PNC Pledges Additional $250 Million to Grow Up Great

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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.

Parenting on the Go

Check out the free Parenting Ages and Stages App for Smart Phones. It is by the folks at Parenting magazine and it is very cool. You can download your child’s age and receive messages that are customized to your child’s age and stage of development. It has great topics like how to tell if your kid is gifted and how to tell if your baby is left or right handed before they are born! Topics cover issues from pre-natal to the school years.  I particularly liked the “5 Big-Kid Discipline Dilemmas –Solved”.

The 7th Annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol

Join us for the 7th Annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol on February 17, 2011. Doctors, teachers, public health experts, elected officials, members of the military, seniors, and kids will all be coming together to tell legislators that it’s time to invest in Kentucky’s youth!

Register for Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol today!

Where: The Capitol Rotunda, Frankfort, KY

When: Thursday, February 17, 2011

Check-in/ Registration begins at 9:00 a.m. EDT on the second floor.

Rally begins at 10:00 a.m. EDT in the Rotunda.

Cost: Free 

 Questions? Contact Whitney Neal at wneal@kyyouth.org  or 502-895-8167 x 121.

Crumb Rubber Grants Available for Athletic Fields, Playgrounds and More

Application deadline is January 31, 2011

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet is accepting grant proposals for projects that promote the use of recycled waste tires for athletic fields, playgrounds and other crumb rubber applications. 

To a limited degree, the Cabinet will also consider funding research and development proposals for experimental practices or technologies that further the statutory purposes of the waste tire program: to protect human health, safety, and the environment, or that will help develop a market for Kentucky waste tires.

Available funding for this grant cycle is $300,000 and applications are due by close of business on January 31, 2011.

For more information contact Lisa Evans at 502-564-6716. The grant application is available online on the division’s website*.    

Grant funding comes from the Waste Tire Trust Fund, which was established by the 1998 Kentucky General Assembly to receive fees collected from the sale of new tires.