Happy Thursday! We started our meeting reflecting on a moment or experience that reminds of you why you do what you do. As we sit behind screens it can be difficult to bring that why to focus. Take a moment to reflect on why you work in Early Childhood today.
Here is yesterday’s summary:
NAEYC Virtual Institute- NAEYC’s PLI is going virtual this year and is free. Sign up for it today! https://www.naeyc.org/virtual-institute?mc_cid=e42018bf8b&mc_eid=16e2658841
Article for Parents- This is a great article to encourage parents right now on the lasting effects of the pandemic on children. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/will_the_pandemic_have_a_lasting_impact_on_my_kids
Pima County Health Department Helpful Resources- As always Emily Rebro has shared some great resources in the last few weeks including a Resource List, and a detailed process for reporting COVID at your site. Additionally, it is being recommended to suspend teeth brushing at this time. More information about that HERE.
New Guidance from the CDC- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/index.html
Yale Child Care Study- Please share this study with your staff and other early childhood professionals! TODAY is the DEADLINE! https://azearlychildhood.wufoo.com/forms/rwfpu5j0wayoro/
First Things First Summit- The annual First Things First Summit is going virtual and will be free. Mark your calendar for September 1st! https://summit.firstthingsfirst.org/
Hiring- We had a discussion about hiring and if anyone is having to hire currently. This is currently an issue for some centers and a concern for the future of other centers.
Quality First Conscious Discipline Series- Sign up for the Quality First Conscious Discipline online series on the Registry. More info HERE.
DES Funding- No new updates at this time. The current funding is supposed to go through July.
Quality First Scholarships- No new updates.
Zero to Three Article- A great article about transitioning back to school https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/3413-what-comes-next-back-to-child-care-following-shelter-in-place
Sesame Street Videos- Sesame Street has released some great videos about resilience that might be helpful in talking to children especially as centers open back up. https://www.sesamestreet.org/toolkits/challenges
Arizona Enrichment Center- If you are opening in June/July we encourage you to sign up as an enrichment center. Your staff, first responders, health care workers, food bank employees and grocers can all apply and possibly receive a subsidy for childcare. The process is easy for both centers and parents. https://arizonaenrichmentcenters.az.gov/
Liability Insurance- We did not get to discussing this but I did want to share that our insurance provider did not recommend having people sign waivers due to ‘assumption of risk’ principles. Additionally, they stated to not overstate how clean your center is or the safety of coming back as this may be increasing your liability risk by raising expectations above the assumption-of-risk principle. As always consult your own insurance and attorneys for your center.
Fundraising- April from St. Mark’s shared that she has had great success hosting her usual Spring fundraiser online through Rally Up. You can see their fundraiser HERE.
Water Play Recommendations- HERE are the CDC guidelines to pools and water play.
We will now be meeting every other Wednesday at least through June and see what comes next. The next meeting will be June 10th at 2pm. Links to the next meeting will be in the emails.
Thank you everyone! Have a great rest of your week.