Weekly Update November 11, 2011

Business Expo TC

Child Care Connections shared a booth with our Great Start partners, the Traverse Bay/Manistee GS Collaborative and the Parent Coalition. There were approximately 140  businesses showcased to more than 1,100 attendees. We had wonderful opportunities to talk about the Great Start System. At times we enjoyed sharing information about the Collaborative and Parent Coalition while our partners were sharing information about our work as the Regional Resource Center.

 We are participating in this downtown TC event Saturday, November 12. By indicating that you wish to support our agency, 15% of every purchase made at participating stores will be donated to us. Get a jump start on your holiday shopping!

Child Care Connections New Web Site is Launched!

We are pleased to announce that our new web site has been launched. Thanks to Kathy Stone, our Operations Manager, for shepherding this project to completion. The web site will soon feature a Google calendar that allows us to promote all regional training opportunities. Please feel free to give us your feedback as you use the new site.

www.childcarenwmi.com

Career Skills Connection

Career Skills Connection is a project we launched this summer via a contract with the Council of Governments. This project is designed to be an impactful means of educating
child care providers and the broader community on the long term significance of providing high quality early childhood care and education. The project consists of a series of eight videos, each based on a Career Skill for the New Economy and the corresponding Early Learning Standard. Each video showcases the development of a specific skill in an early childhood setting, juxtaposed with the use of that skill in the workplace.

The Career Skills for the New Economy were developed regionally by MI Works and the Northwest Michigan Workforce Development Board. This goal of this advocacy effort is to clearly illustrate the link between early learning and eventual career success.

This video series will be used to raise public awareness in a variety of ways including trainings offered through the resource center and joint advocacy efforts of the Great Start Regional Resource Center with the Great Start Collaborative. 

We met this week with Mary Manner and Mary Jo Fifarek from the Traverse Bay/Manistee Great Start Collaborative to share information about this project and we will be working
collaboratively with them, as well as other area partners to promote distribution for advocacy work.

Quality Improvement Team Meeting

Child Care Connections meets quarterly with a team of area partners to report on and
discuss the work of the regional resource center. We met this week in Charlevoix. The main topic of discussion this week was the roll out of Great Start to Quality, the Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System.

Great Start to Quality (TQRIS) Update

The regional resource center continues to be in close communication with the Office of Great
Start and ECIC as the TQRIS is implemented. Child Care providers now have access to the Self Assessment System online and we are in the beginning stages of our work to support child care providers engage in this process. We will be offering a series of training sessions in early December to assist providers with the SAS.

Conscious Discipline Series in the News!

Child Care Connections is one of many sponsors for a series of Conscious Discipline Trainings that are being presented regionally. (See below for more information.)The trainings are open to child care providers as well as parents. Lesa Rice, Conscious Discipline Instructor and Mandy Peterson, Great Start Parent Liaison for Char-Em will be interviewed about the training series on TV 7&4 news on Monday, November 14^th. 

Infant and Toddler Lead Caregiver Training

Hillary Lang, our Quality Improvement Specialist began teaching the 45 hour course for lead infant and toddler caregivers. There are 9 participants. The series runs through December 14^th.

Special Needs Training

Hillary Lang, our Quality Improvement Specialist provided training on caring for children with special needs for 21 participants. This training will be offered in December in Boyne City.

Make Me a Star

Make Me a Star groups continue to meet throughout the region and will be used as a key platform for launching training on how to complete the Self Assessment Survey for the
Great Start to Quality Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System.

RIF (Reading is Fundamental) Book Distribution

Paris Philo, Child Care Specialist for Wexford-Missaukee, is collaborating with the local GS Collaborative to distribute RIF books to area child care providers.