WINTER 2017 A PUBLICATION OF CHILD CARE AWARE® OF MISSOURI

FAMILIESEARLY LEARNING PROGRAMSCOMMUNITIES

Ferguson Community Center has been a regular Saturday home to EFFEC+, a new program teaching North County child care teachers about the Emotional Foundations for Early Childhood. The first cohort started in January 2016 with 42 teachers, whose classrooms included 276 children. The second cohort started in July, with 47 more teachers who affect the daily lives of 254 additional children. A third cohort begins this month.

In each learning collaborative, a cohort meets four times across a span of several months, interspersed with individual coaching sessions for participants in their classrooms. Teachers are increasing their knowledge and skills about:

●● The crucial roles of “serve and return” relationships between teachers and children;

●● How the classroom environment and routines support children’s emotional foundations;

●● Specific teaching strategies for increasing children’s emotional intelligence and resiliency;

●● How to promoting children’s success in authentic ways that develop social skills; and

●● How to respond to and support children who have experienced prolonged stress and trauma.

Cohort 1 participants set a total of 63 S.M.A.R.T. goals for their classrooms, such as “increase positive peer interactions” by learning and practicing five specific social skills, “children will identify 10 out of 15 feeling words,”

and parents will “participate in parent/child challenges on a daily basis.” Final presentations in Learning Session 4 gave each participating classroom a chance to share their goals and success in achieving them.

Participants had high praise for EFFEC+, with one saying, “It was amazing!” Several found a benefit in new ideas about how to foster an emotionally safe classroom environment. One said she learned more about herself, which helped her better understand the children.

Overall, teachers are experiencing less conflict in their classrooms, with children more engaged in positive play and learning.Our favorite Cohort 1 success story came from Edna, a very reluctant participant in Learning Session 1. She sat with arms crossed, looking unhappy to be at the session at all. During her early coaching sessions, she remained distant. Slowly, we saw a transformation begin: Edna smiled at training and began sharing willingly. As her work with the trainer/coach

went deeper, Edna opened up more and more about her own life, as well as her classroom. By the final session, Edna was smiling and fully engaged. She laughed and shared openly about her transformation as a result of the program. She has transformed her classroom into an emotionally safe space in which both she and the children are thriving.

Child Care Aware® of Missouri is extremely grateful for lead gift support from Emerson Electric and matching gifts from Centene Charitable Foundation and Ameren Corporation Charitable Trust. Without the generous support of these corporate partners, FERGUSON EFFEC+ would not be possible.

We are also grateful for the excellence with which our sub-contracting member agency, Child Care Aware® of Eastern Missouri, a program at the LUME Institute, is executing the learning session and coaching components for this project.

FERGUSON EFFEC+ SUCCESS!

Cindy DehnerDirector of Training

Joyce HoffmanAccounting Specialist

Sue KudaResource Specialist

Beth Ann LangChief of Quality Improvement/ T.E.A.C.H MISSOURI Scholarship Director

Shelly LockDirector of Program Services

Jonni McCaslinNetwork Training Coordinator

Penny MosherAssistant Director of T.E.A.C.H MISSOURI

Misty O’KeefeChief Operating Officer

Jessica RoseDirector of Wellness Initiatives

Emily SimsResource Specialist

statenetwork

staff

Do you shop at Amazon.com? Of course you do! Doesn’t everyone?

Did you know that your purchases at Amazon could be earning Child Care Aware® of Missouri donations at no cost to you? Find out more information at our website, http://mo.childcareaware.org/donate/amazon-smile-make-us-your-choice/. Using Amazon Smile earns our agency 0.5% of whatever you purchase, at no cost to you! This even works if you use Amazon Prime.

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“Embrace the change, no matter what it is; once you do, you can learn about the new world you’re in and take advantage of it.”

NIKKI GIOVANNI AMERICAN POET, ACTIVIST, AND EDUCATOR

It’s the start of another year for all of us, the start of a new president’s term for the country, the start of a new governor’s term in our state. As in any new year, so much is dawning and emerging, and Child Care Aware® of Missouri is no exception!

We, too, have a new leader “in charge,” as Julia Reinbold steps into the role of Chair on our Board of Directors. The board has benefitted from Julia’s expertise in finance, accounting, and business analysis, as a member of our Fiscal/Audit Oversight Committee. An MBA with vast experience working as a financial leader for fast-paced, multi-billion dollar Express Scripts, Julia has been a trusted partner and advisor to executives on accounting, strategic processes, and financial analysis. We are grateful to have Julia moving into this new volunteer role with our organization and look forward to her tenure!

Two new staff members joined us at the beginning of December, both in our Columbia office. Sherry Davisson is a new resource specialist who will help families looking for child care, and offer online training and other supports for early care and education programs that seek to meet state requirements or improve quality. Sherry comes to us from West Virginia University, where she provided training for families and child care personnel. New Assistant Director of Program Services Kathy Bishop will provide management supports in several areas and oversee many of our communications efforts, including social media and this newsletter. Kathy has worked in child care for many years, most recently working with the Southern Boone YMCA in Ashland.

Let’s follow the advice of American poet, activist, and educator Nikki Giovanni, who said, “Embrace the change, no matter what it is; once you do, you can learn about the new world you’re in and take advantage of it.”

Ready to take advantage of new opportunities and new resources? Here we go!

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At the Age of One SecondLast week at one of our training sessions, the presenter asked the participants to respond to a poll: at what age do children begin to learn? Every single one of these early care and education teachers chose five years of age as the answer. Every single respondent was a “teacher” of children under age five…children who apparently can’t yet learn.

But children are born learning. The human brain is mostly a lot of raw material at birth, waiting for some environmental stimulation to begin its internal wiring process. From birth to age five, 90% of the brain’s development is completed, and that’s a mighty powerful lot of learning going on! Yes, LONG before five, children are actively learning, every moment of every day.

For some children, one or even two years of preschool is too little, too late. Learning from birth, these children’s abilities may have already been stunted by poor quality experiences as infants and toddlers.

Early experiences that are nurturing, active, and gently challenging actually create a brain with more extensive and sophisticated structures, which help determine the child’s intelligence. Responsive, caring interactions help the brain develop fully, while

harsh, rejecting, and rough experiences can literally cause a child with normal genetic intelligence to have a lower IQ.

Now you know the answer, if anyone ever asks you, “At what age do children begin to learn?” The correct answer is, “At the age of one second.”

Online Reporting for CANThe Children’s Division has developed an online reporting system for use by mandated reporters. This system is for non-emergencies only. The online reporting system will allow mandated reporters more flexibility to make a non-emergency report at a time that is convenient for them. The system also allows mandated reporters to avoid wait times sometimes experienced using the 800 number. Please see the attached flyer for more information about how to make a hotline report online. Go to http://dss.mo.gov/cd/can.htm and click on ONLINE MANDATED REPORTING. You will need to create an account and fill in a report with the information you have to report, then submit your report. Your report is immediately uploaded to a secure server and you will receive an email with an assigned call number indicating whether your report meets the definition of child abuse or neglect. Mandated reporters can also continue to call the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline directly, at 1-800-392-3738.

1000 Executive Parkway Drive, Suite 103St. Louis, MO 63141-6369800-200-9017 • www.mo.childcareaware.org

FUNDING PROVIDED BY THE MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, CHILDREN’S DIVISION, EARLY CHILDHOOD AND PREVENTION SERVICES SECTION AND OTHER FUNDING SOURCES.

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