live and work in early childhood in Indiana, make $20 or less per hour, and work 30 hours or more (part-time scholarship is available), you will want to be aware of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® INDIANA Scholarship Program.
- If you qualify, a T.E.A.C.H. scholarship can cover up to 80 percent of your tuition and book costs for the classes you need to complete your degree.
- Plus, you are eligible for a $50 per semester stipend and a $200-300 per year bonus when T.E.A.C.H. receives your qualifying grades.
- Scholarships are available to complete CDA training, obtain an associate of early childhood education, or bachelors in early childhood education!
Contact T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® INDIANA at teach@inaeyc.org
or call at 855-484-2392 Ext.3511
to find out if you are eligible.
Contact T.E.A.C.H. Now!
Applications are approved on a regular basis!
Success By 6 Credential Assistance Program
Opportunity available for Counties of the United Way of the Wabash Valley: Clay, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion, and Vigo counties in Indiana and Clark county in Illinois.
The Success By 6 Council wants to help fulfill the need for trained early childhood education teachers with the development of their Early Childhood Education Credential Assistance Program (CAP). This program has made $30,000 available as educational fulfillment incentives to those who complete their credential/degree program utilizing the federally funded and Indiana administered Teacher Education and Compensation Helps (T.E.A.C.H) Early Childhood Scholarship Program or Illinois’s Gateways Scholarship Program. These are already funded programs that provide tuition reimbursement to students in the early childhood education field.
This United Way gap funding will be available to support individuals as an additional direct monetary incentive to complete their education and also as an incentive payment to assist the individual’s early childhood education program employer as they support their employees to help them attain their educational goals. The incentive funding will range from $500 – $1,500 based on the credential or degree type.
For more information click here.
Paths to QUALITY Co-horts
Do any of these statements apply to your program?
- We are interested in advancing or maintaining in Paths to QUALITY
- We want to learn from a SPARK coach as well as our peers
- We are a registered ministry who needs support with VCP
- We are interested in learning more about Accreditation
Join a SPARK PTQ Cohort!
What is a cohort?
A cohort is a virtual peer learning opportunity supported by a SPARK Coach. A coach will facilitate group coaching sessions with program leaders and their peers in order to support building and refining of foundational skills needed in order to reach Paths to QUALITY advancement and maintenance goals.
How do I get started?
The next round of SPARK PTQ Cohorts will be three months long and begin in early April. To join please fill out the short form at the link below.
Grant Opportunities
GRANT OPPORTUNITY: Funding Still Available
As an early child care and education provider in Indiana, you may be eligible to apply for a grant through the Indiana CARES About Child Care fund to help with pandemic-related safety expenses or emergency needs.
Indiana CARES About Child Care grants are designed to reimburse Indiana providers for COVID-19 related needs, such as purchasing health- and safety-related materials and supplies, additional staffing costs directly related to COVID responses, cleaning services, additional furniture to support social distancing and more (see the FAQs at https://brighterfuturesindiana.org/programs/indianacares for more information about allowable expenses). Grants are also available for providers dealing with temporary closures due to a positive COVID-19 case. An emergency grant will help cover expenses deemed necessary to reopen.
Grant amounts up to $12,500 based on a provider’s capacity.
Learn more about the grant fund, eligibility guidelines and allowable expenses, and find the link to start your application at https://brighterfuturesindiana.org/programs/indianacares.
Providers who have closed and need assistance with loss of income should click here.
Come Back Stronger Fund
In the second round of funding, grant amounts will range from $1,800-$27,000 per site with an additional sum available to providers with 25% or more of their enrolled children receiving federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) or On My Way Pre-K assistance from the state of Indiana.
Early Learning Indiana will process applications on a rolling-basis.
For more information about eligibility, grant amounts, or to apply click here.
I-LEAD
NEED I-LEAD HELP? HAVING TROUBLE ACCEPTING YOUR INVITATION? NEED ASSISTANCE LEARNING TO NAVIGATE I-LEAD?
COMPLETING YOUR CONSENT FORM THROUGH I-LEAD
Federal law requires state and federal criminal background checks that include fingerprints for child care providers. The comprehensive background check must include a fingerprint check against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) database to ensure that a provider does not have a criminal history that could put children’s health and safety at risk.
By completing your consent form, you are authorizing both a state and federal background check as indicated above. Additionally, you are confirming that you have submitted your fingerprints within the last three years. This will be confirmed by entering your TCN number, located on your fingerprint receipt.
To complete your personal consent form, follow the steps below.
- Log in to your ilead.in.gov account.
- Locate the Begin Consent Form button.
- Click the Select All Valid Providers check box at the top of the page.
- Click the Form Information button in the bottom right corner to advance to the next page.
- Complete all available fields. You must only enter YOUR personal information on the document.
- Click the Go To Submit button in the bottom right corner to advance to the next page.
- On the Submit screen, you will type your first and last name in the Electronic Signature box. Then click on the I Agree To All Terms checkbox.
- Finally, click the green Submit button located in the bottom right corner.
Professional Development
Relax and Be Happy: 5 Mindfulness Tools to Reduce Anxiety Now
The year 2020 was rough! Take a time-out from anxiety and join kids yoga and mindfulness expert Bari Koral to reset and recharge. Following her widely successful Happy and Calm edWebinar, Bari will share five of the most amazing tools you can use right now to bring more peace and focus into the classroom and at home. From the first thing to do in any anxious situation, to sharing the most powerful calming tools we have, Bari will show you how to calm your inner world, reduce your stress and bring your body and mind back into balance. Learn great new mindfulness tools that capture imaginations and help create resilient, happy children. Join us in this interactive, fun-filled edWebinar with Bari and support yourself and children in your care because it feels better to feel better! Register here.
2021 INAEYC Virtual Early Childhood Professional Development
**Scholarships are available for this event! ALL Indiana licensed homes, centers and registered ministries are eligible to apply. All you need is your state-issued license number.
Scholarships will be processed as we receive them. You should NOT register if you plan to apply or have applied for a scholarship as we will NOT issue any refunds if already paid. Click the button below to apply.
Leaning into Culturally-grounded Anti-bias Child Assessment, by Iheoma Iruka
April 15, 2021 at 2:00pm
Evidence exists about the importance and impact of early care and education for children’s school readiness and academic and school success. Child assessment plays a critical role in supporting children’s school readiness by providing early childhood educators with important information about children’s assets, growth, and potential, as well as areas needing strengthening. For assessment to meet the standards of developmentally appropriate practice, it must be authentic and strengths-based. That is, children should be assessed in the context of their daily routines and activities as they engage with familiar materials through an asset frame. Unfortunately, there is evidence that children of color, especially Black children, are often assessed as less cognitively, linguistically, and socially astute than their peers. There is a need to transform child assessments as an equity tool to support children in a racially-affirming and holistic way. This means interrogating the content, purpose, and goals of the assessments, and the role of adults’ biases, behaviors, and the learning environment. Register here.Developmental Screening: How Administrators Successfully Manage Implementation in their ECE Programs, by Jane Squires, Ph.D., Elizabeth Twombly, M.S. and Dalia Avello, MA, IMH-E
April 28, 2021 at 2:00pm
As an administrator, you know developmental screening is an important component of promoting healthy development for young children. You also know implementing an effective and efficient screening program school-wide and across multiple sites can be challenging. Presented by the experts and trainers behind the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) screening system, this information-packed webinar covers important topics for early childhood directors and administrators interested in starting or supporting their screening program.
If you are an Executive Director, Principal, Director, or specialist who is responsible for planning and supervising developmental screening, you will want to join this webinar about the purpose of screening and how it benefits children, families, and teachers. You will also discover how to choose a screening tool that works for your program, the decisions needed to set up an effective workflow, and important considerations for training staff. Register here.
2021 Indiana Summit on Out-of-School Learning
2020 was defined by its challenges - a global health crisis, social injustice and unrest, and prolonged isolation from one another. As a result, we've all had to shift the way we work, the way we connect, and even the way we think.
Now it's up to us to decide how we want to move forward.
In the spring of 2021, the Indiana Afterschool Network will host its 10th annual Indiana Summit on Out-of-School Learning – Indiana's premier conference designed specifically for out-of-school time providers. This year's Summit will be a virtual event. The Summit brings together youth programs, schools, and community partners to connect, explore new ideas, access valuable resources, and transform learning beyond the school day for Indiana's youth. Together, we can navigate this period of uncertainty and take time to recharge, reconnect, and – most importantly – take action.
IYI’s Professional Development Grants
IYI’s Professional Development Grants program offers up to $750 in financial assistance for youth workers to access continuing education that they might not otherwise be able to attend. These funds are available to help promote the healthy development of children and youth by providing access to training and course work that IYI does not or cannot offer. Grants may be used for conferences, training, workshops, or tuition reimbursement intended to improve your ability to do your job and your agency’s ability to serve and support children and youth
Applications are available now and will be accepted beginning January 18 through February 19, 2021. For more information click here.
Resources
10 Parent Communication Strategies in Child Care
Regular communication with parents is essential for maximizing child learning outcomes, keeping parents engaged in their child’s learning process, and increasing customer satisfaction and retention. Effective communication forms the basis for collaboration between parents and providers with the goal of connecting kids with the resources they need to reach their full potential.
Communication with parents is especially challenging during the coronavirus pandemic, where new policies and procedures will result in fewer opportunities for face-to-face communication. Child care centers must plan for this by adapting their communication strategies for digital media.
Click here to explore 10 Strategies for parent communication.
What Makes a Good Toy?
A plastic fried egg can never be anything but a fried egg. A simple block of wood, however, can represent a phone, a camera, a piece of cake, or even a baby. Play materials that are open-ended and ambiguous permit a child’s creativity and experience to shape the play.
The play equipment you choose needs to support your developmental goals for children. So, what exactly makes a good plaything?
In 1980, Mary Wiser penned this timeless piece as an answer to this question. The ideas she expressed still form the backbone of Community Playthings, and influence the design of every product we make. What was good for children four decades ago is still good for children today. Read here.
What Works to Build Skills, Knowledge, and Attitudes for Early Childhood Leadership?
Developing Adults' Capacity to Promote SEL
Resources for Parents
Parent Webinar: Preventing Child Abuse: Knowing the Signs ~ April 6th at 11am
Parent Webinar: What to Look for in a Quality Summer Program ~ April 15th at 12:30pm
Parent Webinar: Breastfeeding ~ April 23rd at 12:30pm
Join CASY's Family Engagement Specialists in welcoming Shelbey Rea from ICAP - Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) as she discusses breastfeeding during this Guest Presenter Family Webinar.
How To Teach Kids To Be A 'Helper'
Here's some expert-backed advice for parents who want their children to be positive forces in their communities.
Mister Rogers famously told children to “look for the helpers” ― the people in this world who work to assist others and spread goodness, even (or especially) in challenging times.
But you don’t have to be a grown-up to be a helper. Kids can play this role too. In fact, learning to be a helper from a young age is one way children thrive and develop into adults who want to make the world a better place. Learn more here.
Stay Connect:
Email: help@casyonline.org
Website: www.casyonline.org
Location: 1101 South 13th Street, Terre Haute, IN, USA
Phone: 800-886-3952
Facebook: facebook.com/CASY.Inc
Twitter: @CASYTerreHaute