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Many of us remember going to the local county fair, even the state fair, as a child, and it was the highlight of the summer! Remember, I was raised in Iowa. I loved everything to see, the crowds, the food that I never got to eat normally, especially the animals. Pitkin County used to have a fair, but I don’t even remember when that stopped, it was quite a while ago. I do remember however, that one of our sons won the blue ribbon for “watermelon seed spitting – distance”! That was a treasured item for several years. You might still go to the Garfield or Eagle County fair, but for many of us and our children, that is not an experience they’ve shared. What many of us did experience a couple weeks ago was a version of a community picnic with burgers, veggie burgers and hot dogs, and with some fun things for families and kids to do. If you were there – that’s awesome that you braved the rain! If you didn’t make it, maybe next year. What is worth sharing are the resources, and information, and fun ideas that numerous organizations provided. The best thing is they didn’t leave town when the fair was over. These organizations are here year-round, every day and they would love to share their ideas with you. - Aspen Family Connections and Kids First were there, and the focus was wellness, so little kids could match faces with feeling names, make faces in the mirror, or draw a face on a paper plate. By the way, all ideas you can re-create at home. Additionally, we had staff from:
- MindSprings offered mental health resources for people of all ages, some great tips like using a bubble wand to carefully blow bubbles when you need to take some deep breaths.
- Community Health Services offered information about vaccinations and a special visit from the tooth fairy/dental hygienist was offering dental screenings and fluoride varnishes.
- Pitkin County Public Health shared information on all things COVID-19 including resources about the COVID-19 vaccination.
- Aspen Fire Dept brought their truck and information for families on fire safety in the home, who doesn’t want to drive a fire truck for a moment!
- Aspen Police created a child sized obstacle course, a mini-boot camp using hoops, blocks, rungs, and cones.
- Pitkin County Library rode their book bike and showed families some tips and ways to read with their kids.
- Aspen Valley Hospital dieticians encouraged families and kids to make healthy food choices. The fruit shish kabobs were a great example of eating a rainbow of healthy options.
- Environmental Health shared information on air quality, specifically what we can do on the days when wildfire smoke impacts our health. They also separated out regular trash into the compost and recycling bins.
The point is that when you live in a small community, in the mountains, sometimes you have to make your own fun. What do you do in your community to bring people together and find the resources that children and families need? The challenge can be to make sure that people know how to access resources when they need help. The children’s fair was one way to connect, this column is another way. Do you have strong relationships with local organizations that offer services for families? Could you reach out to new parents with a list of things they may need to know, but never thought of until now? Who do you consider to be partners with your program and the families you serve? Would it help families if you could make strong referrals to others in your community? You are such a valuable connection for families, you have expertise and relationships, so let your light shine. You really never know when you might just make someone’s day! Shirley
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Coaching Cornerwith
Megan Monaghan and Adley Kent Celebrating ingenuity!
This spring and summer infant teachers at the ELC used their creativity and desire to improve quality for their students in a completely original way. Iran De L Torre and Ena Perez participated in a pilot program called LENA Grow. LENA focuses on improving a classroom’s language environment. According to LENA’s Inside Early Talk Report, 1 in 5 children spend their days in language isolation. The solution is increasing the quantity and quality of interactions. We know that early language exposure impacts brain development. It can also positively impact IQ, language development, vocabulary, school readiness, literacy as well as long term outcomes.
LENA uses recording devices to capture the amount of language and back and forth interactions each child is experiencing over 11 weeks. A report with hard data is then generated for the teachers and their coach to use for goal setting. Iran and Ena wanted to make sure they were including every child in their classroom when implementing LENA’s strategies. Together with their director Leslie Bixel, they created a system using silicone wrist bands to track each child’s interactions. They wrote the name of each child on a wrist band. The teachers wore the wrist bands on their left arm and as they accomplished their interaction goals with each child throughout the day, they move the bands to the right arm. This ensured that every child was receiving the intentional interactive strategy. One example: the teachers chose to focus on naming objects a child is interested in and commenting on what they are doing. “Look, you have the red car. You’re driving it up the ramp. Now it’s rolling down. Up and down the ramp.” The teachers used the wrist bands to practice specific skills with each child and then move the wrist bands from left to right arms in the morning and again in the afternoon. In this way, the teachers knew they were accomplishing their goal to increase those specific types of interactions. LENA Grow provides Talking Tips, Conversation Starters, and a variety or resources like videos and coaching all aimed at improving the language experiences of children.
Iran and Ena worked hard to succeed in their goals and in the meantime, they invented a new way to track those intentional strategies. The children in their classroom experienced a large increase in interaction and conversational turns which will impact their development for the rest of their lives. Way to go Ena and Iran!
Contact Adley or Megan for information on how your classroom can participate in our LENA Grow Building on the Best Goal.
adley.kent@cityofaspen.com or megan.monaghan@cityofaspen.com
For more information on LENA Grow:
https://www.lena.org/lena-grow/
Inside Early Talk Report:
https://info.lena.org/inside-early-talk
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Autumn, a time for change ...........
As we move into another season, Early Childhood Network is also looking to make changes. I will be retiring as director on Oct. 15th, 2021. My passion has been, and always will be, making the world a better place for young children to thrive in. I feel blessed to have been able to work for an organization that makes this a priority. As I move on, I look forward to exploring other ways to share my passion in the early childhood field, taking more motorcycle trips, hiking, biking, and just being me.
I want to introduce you to Kelly Esch, our new Executive Director for Early Childhood Network. Kelly is an early childhood advocate. She started her career as an early childhood teacher’s assistant in Wisconsin. Her passion grew from there. She worked at that preschool for a few years while attending the University of Wisconsin, earning her degree in early childhood special education. Kelly moved to Colorado at the age of 20, working at Growing Years Preschool in Basalt for several years before becoming the director at Little Red School House in Snowmass Village. In 2017, Early Childhood Network was excited to hire her as a coach, teacher, and program manager.
At home, you can find Kelly spending time with her family. She is a momma to two beautiful boys. Her oldest son is two years old and her youngest is two months old! Being true to her advocacy, she ensured her oldest received the benefits he deserved when she noticed he was behind in speech. With help from her family childcare provider, she was able to get him onto an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and he currently receives speech therapy.
She shares her love of dogs with the boys and has fostered over 20 dogs, on top of the two rescues that are part of their household. All six in the household, Kelly, husband Joe, sons Oliver and Enzo, and dogs Roxy and Casper, enjoy the countless trail systems in our valley and can often be found out on the mountains exploring on foot or in the bright green jeep!
Kelly is excited for this next adventure at Early Childhood Network and looks forward to collaborating with you all. Please feel free to reach out to congratulate her on her new position at Kelly@earlychildhoodnet.org
It is bittersweet stepping down. I am so excited about the endless options that are ahead yet am surely going to miss my staff, colleagues, and friendships that I have made throughout my years with Early Childhood Network. Please stay in touch and thank you for making my world a better place to live in………
Sincerely,
Joni Goodwin
Early Childhood Network
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Some helpful information & links from your early childhood council
Colorado Shines Quality Improvement (CSQI) Applications now available!
The new fiscal year is here, which means new Colorado Shines Quality Improvement funds for you! All level 1-5 programs are eligible! To apply, log on to your QRIS portal. Call the help desk or Kristin for help.
CSQI funding includes: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Looking for additional funding?! Don’t forget to check out our Additional Funding Opportunities page on our RMECC website: https://rmecc.org/other-funding-opps/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Is your program’s information up to date in the state’s database? If you haven’t completed your Childcare Resource & Referral (CCR&R) Update yet, check out this link: https://rmecc.org/provider-updates/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The early years of a child's life — from birth to age eight — are critically important for learning and development. The Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines provide practical tips and points of reference that anyone can use to help kids grow. Whether we're experts, early childhood teachers, first-time parents, or involved friends and neighbors, we all play a role in giving kids a strong, healthy start. Check out and share the guidelines with your families: https://earlylearningco.org/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kristin Sparkman, Early Childhood Specialist
Stacy Petty, Council Coordinator
rmeccspecialist@mtnvalley.org rmecc@mtnvalley.org
719-293-2378 719-486-7273
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- Are you a teacher or childcare provider looking at ways to add more literacy resources to your toolkit?
- Would you like provide your families with a rotating library of high-quality, age-appropriate storybooks?
Raising A Reader Aspen to Parachute would love to
support your early literacy efforts. Please send us an email at info@rar4kids.org.
Check out the website Read Aloud 15 Minutes, where you will find informative and engaging handouts for parents on the importance of reading aloud with their children. To access these colorful, printable resources in English and Spanish, click HERE.
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Inform Yourself on Federal Funding
Available for ChildcareIn a recent online article called "Child-care centers struggle to staff up, fanning fears workers have left the industry for good" Nadine El-Bawab wrote:
"The Biden administration has said that employment issues and lack of access to child care stem from years of underinvestment, which the president plans to reverse with $450 billion in proposed spending as part of his American Families Plan. Of that, $225 billion will be dedicated to child-care cost subsidies. The plan aims to make sure families are paying no more than 7% of their income for child-care costs."
Want to learn more about this federal funding? Exchange has created three videos for Ed.Flicks. These videos are currently available for free on our website. Hear from child care directors and advocates from NAEYC, Child Care Aware, Early Childhood Education Consortium, NIEER, TEACH and First Children’s Finance, who will offer explanations and encouragement.
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Ask a Nurse
with
Robin Strecker RN
Your mask helps protect those around you. COVID-19 rates have been increasing everywhere over the past month. The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends universal masking for all people 2 years of age and older in public indoor settings including schools, childcare facilities, and on all modes of public transportation. The American Academy of Pediatrics website healthychildren.org, is an excellent resource for all questions about masking young children.
Face Masks for Children During COVID-19
Do Masks Delay Speech and Language Development?
Mask Mythbusters: Common Questions about Kids & Face Masks
Tips to better communicate with children while wearing a face mask
Here are some ways that people who wear face masks can help when they interact with your child:
- get the child's attention before talking
- face the child directly and make sure nothing is blocking the child's view
- speak slowly and slightly louder (without shouting)
- ensure a child is using hearing aids or using other hearing devices, if they have been prescribed
- use eyes, hands, body language, and changes in tone of voice to add information to speech
- ask the child if they understood; repeat words and sentences when necessary
- reduce noise and reduce distractions
You can share these tips with your child's day care provider, preschool, and others who regularly interact with your child while wearing masks.
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