April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

As early childhood professionals, it is our job to ensure child abuse prevention efforts are happening year round. The month of April is a great time to emphasize the importance of prevention in our community.

CHILD ABUSE is a COMMUNITY problem. . .

• a report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.
• 90% of the victims knew the perpetrator.
• 1 in 4 girls will be sexually assaulted by age 18.
• 1 in 6 boys will be sexually assaulted by age 18.

Visit Prevent Child Abuse in America website at: http://www.preventchildabuse.org/

Winter 2012 Connections

The Winter 2012 issue of the Child Care Aware^® of Missouri newsletter is now available.  You can view or print the full newsletter here.  Articles include information about T.E.A.C.H. Missouri, a scholarship program for early childhood professionals and a discussion about defining quality child care.  You'll also want to read the important warning about using Bumbo Baby Seats.

Playdough Day is February 24, and this helpful article from Child Care Aware^® of Eastern Missouri, a Program at LUME Institute explains what children can learn from experiences with dough.  The article includes recipes for making your own Gingerbread Playdough or Jell-o Playdough.

The article from Child Care Aware^® of Southern Missouri an Operating Agency of Council of Churches of the Ozarks shares information about The Children's and Young Adult Book Review Board of Missouri.  This group of volunteers reviews new children's books to help parents and teachers choose quality books for children.  Read the article here.

For great ideas to get kids moving both indoors and outdoors during cold weather, read the article from Child Care Aware^® of Western Missouri a Program at The Family Conservancy. 

Questions about Online Workshops

After many years of child care providers asking for a chance to take professional development classes for clock hours online, we are thrilled to be offering this opportunity now! Since this is such a new process, we’ve received many questions, and we wanted to address some of those most frequently asked here.

What equipment do I need?

Prior to the training, you will be e-mailed workbook materials, and you’ll need to print these out before the class. During the training, you’ll need a computer with access to the internet. You’ll use this to see the visual portions of the training, such as power point slides. You’ll also need a phone (either a land line or a cell phone) to call a toll free number so that you can hear the instructor and ask questions. Up to three people can use the same computer and phone during the training.

Do I need computer skills?

Basic computer skills are necessary to get the most from these online professional development experiences. If you can access the internet, navigate to websites, and type a little, you’ll do just fine.

Can I participate in these trainings during my work day?

We are offering these online trainings at a variety of times including evenings, Saturdays, and typical nap times. Please keep in mind that proper adult/child ratios must be maintained in your program at all times, and children must be supervised. Nap time is often an easier time for a substitute or floater to take charge of a classroom, thus allowing the regular teacher time to take an online workshop.

How many online clock hours will licensing accept per year?

Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services Section for Child Care Regulation allows an unlimited amount of annual clock hours to be earned online.

How will I receive my certificate?

Your certificate will be mailed to the address you provided at registration once you have completed all the training activities.You are expected to attend the full class and participate in discussion and activities during the professional development event.  You will also be required to complete an evaluation of the session.

To view online clock hour opportunities available now, visit the Missouri Workshop Calendar at www.moworkshopcalendar.org and click on the "online/distance" tab at the top.

Preschool Activities for Martin Luther King Jr. Day

As I set out to write a blog post about fun and educational activity ideas for child care programs to do on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I came across many websites with coloring pages, worksheets, and other printables, and it frustrated me a little bit.  If you're looking for ways to teach children about the true meaning of this day, I think there are more developmentally appropriate ways to go about it.

Why not simply share a nice book about Dr. King at story time?  Here are some suggestions:






Reading books like these can be the start of wonderful discussions with young children.  We often share fiction books with preschool children, but non-fiction books are just as important.  Talk about the difference before reading one of these selections.

If you want to do an art activity based upon this theme, here is a good one:

A Dream Quilt from Everything Preschool

We discussed Martin Luther King, Jr. and talked about how he dreamed of a world where people didn't fight and hate people because their skin was different. Then we looked in mirrors at ourselves and each other. We also talked about what quilts are, blankets or covers that are made of little pieces.

At art time each child drew a picture and dictated what they dream of becoming. Some examples were, "I want to work with animals", "I want to cook the food", "I dream of being a friend" etc. Then we placed each individual picture on a large piece of bulletin board paper with a border around the edge and titled it "Our Dream Quilt".

If you're looking for a simple way to explain who this important man was in terms that young children can understand, use this script found at Twiggle Magazine.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is important because he helped our country realize that it needed to change some very unfair laws. A law is like a rule. Sometimes rules are fair and sometimes rules are not fair. What are some of the rules that we have in our class? Are the rules the same for everyone in the class? Are they fair to everyone?

Use the story of Martin Luther King Jr. as a way to start circle time conversations about how everyone is unique and valuable. Building a classroom community based upon kindness, caring, and equality is perhaps the most valuable way to celebrate the holiday!

Some Fun Holiday Ideas

It's that time of year when adults are busy making preparations, and children are excited about the upcoming holidays.  Here are a few cute, fun, and educational ideas we found that would be great to do in the next couple of days with the children in your care.

One of our accreditation facilitation programs was making these ornaments as gifts for families this month.  Instructions are also available at All Free Crafts.  This dough is non-toxic, and it smells wonderful!

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

Supplies
cinnamon
apple sauce
craft glue
cookie cutters (or cut by hand using plastic knives if you like)
ribbon or yarn
plastic drinking straw
Additional materials for decorations such as glue, paint, pipe cleaners, buttons, beads, etc...

Instructions
Mix equal amounts of apple sauce and cinnamon and add 1 teaspoon of craft glue for every cup of applesauce.  Nutmeg or ground cloves can also be added if desired.  Let the children take turns measuring and stirring the ingredients.  Note that the dough may be too sticky, and you may need to add more cinnamon until the dough is easy to work with by hand.

Give each child a lump of dough to work with.  Roll or press dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut shapes with cookie cutters or shape freehand. Use the straw to poke a hole at the top of each ornament. (Adult may have to help with this.)  Place ornaments on a cooling rack or tray to dry completely. Depending on how large your ornaments are, drying could take a couple of days.  You can also put the ornaments on a cookie sheet and place in a 200 degree oven until dry.
Once your ornaments are dry, tie a ribbon or yarn through the hole and, if you like, you can paint these ornaments or add other decorations.


These fun and educational snowmen are from Teach Preschool.  Check out the site for lots of great photos and details about how they did the project.

Five Senses Snowmen

Materials
construction paper
sandpaper
wiggle eyes
small candy canes
jingle bells
cinnamon
scissors
glue

Instructions
During group time, discuss the five senses, sharing materials as examples of things that use each sense.  We can see the paper and wiggle eyes.  We can taste the candy canes (though these aren't for eating!  Consider having some the children may eat on hand.)  We can smell the cinnamon, hear the bells, and feel the sandpaper.  Share some photos of snowmen as well, and place the materials in the art center, encouraging children to create a snowman using the materials.  Let them be creative!  The idea is to use the materials as they wish and to stimulate the five senses.  The goal is not to have a classroom full of identical snowmen.


For a tasty, healthy snack the children can help prepare, this cute idea from Little Wonders Days is fabulous.

Christmas Tree Fruit Salad

Ingredients
green grapes
other small fruits such as red grapes, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, mandarin oranges, star fruit, or cut up kiwi.

Directions
This program used a tree-shaped tray, filled it with grapes, then used the other fruits to "decorate" the tree, placing a slice of star fruit at the top.  Look at this great photo!  Other ideas, in case you don't have such a tray, include using icing or cream cheese to stick fruits in a tree shape on a cookie sheet or plate, or simply allowing kids to enjoy the festive holiday colors as they create and eat their fruit salad.

Reducing Stress in Child Care Providers

It is that time of year when teachers, children and families all experience an increase in stress levels. Whether it is from holidays, traveling or extra guests, or just because the weather is frigid and the outside time is shortened, this stress can cause some increased behavior issues in your classroom. The following are some simple strategies to reduce children’s stress, and as a happy consequence, reduce your stress levels and the families’ also!


1. Make changes or add materials to your program gradually. Children are sometimes stressed by novelty and change. Add items a few at a time or make slight changes over a period of several days or even weeks. Be sure to talk about the changes or additions ahead of time. You could add envelopes and “junk” mail to your writing area on one day; wait a few days to add stickers, and few more days to add the mailbox.

2. Set up several or related new activities at the same time, especially if the new area is likely to draw a lot of interest. For example, you can cut down on the competition and stress for the new workbench that only has space for two children, by adding Styrofoam and golf tees to the art area, and by putting tape measures and books about building in the block area.

3. Give children enough time to thoroughly explore materials and work at their own pace. Challenging behavior can be caused by the stress of expectations to finish or leave a project based on someone else’s timetable.

4. Arrange for children to move to a new activity in small clusters. For example, tell them “if you have shoes that tie . . . “ Avoid having everyone change activities at the same time. This promotes running and competition for favorite areas. Also, avoid sending children to a new activity one at a time. This only increases “wait” time and the possibility of challenging behavior.

The bottom line: what is peaceful for the children, is also peaceful for you!

Written by: Barb Vigil, Early Childhood Specialist
Adapted from Child Care Plus+ Newsletter , Spring 2006

Healthy Holiday Snack Ideas

You can provide holiday themed snacks without overloading preschool children on sugar.  These ideas even allow the children the learning experience of helping to cook the recipes!

Crescent Roll Ornaments

Ingredients:
1 can crescent roll dough
1 small container spreadable cream cheese
1 small container sour cream
Small pieces of chopped vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and red (or green or yellow) pepper

Instructions:
Unroll the crescent roll dough and use cookie cutters to cut ornament shapes. Or use the pre-cut triangles as "trees."  Bake the dough at the temperature on the package until light brown.  In a bowl, mix the cream cheese and sour cream.  Once ornaments/trees cool, allow the children to spread the "icing" on their shapes, then top with the vegetables.

Idea borrowed from Perpetual Preschool.

Holiday Snack Mix

Ingredients:
A variety of healthy, bite size snack items.  Try whole wheat cereal, whole wheat pretzels or snack crackers, air popped popcorn, nuts, or dried fruit.
A small amount of holiday themed snacks, such as red and green candies, chocolate dipped pretzels, or caramel popcorn.

Instructions:
Let the kids make their own snack mixes as desired, but limit the amount of sugary snacks allowed.  Try providing larger bowls of healthier items and larger scoops in those bowls.  Or tell children they get 5 scoops of these items and one scoop of these items, separating healthy options from the candy.

Idea borrowed from Little Wonders' Days.

Healthy Gingerbread Men

Ingredients:
Slices of whole wheat bread
Peanut butter (or spreadable cream cheese)
Raisins or other dried fruit

Directions:
Give each child a slice of bread, and have children use cookie cutters to make gingerbread man shapes.  Allow children to spread the topping with a plastic knife, then have children decorate their "gingerbread men" using the dried fruit.