Landauer hosted their 2^nd annual Father & Daughter/Son Dance on February 9, 2012.

At first glance, you might think this was a typical Valentine’s party. After all, the room was decorated with brightly colored decorations, and the fun music was blaring. Not to mention, everyone came looking their best, and the dinner was delicious.

But this dance was yet another way ChildCareGroup’s Landauer Center is investing in the futures of the children who attend preschool there…by teaching them manners!

“The dance was designed to help fathers demonstrate the proper way males are to interact with females in a formal setting,” said Tonjia Grimble, Center Manager at Landauer. “Fathers were encouraged to extend their hands to ask their daughters to dance, and the fathers taught their boys how to ask a girl to dance.”

There was even a special treat for the mothers who attended the dance!

“At the end of the event, both the fathers and boys attending presented their daughters and mothers a single rose to say ‘I love you’” Tonjia continued. ”The looks on their faces were priceless!”

 Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

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“For infants and toddlers, learning unfolds in many settings, including the home, child care centers, and Early Head Start. High-quality care that promotes positive early learning can have lasting effects into adulthood, particularly for low-income children who often start school behind their peers…”

READ THE FULL REPORT HERE

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Thank you to ZERO TO THREE for making this information available!

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For the past few weeks, children at MLK have been learning about “Our Community”.

Recently, we created a community restaurant in the classroom, allowing children to take turns playing the “customer” and the “cashier”.

Participating in this activity enhanced many of their basic skills. For example, when a child played the “cashier” and took orders from other children, it helped them practice writing skills and communication as well as identifying words.

In addition, When the child playing the “customer” paid for their meal, they practiced identify numbers, counting, identify money and purpose of dialog (ex. requesting, making orders, manners, etc.).  

The children learned how restaurants operate, while enhancing their math and reading skills. They also had A LOT of fun in the process!

THANKS FOR SHARING, JOY!
and
THANKS TO OUR TEACHERS AT MLK!

In 2011, new training laws went into effect, which increased the number of required training hours. ChildCareGroup is qualified and equipped to provide training opportunities and help providers meet these new requirements. See summary of Bill 260 below.

Employees, directors and primary caregivers hired beginning September 1, 2011, must meet the new training requirements:

• Owners and Operators of Registered or Licensed Child Care Homes: 30 hours per year
• Directors of Licensed Child Care Centers: 30 hours per year
• Caregivers working in any type of regulated facility: 24 hours per year
• New employees of all regulated facilities: 8 hours of training prior to caring for children, plus an additional 16 hours within the first 90 days of employment, plus as an additional 24 hours of on-going training during their first year 

Please CLICK HERE for complete information, as some of the bills may impact your specific type of program while others may not. The document includes a brief summary of each bill as well as information about complying with the new requirements. 

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Our Training Department will meet this need through:

• Monthly Training Classes:
  Visit our training website to view our monthly selection of training classes, including pre-service.
• Mini Training Conferences:
  NEW! We will offer 2 mini-conferences in 2012 to help providers earn training hours. Save the Date: The first mini-conference will be held on March 10, 2012.
• Summer Sizzler Training Conference:
  Save the Date for our 9th annual Summer Sizzler Conference on August 18, 2012. Providers can earn up to 7 clock hours of training while visiting with exhibitors and networking with other early childhood professionals.

In addition, we offer:
CPR and First Aid; Transportation Safety; Customized, on-site training designed just for you to meet your specific program needs; Comprehensive financial training for your small business; Emergency Preparedness Training

www.ChildCareGroup.org/Training

The first national survey of child care supply and demand since 1990 is now being conducted on behalf of the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

Data from this survey will improve our knowledge of the use and availability of early care and education in our country and will be used to inform policy. Participants are now being randomly selected in the DFW area and contacted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC).   All data collected will remain anonymous.   

We urge providers to complete the survey if you are contacted and contribute to this important effort so the results will be accurate and representative of our area. 

For more information about the survey please view their website. 

Thank you for your help as we work to strengthen the early childhood community and give the children of DFW a great start in life!

2011 marked ChildCareGroup’s 110^th year in existence – what an impressive distinction!  It was a year of changes and challenges, but also one filled with great achievements. I am pleased with all that we accomplished in 2011 and would like to share a few highlights with you.

Here are just a few of our accomplishments from 2011:

We operated four Head Start and four Early Head Start programs at seven early care and education centers.  Through these programs we are able to serve 595 children and their families each day, with a total of 770 children served over the course of the year.

We began a collaboration with Bryan’s House, where we serve 32 children with funding from Early Head Start. Through our work with Bryan’s House and the Low Birth Weight Development Center, we are able to serve children with special medical needs, and their siblings.

Through our CCA contract administration program, we served approximately 24,000 children in Dallas County, and 3,000 children in Southeast Texas.

During my short time here at ChildCareGroup, I have been so impressed with the commitment and dedication of our CCG employees, from our senior leadership team to all our caregivers and teachers. Our employees are the heart of our ChildCareGroup and they represent us well. I would also like to thank our Board of Trustees, in particular our outgoing Board Chair, Betsy Edmondson, for their leadership and service to ChildCareGroup this year.

As we start off 2012 and our 111^th year of service, I have a big vision for ChildCareGroup! With our Mayor’s focus on education reform “from Cradle to Career” and the ongoing Commit! initiative, this is an exciting time for early childhood education in Dallas. All children, regardless of income or background, deserve a great beginning in life, and we are working to provide excellent care and education, so that all children enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.

I intend to lead ChildCareGroup into its 111^th year – and beyond – with purpose and passion. But to accomplish our goals for 2012 we will need your help!  I am grateful to our staff, community partners and volunteers, and to each of our Trustees for the knowledge and expertise that you bring to ChildCareGroup. 

There are so many ways you can help us as a donor, an advocate or a volunteer. Please stay engaged with us, and help us serve even more children and families in the coming year.

Tori Mannes, President/CEO
ChildCareGroup

(From left to right, Betsy Edmondson, Tori Mannes, Lori Carey, Wendy Ogren and Gail Surles at the United Way awards presentation.)

Lori Carey, representing ChildCareGroup, received the “Top Speaker” award for the highest number of United Way presentations delivered, highlighting the impact of United Ways partnership on the at-risk children and families we serve.

Additionally, ChildCareGroup was recognized as an “Outstanding Supporter” for overall participation in “Days of Caring”, speaking engagements, facility tours and information fairs. CLICK HERE to view “Days of Caring” hosted at our Centers.

ChildCareGroup is proud to be a United Way service provider.

Through a proven small business training curriculum developed by the Kauffman Foundation specifically for child care businesses, we have equipped more than 450 participants with improved skills to enhance and grow their businesses since the program’s inception. 

During the Small Business Success course, participants attend seven 4-hour training sessions providing them with 28 clock hours of business specific topics including:

• Writing a Business Plan
• Pricing and Profitability
• Financial Management
• Banking for Small Businesses
• Marketing and Advertising
• Writing a Parent Handbook
• Evaluating the Competitive Marketplace

Here is what participants had to say:

“I loved each of the trainers.  Providing free trainings to the child care workforce is imperative to the improvement of quality child care in our community.  Thank you!”

“This is a great program.  I know training in this area of child care is often put aside for new providers starting a business.  This class shows how important the process is to a profitable business.”

“This was really an awesome class, very informative and helpful.  There were a lot of suggestions we walked away with.  This was not just a way to get [required training] hours but it taught us how to start and be successful in our business.”  

“This is a wonderful educational tool.  I have learned so much.  I feel confident in expanding my business.”

“This class was excellent and informative.  Thanks for allowing me to be a part of this training.  I learned a lot.”

“I believe that this program is excellent and is needed for those engaged in child care.  Your service is priceless.”

THANK YOU CITI COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT!

Everyone had a great time! The volunteers did snowman crafts with the children, read favorite books and sang silly songs (with hand motions, of course!).  Take a moment to watch the fun-filled slideshow below.

Click to view slideshow.

THANK YOU TEXAS INSTRUMENTS!

Dallas Morning News
Thursday, January 19, 2012
by Steve Blow

“In its place, Wright would like to see that money spent at the other end of the process — on early childhood education, particularly for low-income and limited-English children. “You can accomplish so much more there,” he said.

A middle-class child starts first grade with a spoken vocabulary of 2,000 to 4,000 words, but a child born into poverty may have only 400 words. And he said that’s a deficit that schools almost never overcome.

Wright believes the only solution is to start sooner with those children, at age 3. And it could be done economically because you wouldn’t have to use degreed teachers.

Research shows that child care providers with proper training are fully capable of offering the academic foundation that children need, he said.”

To read the full article, click here.