Community Coordinated Child Care » Child Care Providers

100 days of School

Kerri Baxter — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:29:16 +0000

In most school systems, the 100th day of school occurs during January. This can be a reason to celebrate for teachers and children alike. It’s fairly common to think of January being the beginning of the end of the school year. Some children and teachers even begin counting how many days left. So, when you make snowflakes for an art activity, why not add 100th activities, as well. Kids can use cheerios to glue on papers, make funny looking faces out of the number 100 by adding hair, glasses, nose, mouth. Have each child bring in a picture of their favorite thing and see if they can make them add up to 100. Counting beads is a good activity and making necklaces with 100 Cheerios, Fruit Loops, pieces of pasta helps develop fine motor skills. You may have many, many more ways to celebrate the 100th day of the school year. Just remember to have fun! Children learn by playing!!

Pat

Come be a part of the largest rally for kids in Kentucky!

Kerri Baxter — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:27:30 +0000

Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol is the opportunity to show legislators that Kentucky cares about its children and youth, and talk with them about the most pressing issues Kentucky’s kids are facing today. Join us for the 8th Annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol on Thursday, February 16, 2012. Any and all are welcome to take a stand and raise their voice. Elected officials, social workers, teachers, law enforcement officers, judges, doctors, public health experts, therapists, members of the military, seniors, and kids will all come together to rally on children’s issues at the Capitol Rotunda and talk to legislators about the Blueprint for Kentucky’s Children agenda.

Holiday Safety Tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics

Kerri Baxter — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:46:07 +0000

The holidays are an exciting time of year for children, and to help ensure they have a safe holiday season, here are some tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Read more.

PNC Pledges Additional $250 Million to Grow Up Great

Robin Schotter — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:16:18 +0000

PNC Financial Services Group has announced a ten-year, $250 million extension of its Grow Up Great early childhood education initiative (http://www.pncgrowupgreat.com), which has benefited more than a million children since its launch in 2004 and has awarded $40 million in grants to date through the PNC Foundation.

As part of its re-commitment to the effort, PNC also announced a $7 million expansion of its preschool science initiative, which was launched in 2009. The competitive grant program will fund regional science centers and nonprofit organizations that give children opportunities for inquiry-based science learning and experience-related activities that are both educational and fun.

4-C, in conjunction with the Louisville Science Center, is now in its third year collaborating a local effort under the PNC Grow Up Great with Science initiative and is working with four partnering early childhood facilities (California Area Family Development Center, St. Benedict Center for Early Childhood Education, Friends School and Dawson Orman Education Center) to embed science exploration in their daily programming through professional development trainings, resources, parent education, science festivals and technical assistance classroom visits from an early childhood specialist.

Professional Development Science Trainings developed under this initiative are now available to any child care provider as a part of the regular 4-C training calendar including Face to Face Trainings, Independent Study Modules and On-Site Trainings tailored for each facility. For more information on how you can incorporate science into your program, type “science” into the search engine on the left to read our latest Science Blog or contact Robin Schotter, Early Childhood Science Specialist at robin-schotter@4cforkids.com.

Training Opportunities Sponsored by the Jefferson County Community Early Childhood Council

Robin Schotter — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:26:19 +0000

The Jefferson County Community Early Childhood Council will be sponsoring a series of 3-hour trainings at 4-C in order to bring them to you for a low cost of $10 per participant per training!

You can register for these trainings online (click above on “Register for Training”) or by clicking on this link (Training Opportunities sponsored by the Early Childhood Council) to print the flier and registration form. Space is limited and preregistration is required.

Training 1: Ages and Stages Training for Providers: An introduction to user-friendly birth to five developmental screening

Fall Dates: October 4 1:00-4:00PM

November 15 1:00-4:00PM

Training 2: Children Don’t Come with a Road map: Utilizing the GPS Field Guide to the Kentucky Early Childhood Standards

Fall Dates: Ages Birth to Three October 13 6:00-9:00PM

Ages Three and Four November 3 6:00-9:00PM

These trainings will be offered again in the spring. Centers that participate in an Ages & Stages training may be eligible for a free Ages & Stages screening tool.

Ready or Not

Kerri Baxter — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 11:50:34 +0000

A recent study by Applied Survey Research links poor 3^rd grade math and language test scores to high absenteeism in kindergarten and 1^st grade. The findings suggest that frequent absenteeism (more than 6/year) may erase a child’s readiness for school. Read the article…

Baby Talk:a lecture series for parents and caregivers

Robin Schotter — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:16:03 +0000

The Louisville Science Center is offering a series of free events called Baby Talk that will run from September through December. These discussions are for parents, grandparents and caregivers on the growth and development of young children. Topics range from nutrition and tips on how to make your own baby food to the importance of mental and physical exercise to “Baby Boot Camp.” Click the link for More Information …

Great Trade In Event

Kerri Baxter — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 12:33:31 +0000

The “Great Trade-In” Event at Babies“R”Us and Toys“R”Us Stores Nationwide

From Friday, August 26 through Sunday, September 18, Babies“R”Us and Toys“R”Us stores nationwide are holding the “Great Trade-In” event, urging customers to trade-in any used cribs, car seats, bassinets, strollers, travel systems, play yards, high chairs, walkers, swings, bouncers, entertainers or kids’ beds in exchange for a 25% SAVINGS on the purchase of any new baby item, in any of these product categories, from select manufacturers.

The “Great Trade-In” event is a national safety program designed to draw attention to the fact that certain used baby products, like cribs and car seats, can carry potential hazards, but are still in circulation and are not the best candidates to be handed down or resold. Beyond recalls, certain older and used baby items can be potentially unsafe for a variety of reasons, including damage or lack of compliance with recent advances in product safety standards, including new crib standards that took effect on June 28, 2011, which prohibit the manufacture or sale of drop-side cribs and require significant improvements in quality standards and testing.

Since introducing the “Great Trade-In” event in September 2009, nearly half a million potentially unsafe cribs, car seats and other baby products – most of which were in extremely poor condition – have been turned in at “R” Us stores across the country.

Customers can visit their local Babies“R”Us or Toys“R”Us store to trade-in used cribs or baby products. Day care centers or other organizations that wish to exchange items in bulk are encouraged to contact their local Babies“R”Us or Toys“R”Us store prior to returning their used items to ensure adequate availability of new merchandise.

For more information on the “Great Trade-In” event, including a list of participating manufacturers, please click here. For additional information on Toys“R”Us, Inc. safety initiatives, tips to keep kids safe and to sign up to receive e-mail notifications about product recalls visit www.Toysrus.com/Safety .

What is your Child Care Message?

Kerri Baxter — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:23:29 +0000

4-C has meetings scheduled next week in Washington DC to speak to Kentucky Senators and Representatives. We will be advocating on behalf of child care and we need to hear from you. What message would you like for us to deliver for you?

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Robin Schotter — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:57:43 +0000

The Great Backyard Bird Count begins this Friday. What a perfect way to observe nature with your kids and participate in a national science project. Just last week, I noticed a huge number of American Robins in my backyard. There were hundreds of them, many more than I usually see, so I researched online to find that many robins migrate. While some may stay in an area all winter long, most move in flocks place to place to find tree and shrub berries that ripen in late winter.

Science is that simple with children. I observed something in nature, had a question about it and looked for the answer. Answers can come from many different sources. Check a book out of the library or keep watching those birds to see if you can come up with your own answers. The important thing is to keep watching nature with your children and talking to them about what they see. With spring coming, the animals outside are all busy getting ready, and the plants are starting to awaken. I just saw my first flower yesterday!

How can I participate? All you have to do is identify and count the birds in your backyard over a 15 minute time period and log them into the website (www.birdsource.org/gbbc). Details, instructions and bird activity ideas can also be found on the website.

Why does it help scientists for us to count birds? Birds move over vast areas and can do so with great speed. This makes tracking them difficult for a small group of scientists, but if they have help of people across the USA, they have more data to work with and can gain an understanding of our bird populations. This bird count is done every year, so data can be compared year to year to study the effects of weather, diseases, migration patterns and timing, as well as how populations in rural areas compare to suburban areas.