PCCP: Early Care and Education

Recent research suggests that over 90% of brain development occurs before age three, and approximately 60% of children from birth to 5 years old have both parents working and are in childcare during these formative years. This makes the role of childcare workers more important than ever.

The Early Care and Education staff at the Partnership are working to help childcare providers refine and improve their programs to meet the developmental needs of children in this age range. We work with all types of programs: licensed, licensed exempt, preschools, nursery schools, childcare centers and family childcare homes and in any place young children are learning and developing while away from their immediate family.

Being an Early care and Education teacher is a difficult task requiring long hours and a great deal of patience. Contrary to what some might think, early care and education programs are not a very profitable venture. The cost of operating high quality programs often leaves little for staff salaries. Turnover for childcare workers is around 30%. Our job is to help providers meet the many challenges they face. We have been told by childcare providers that they would not have continued in the field had it not been for support from Partnership Programs.

Some of the things the staff at the Partnership do to help child care programs are:

Provide on-site training for providers--for many we are their only resource
Program consultation, phone support
Help with licensing
Help with accreditation
Provide a resource room for providers
Administer a lending library for children’s books
Conduct group meetings where child care providers have an opportunity to network, exchange ideas and discuss their challenges and solutions
Loan thematic toy tubs
Emotional Beginnings Curriculum Training
CPR and First Aid Training

Early Care and Education Department of The Partnership presents Emotional Beginnings – Partners In Care A Staff Development Program for Infant and Toddler Childcare Providers Conclusions of recent brain development research have shown that in order for children to reach intellectual milestones, we must first meet their emotional needs. In the 1970s, experts focusing on intellectual development in young children wanted to implement a curriculum that would make infants and toddlers “really smart”. What they discovered was that development of emotions must come first. When an infant feels secure and loved, then learning can take place. The United States 2000 census estimates that 60% of young children are in some type of childcare. This information led the Early Care and Education (ECE) staff at The Community Partnership to look for curriculum that would address all the needs of infants and toddlers. The ECE staff are trained site coordinators for the Emotional Beginnings-Partners In Care curriculum framework for infants and toddlers. We wanted a research based infant and toddler curriculum that was affordable and good for children, families and caregivers. We chose Emotional Beginnings because the emphasis is not on fancy “stuff” but on building relationships. Emotional Beginnings is designed to increase the emotional availability and relationship building skills of infant and toddler caregivers and emphasize the importance of building healthy relationships with families. Emotional responsiveness to a young child’s needs is critical to healthy development. When caring for young children, adults can easily get caught up in meeting physical needs such as feeding and diaper changing and forget that social and emotional needs are just as critical. Emotional Beginnings takes a deeper look at all of the needs of young children. A young child’s relationship with his/her primary caregivers sets the stage for all future relationships.

The first training course began in the summer of 2006. A group of 18 area child care providers representing ten programs enrolled in the training, which consists of ten modules. Childcare providers committed to learning and implementing this process agreed to attend all modules and receive on-site coaching visits from the ECE staff. Group training, along with follow-up coaching visits, help caregivers implement what they learn. Research by Bruce R. Joyce and Beverly Showers suggests that learners will transfer new skills into practice 90% of the time using this method of teaching. The ECE Department at The Partnership partnered with East Central College to offer caregivers the opportunity to take this course for college credit. Nine students working in childcare programs seeking accreditation committed to taking the course for credit. These students worked with Stephanie Bray from East Central College to complete extra assignments and receive credit for the infant and toddlers curriculum course toward an Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education. After the success of the first course, a second class was offered in the spring of 2008. ## completed the training with ## receiving East Central College credit. A third course is planned for spring 2009.

Our ECE Department is pleased to be able to work with child care programs in Crawford, Dent, Maries and Phelps Counties. For additional information, contact the Phelps County Community Partnership located at 1101 Hauck Drive, Rolla, Missouri 65401 or call 573-368-2849 or toll free 888-541-4636.

For additional information contact The Community Partnership located at 1101 Hauck Drive, Rolla, Missouri 65401 or call 573-368-2849 or toll free 888-541-4636.