Search Results

With creating a School Family we are building connections through a culture of compassion. Coach's Column Amanda Gooch September 1, 2022 I am so excited to start the new school year as the new Early Childhood Education Coach for Childcare Resources of Indian River! I wanted to take the time to introduce myself before we get started. My name is Amanda Gooch and I am an Educator with 14 years of teaching experience. In addition my bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology. I also hold a master’s degree in Teaching from the University of South Florida. I hold my Florida Childcare Professional Credential Certificate and my Educator Certificate from the State of Florida Department of Education.  For those of you that joined us, I hope you all had an incredible day of Conscious Discipline training with Mandy Lloyd this past Saturday. You should have all left feeling ready to start the school year strong. For those of you that weren't able to join us, our training focused on the School Family. With creating a School Family we are building connections through a culture of compassion. We create a positive school climate by eliminating reward and punishment in favor of the safety, connection and problem-solving of a School Family. One of my favorite parts of the training was the implementation of the Safe-Keeper Ritual. Our goal was for children to consciously place their “figures” in the Safe-Keeper container while making a commitment to help keep the classroom a safe place to learn and play.  As your Early Childhood Education Coach I am here to help you start strong with creating a School Family. One of the many benefits of creating a School Family incorporates the motivation to behave from the quality of the relationship. Connection wires the brain for impulse control and willingness. Attempting to disciple without willingness is a chronic power struggle. What are our ingredients for connection? eye contact touch presence playfulness. How do we achieve this connection for Creating a School Family? Face to Face interactions I love you rituals Greetings or good byes Wish you well rituals Friends and Family Board I look forward to following up with each of you who have attended our most recent Conscious Discipline training. Our follow up technical assistance will focus on implementing a Friends and Family Board. I look forward to getting to know each of you as we create a School Family. Wishing you the best, Amanda Gooch Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

Conscious Discipline is a journey and filled with many ‘oops’ moments. The goal is to continue on the path no matter how many curves may come our way. Coach's Column Paulette Maggiacomo May 2, 2022 Did you feel that whoosh of air that blew into Vero Beach on the Saturday, the ninth of April? That was Kim Jackson, Master Instructor from Conscious Discipline who joined over 125 early educators to explore how to implement Conscious Discipline practices in the classroom and to reflect on where each individual educator is on their Conscious Discipline journey. Kim asked us to truly reflect on how we practice Conscious Discipline. Is it done with fidelity? Are we able to: Compose ourselves before we engage with our children? Are we aware of our triggers and are then able to implement the Five Steps to Self-Regulation (I am, I Calm, I Feel, I Choose, I Solve)? Do we suspend judgement and notice using DNA (Describe, Name, Acknowledge)? Do we use MRI (Model, Respond, Instruct)? Most importantly, do we calm ourselves before we approach a child in need? Conscious Discipline is journey and filled with many ‘oops’ moments. The goal is to continue on the path no matter how many curves may come our way. This leads us to the Post Test that you all completed. Let’s look at the three questions that proved the most challenging: Brain Smart Start consists of the following four components: Activity to Unite (morning welcome song), Activity to Disengage Stress (breathing), Activity to Connect (I Love You Ritual), and the Activity to Commit (Safekeeper Routine). Remember that these activities should be incorporated all day long. In order for change and transformation to occur, we must accept the moment as it is and embrace it; this is the prerequisite needed. The Power of Love and Skill of Positive Intent integrate the two hemispheres of the brain so that we can achieve short-term goals. This allows us to see the best in others and create teaching moments when there is conflict. We are very proud of you and thankful for all that you do for the children entrusted into your care! In closing, here is a special message from Kim: Let your light continue to shine brightly. You’ve got this! Wishing you well on your continued journey. Love, Kim Jackson Until next time, I too am wishing you well, Paulette Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

Self-care looks different to each one of us. Coach's Column Paulette Maggiacomo August 20, 2020 This week’s newsletter focuses on the webinar Trauma and Culturally Responsive Self-Care for Early Childhood Educators featuring Julie Kurtz, Julie Nicholson, and Lawanda Wesley. The focus being on you , the educator, and how you can take care of yourself in order to respond to the needs of those around you. The topic of self-care has woven its way into many of the webinars in this year’s Transforming Challenging Behaviors Conference . In a previous newsletter, I wrote about Sandi Phoenix and The 5 Phoenix Cups (Safety, Freedom, Mastery, Fun, and Connection ). I hope you visited her website to see which cups are the ones that you need to be filled the most in order for you to be at peace. I also discussed Laura Fish and Mindfulness . One of her main points being that we need to be able to identify what brain zone we are in to successfully deal with children. Finally, Antoinette Taylor asked you if you were willing to put down some of the many plates that you are juggling in order to lower your stress level. So let’s unpack this popular term of self-care and see what it looks like and means to you and what can we can learn from it. This concept has become extremely popular over the last decade in magazines and on social media, suggesting that in order to take care of others, you must first take care of yourself. However, very little thought has been given to different socioeconomic levels, race, and ethnicity. Easy answers such as get a massage, a manicure/pedicure, or take a yoga class are not viable for everyone. Self-care looks different to each one of us. The illustration below is a compilation of over 400 surveys from around the world as to what early educators thought of when they heard the term self-care. So what does self- care look like? Self-care doesn’t need to cost anything or be exciting, it just needs to feel right to you. Suggestions for Individual self-care : Read Take a walk Drink a cup of tea Write in a journal Call a friend or family member Take a nap Eat healthy Daydream Let go of negative thoughts Start a new hobby. Collective Group self-care might look like this: *The suggestions should be in compliance with COVID-19 restrictions of course. Attend church Donate your time or items to a food pantry Cook for your neighbors Join an online book club Shop for those who still cannot go out Make cards for nursing homes Volunteer or advocacy work for a cause you believe strongly in How does our level of self-care affect the children we are in contact with on a daily basis? This is where the concept of “mirror neurons” comes into play. Julie Kurtz shares, “Children borrow our calm to co-regulate themselves. We are the external Wi-Fi for the child’s internal world. So if we are calm, the classroom will be calmer. If we feel regulated, the children will be more regulated and that is the magic of mirror neurons.” How might self-care be incorporated into your child care site? The following flow chart illustrates how a child care center on the East Coast instituted a plan that allows the staff to acknowledge that they have been triggered without letting the children know. This unique idea eliminates shaming the child or children who have triggered the adult. Those of us who chose to be in this wonderful world of early education did so because we have a very high level of compassion. Our super power is helping others but our kryptonite is not helping ourselves . We give and give of ourselves until there is nothing left. This can lead to compassion fatigue , where our body literally breaks down from the various stressors in our lives. This may show up as migraines, tight jaw, digestive issues, and back pain. If you take away only one thing this week, I hope it is that you will treat yourself with the same loving kindness that you extend to others, because you are so deserving of that too! Until next time, I wish you well. Paulette Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

Tracey RN, BSN, Director, Wellness and Early Intervention at Childcare Resources of Indian River Tracey Griffis RN, BSN Director, Wellness and Early Intervention Student Wellness | Mental Health Referrals Joined Childcare Resources in 2017 Contact 772-567-3202 ext. 112 Back

< Back Meet Gladys Local early childhood education center director Gladys Williams has long been committed to furthering her knowledge and education. Attending Childcare Resources’ director networking meetings and professional development workshops, Gladys has worked hard to better serve the children, families, and educators she supports. When she first heard about the Childcare Resources Higher Education Program , it was the clear next step she had been waiting for. “Being a part of the Higher Education Program was an experience of excellence,” says Gladys. “Networking with students gave me strength and encouragement in my craft.” This past spring, Gladys graduated from Indian River State College, having earned her Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education with the help of Higher Education Program staff. Says Gladys, “I am excited to remain involved with the program to further my education and capabilities.” Previous Next

Simple Interactions | Dr. Dana Winters | Fred Rogers Institute Simple Interactions February 11, 2023 Dr. Dana Winters Fred Rogers Institute Handout (PDF) Workshop Photos Back

Childcare Resources of Indian River provides and promotes high-quality early education throughout Indian River County. Childcare Resources. For Families. For Educators. For the Future. Latest News Starfest 2026 Welcomes Major General Mike Hall for a Powerful Celebration of Early Learning Childcare Resources Advances the Early Learning Workforce Through Higher Education Community Generosity Brings Holiday Joy to Childcare Resources Families View More "The first five years have so much to do with how the next eighty turn out." - Bill Gates Now Hiring Apply Today!

Wunderled - Unlock the Power of Play | Sally Haughey | Wunderled Wunderled - Unlock the Power of Play December 9, 2023 Sally Haughey Wunderled Understand your identity and gifts as an early childhood educator Understand brain science research around learning environments Learn to appreciate the small meaninifgul interactions in your work Handout (PDF) Workshop Photos Back

When we are fully present with a child, we are curious about what they are thinking and feeling Coach's Column Paulette Maggiacomo June 25, 2020 Hi everyone, As I was downloading my next virtual conference, I wondered what new tools I was going to add to my toolbox in helping transform challenging behavior. Laura Fish’s talk on Mindfulness, the Brain, and Behavior reinforced tools that I already had. When I think about mindfulness, the words meditation and yoga immediately pop into my head. It turns out that mindfulness is not what I thought it was! Laura uses the phrase uploading our software, which translates into the fact that we are always learning. She believes that using strategies based on brain research helps teachers work smarter not harder. We practice mindfulness when we pay attention on purpose, with love, with compassion, with intent, and without judgment. It is not meditation. When we are fully present with a child, we are curious about what they are thinking and feeling. Imagine looking through that lens when a child is misbehaving. Let’s get off of auto pilot and focus on the child. Laura talks about three zones that the brain can be in: The Red Zone Brain is reacting without thinking Threat detected In fight-or-flight state The Blue Zone Brain is reacting without thinking Threat detected In freeze state The Green Zone Brain is fully integrated Threat can still be detected Using planning, thoughtfulness, reasoning, emotional imbalance, attuned communication Does this sound familiar to you? What other trauma informed social-emotional learning and classroom management philosophy ties in with this? Just like Conscious Discipline, the objective of this method is to raise the child to the upstairs part of the brain – the prefrontal cortex. How do we add to their tool box to help them do this? Laura states there are two ways to do this: Asking open-ended questions can be an excellent alternative to correcting or redirecting. When we ask these questions it activates the upstairs part of the brain and helps the child develop the skills they need. By doing this, the teacher helps build and/or reinforce the connection she has with the child – they become partners. There may be times when a child is simply not in a place to consider open ended questions. When that occurs, Laura says to just be with the child and breathe until he is ready. She talks about Alternate Nostril Breathing. I can’t even begin to explain this technique to you – I simply could not get the hang of it. For more information about it, please Google it. If you do, let me know how it works for you. The second strategy is narrating/broadcasting/parallel talk when you are describing out loud what the child is doing/or what they might be thinking/feeling. (For those of you familiar with CLASS, this indicator is seen in the Language Modeling Domain.) One form of this strategy is Positive Descriptive Acknowledgement – PDA. When using this, the teacher describes the positive behavior that she observes and can at times connect it to a feeling: “Jeffrey and Robert, you are sharing the blocks, you look so happy to be sharing. Now you can build the tower that you talked about.” By doing this, how do you think these PDAs help a child develop a more positive attitude toward themselves, and even be more receptive to working with others? This statement by Laura resonated within me: Praise is like sugar. PDAs are like vegetables. When you say “Good Job” to a child, you are assuming that they know what you are talking about and it gives them a moment of happiness. When you use a PDA, the child knows exactly what they have done and they are acquiring the skill to move into the Green Zone, which is our ultimate goal. Imagine a classroom where children have the skills to stay in this zone! You can do it with the tools in your toolbox. I have faith in you! As I continue to participate in these virtual conferences, I too feel as if I am upgrading my software. I hope that you are too. Until next time, I wish you well. Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

Transition Tips & Tricks plus Totally Math | Dr. Jean Feldman | Transition Tips & Tricks plus Totally Math April 2016 Dr. Jean Feldman Handout (PDF) Workshop Photos Back

Rock, Rhyme, Write, and Read | Dr. Jean Feldman | Rock, Rhyme, Write, and Read January 2016 Dr. Jean Feldman Handout (PDF) Workshop Photos Back

Conscious Discipline: Resilience | Mandy Lloyd | Conscious Discipline Conscious Discipline: Resilience October 2018 Mandy Lloyd Conscious Discipline Handout (PDF) Workshop Photos Back