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More than 140 early childhood educators from almost forty local childcare centers spent a recent Saturday exploring Big Ideas for Early Mathematics in Childcare Resources’ third professional development workshop of the 2018-2019 school year, funded by Indian River County’s Children’s Services Advisory Committee. In the workshop, Lisa Ginet, Ed. D, and Joanna Skourletos, M.S. Ed, both of the Early Math Collaborative at Chicago’s Erikson Institute, teachers explored how young children develop the skills that lead to math readiness and discussed how they as preschool teachers can support that skill development. Beginning at birth, children learn precursor concepts, such as identifying patterns and how to compare objects, that build a foundation for mathematical thinking. Educators reexamined even basic skills like counting as Ms. Ginet asked ”What part of that is a rote skill? And what part of that is mathematical understanding? And how do those come together?” Starting around three years of age, children learn and strengthen key math concepts like counting and measurement that provide a basis for life-long learning. Ms. Skourletos reinforced the idea that preschool teachers can set the stage for a lifetime of success in math, noting how educators “build on the foundation of understanding in our youngest mathematicians.” During the workshop, twenty-two childcare center directors with a combined 533 years of early childhood education experience participated in a networking luncheon. In addition to workshops, Childcare Resources provides a number of educational and networking opportunities to early childhood professionals in Indian River County, including teacher and director credentialing, one-on-one coaching, and short-term communities of practice. Childcare Resources of Indian River, a partner agency of the United Way of Indian River County and Indian River County Children’s Services Advisory Committee, elevates and promotes the highest quality early childhood development and education in Indian River County, focusing on economically challenged children and families. To learn more about Childcare Resources, visit ChildcareResourcesIR.org or call 772-567-3202

It was a night of connections and reconnections as a mix of friends old and new gathered to toast the silver anniversary of Childcare Resources of Indian River and to celebrate twenty-five years of high-quality early education in Indian River County. Childcare Resources, founded in 1994 by Sandy Kahle, Kathy Marshall, and Sherry Waddell, works to elevate and support early childhood education throughout Indian River County by providing children with affordable high-quality education, providing families with support resources, and providing early educators with training opportunities. “Childcare Resources was there for emotional support, financial support,” said Tom Patrick, a single father who, in 1995, enrolled his son Dominic in the program. “I could try to parent to the best of my ability.” The four-year-old class from the Childcare Resources School got the celebration underway with a performance of school songs. Following the students’ performance, County Commissioner Peter O’Bryan presented a proclamation celebrating the organization’s anniversary. In addition to discussing the organization’s accomplishments over the past year, Susan Donovan, newly-elected President of the Childcare Resources Board of Directors, recognized those in attendance that brought the organization to where it is presently: members of the organization’s original Board of Directors, additional Board members from throughout the organization’s history, long-term supporters, and directors of local childcare centers that have partnered with Childcare Resources. “Twenty-five years later, we are proud to have maintained our ongoing partnership, which has allowed several hundred children the opportunity to attend our preschool,” said Stephanie Squires, Director of Community Preschool. “Many of those children are now grown adults in the community who are police officers, physicians, attorneys, and more.” The Board of Directors also welcomed six new members: Carrie Adams, Brian Baker, Ginny Glazer, Jennifer Peshke, Tracy Sorzano, and Karla Spooner. They join the thirteen current Board members in guiding Childcare Resources in its mission to elevate and promote the highest quality early education in Indian River County, focusing on economically challenged children and families. Following the program, the celebration continued with a cocktail party. Attendees explored the Childcare Resources School and discovered the values of courage, compassion, resilience, integrity, and relationships that guide the organization. “One of the main missions of Childcare Resources was to have quality preschool,” said Mrs. Waddell. “The exciting thing in the present, twenty-five years later, is that these standards are still being met.”

Childcare Resources of Indian River recently welcomed more than one hundred supporters to celebrate the graduation of sixteen students of the Credentialing Program for Early Educators. The Credentialing Program allows an educator to earn a Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) in sixteen weeks through a partnership with Indian River State College. Typically, the FCCPC may take an educator up to two years to earn. Commencement speaker Donna Rivett, Indian River State College Dean of Industrial Education, congratulated the graduates on their accomplishment, noting that, for many of the educators, earning an FCCPC will mark the beginning of their journey as teachers, not the end. Graduate Megan Thomas, a local infant teacher, agreed, saying “I’m thankful for both this program and the opportunity to better myself as a teacher.” Childcare Resources’ Credentialing Program was established through an Impact 100 grant award in April 2017 that funded three semesters of the program. In those semesters, forty local early childhood educators earned an FCCPC and­­ graduated from the program. “The Impact 100 grant and the Credentialing Program have provided these students the opportunity to grow personally and professionally,” noted Indian River State College Adjunct Instructor of Statewide Child Care Training Karen Cartwright, “The students actively participated in learning experiences with the instructors and also learned from the expertise of one another.” A fourth semester of the Credentialing Program is slated to begin in January 2019.

On a recent Saturday, early childhood educators from more than forty child development centers throughout Indian River County gathered to connect, to commit, and to learn about Conscious Discipline and resiliency in a workshop presented by Childcare Resources of Indian River. In ‘Planting the Seeds of Resilience, One Interaction at a Time,’ Conscious Discipline Certified Instructor Mandy Lloyd demonstrated how Conscious Discipline-based interactions with students enable children to build self-regulation skills and resiliency. The workshop, the fifth Conscious-Discipline based workshop presented by Childcare Resources since 2015, was attended by close to 150 local early childhood educators. In a March 2017 study, the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that classrooms that used Conscious Discipline, a classroom management program based in social-emotional learning, saw reductions in aggression, hyperactivity, and other behavioral issues. In addition to Saturday workshops, Childcare Resources offers local early educators the opportunity to work with coaches to further their understanding and implementation of Conscious Discipline concepts. Trained in the method, coaches work one-on-one with teachers in their own classrooms to model techniques and provide feedback on implementation. “The early education coaches have been so important in helping our teachers use the concepts they learn about in each workshop,” said Tara Beard, Childcare Resources School Director. “Between the workshops and the follow-up assistance available through the coaching program, our school has made great progress towards our goal of model Conscious Discipline classrooms.” Childcare Resources workshops are funded through a grant from Indian River County’s Children’s Services Advisory Committee.

More than two dozen local early childhood educators have earned a Florida Child Care Professional Credential (FCCPC) through Childcare Resources of Indian River’s Credentialing Program, established in 2017 through an Impact 100 grant. In an effort to continue elevating early education throughout the county, the Credentialing Program has partnered with Literacy Services of Indian River County to ensure that all Credentialing Program students are prepared to be successful in their FCCPC coursework. In Indian River County, where 13.5% of households use a primary language other than English, many students require additional assistance with English fluency and comprehension. “We are proud to partner with Childcare Resources to offer tutoring services to childcare providers,” said Jessica Schmitt, Executive Director for Literacy Services of Indian River County. “Empowering them to communicate with parents and read to the children sets everyone up for success!” Small groups of prospective Credentialing Program students that are identified as needing some additional assistance in English fluency meet regularly at their childcare centers with Literacy Services facilitators. After passing the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), students are able to enroll in the Credentialing Program and maintain their close-knit group. Beyond passing the TOEFL and earning the FCCPC, educators see incredible results in daily life. Preschool teachers in the program are more confident in speaking and reading with their students as well as communicating with parents and colleagues. “The opportunity that volunteers from Literacy Services has provided for my Spanish-speaking staff to learn English is life changing!” said Lenora Quimby, director of For Kids Only of Vero Beach. “These ladies now will have the chance to participate in the Credentialing Program at Childcare Resources, thereby improving the services they provide to children in the classroom and increasing their weekly wages. A win-win for them and for the children we serve.” The Childcare Resources Credentialing Program allows early educators in Indian River County the opportunity to earn an FCCPC staff credential, a process that can take up to two years, in just one semester. Educators from more than twenty childcare centers throughout the county have participated in the program.

Childcare Resources’ recent summer literacy program was anything but ‘fishy’! Students explored and celebrated “Only One You,” written and illustrated by Linda Kranz. Throughout the book, Adri the young fish learns wisdom from his parents: “No matter how you look at it, there is so much to discover.” Students at the Childcare Resources School discovered that wisdom along with Adri. After classroom reading, students from three years old through five years old created their own fish through art projects, then made and enjoyed gelatin fish bowls. Students also received their own copies of the book to continue the celebration at home with their families. Childcare Resources’ literacy program was established last year through a summer program funded by the United Way of Indian River County. “As part of our Education Impact area, we have made supporting summer literacy initiatives a priority,” said United Way of Indian River County’s Chief Operating Officer Meredith Egan. “United Way of Indian River County is thrilled to invest in Childcare Resources’ summer literacy program to ensure that more children are exposed to reading and enrichment opportunities over the summer months, fostering their success in school and in life!” The literacy program works to fight ‘summer slide,’ where children may lose academic skills throughout the summer. According to the National Summer Learning Association, children can lose up to three months of both math and literacy skills during the summer months. Children who experience multiple summer slides may end up three years behind their peers as early as fifth grade. “Our students get so excited for these literacy celebrations,” said teacher Marie Heaton. “It’s wonderful to watch them learn not only how to read, but to love reading.”

Educators stretched their bodies and their minds in a recent Childcare Resources professional development workshop. This unique half-day session, presented by Childcare Resources in partnership with Kindergarten Readiness Collaborative, featured both yoga and early literacy and language resources. Yoga instructor Ashleigh Whitfield kicked the session off by leading participants through a relaxing one-hour warmup. After a short break, educators came back together to learn about language nutrition in young children through the Talk With Me Baby campaign. Talk With Me Baby, presented by Jennifer Faber, Director of Grade Level Reading at the Florida Children’s Council, is a collaborative effort aimed at nurturing language and brain development in early childhood. The campaign provides parents and educators with free tools, resources and strategies to help infants and young children develop the cognitive skills needed to read proficiently by third grade. ”The single strongest predictor of future academic success is the quantity and quality of words spoken to a child in the first three years,” said Mrs. Faber. She continued, “Just like you need to feed a child to nourish them, their health and their growth, you need to nourish them with language and with words.”

More than 125 educators representing 30 local child development centers explored fun activities that promote fine motor skill development in an interactive workshop presented by Childcare Resources of Indian River with funding provided by Indian River County Children’s Services Advisory Committee. ‘Write Out of the Box,’ featuring registered occupational therapist Dr. Marianne Gibbs, introduced easy and entertaining activities that promote handwriting readiness in young children. Handwriting readiness, a critical component of reading skills and overall school success, begins early, with children as young as two years old already beginning to try to write. “Building fine motor skills is one of the biggest challenges a teacher faces,” said Childcare Resources Wellness Coordinator Tracey Griffis, RN, BSN. “This workshop was able to give educators creative and practical approaches. I love that everyone was able to walk away with strategies and manipulatives to immediately implement these methods in the classroom.”

Childcare Resources of Indian River joined in a national celebration of early learning involving students, teachers and families. The Week of the Young Child, established in 1971 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, is a week-long event recognizing early childhood needs and opportunities across the country. Designed to showcase the many unique ways in which young children learn, Childcare Resources celebrated the week with a wide variety of activities. At the Childcare Resources School, the week kicked off with a parent meeting celebrating and encouraging literacy, featuring The Learning Alliance’s Arts/Literacy Educator Bridget Lyons. Program parents explored how to build connections through reading with their child using favorite children’s book Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram. Following the meeting, parents toured the Moonshot Moment Reading Rocket. Throughout the week, children at the Childcare Resources School explored different activities like Bubble Day and Messy Art Day. Additionally, supporters from across Indian River County volunteered their time to read in Childcare Resources classrooms each day. These community readers included Kindergarten Readiness Collaborative’s Dr. Nivea Torres, Florida State Representative Erin Grall, Florida State Senator Debbie Mayfield, United Way of Indian River County’s Meredith Egan, and Vero Beach Chief of Police David Currey. Families were also able to purchase books at a book fair set up in the school. The week wrapped up with a special literacy project, Breakfast with a Book. Children and their parents read Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond’s New York Times bestsellers If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Pig a Pancake before doing a fun project and sharing muffins and pancakes for breakfast. “This is a really fun way to get our students excited about reading and other activities,” said Tara Beard, Childcare Resources School Director. “I love seeing our parents and community leaders get so involved in what our school does.”

The Childcare Resources of Indian River School again achieved its accreditation with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). NAEYC accreditation is a voluntary process by which high quality preschools are independently assessed according to national standards in ten areas that support social, emotional, language, physical, and cognitive development in young children. Of the approximately 6,200 licensed childcare centers in Florida, only 7% currently hold a NAEYC accreditation. As NAEYC standards encompass all aspects of the program and are based on research into early childhood development and the education of young children, accreditation represents the highest mark of quality in a preschool. “Our program has demonstrated that we provide a safe and healthy environment for children, have teachers who are well trained, have access to excellent teaching materials, and work with a curriculum that is appropriately challenging and developmentally sound,” said Kathy Marshall, Childcare Resources Program Specialist. “Using NAEYC tools and materials, we continuously improve our program to provide the best possible educational opportunity for children and their families.” The Childcare Resources School opened in 2009 and earned its first NAEYC accreditation in 2013. NAEYC accreditation is valid for five years, in which Childcare Resources will continue to provide the highest quality care to children of working families in Indian River County.