Rating system launches!

3,875 programs and providers and providers have stepped up and are participating in Great Start to Quality.  The first ratings will be released Monday, Dec. 17. Letters were sent to programs notifying them about the launch of ratings.

 

Ratings for 66 programs - representing 339 classrooms that have achieved the highest level of quality (either four or five stars) will be post on www.greatstartCONNECT.org. More than 50,000 Michigan families use the website each year to find child care and preschool programs, and the addition of the ratings is expected to increase that number.

 

Ratings will continue to roll out over the next few months and a larger group of programs will be released early next year, after the education standards are reviewed to determine if they should include a broader range of academic degrees and recognize experience in the field.   Programs will continue to receive communications about the roll out and any updates about Great Start to Quality.

 

Inquiries about Great Start to Quality should be directed to the Great Start to Quality Resource Centers for consistency in messaging.  The Resource Centers stand ready to answer questions, field comments, and support programs to participate in Great Start to Quality Programs can contact the resource center toll-free at 1-877-614-7328.

Children's Art: Process vs. Product

The paper plates say it all - A universe apart!

 

Each of these 'plate' projects was created by a four year old at school. Which is Art? Which is craft? What difference does it make? Which opportunity (art vs. craft, process vs. product) do you offer the children that you serve? Each equally? One more than the other? Do you have a solid rationale for which experience you use and when and WHY?

 

 

Process
It's all about the engagement, the exploration, the experiment. The moment at hand. The immediate feedback. Process, by its very definition is an 'open-ended' experience. It's literally go with the flow + see what happens. It's quite possibly messy. Even TOTALLY messy! It's very often exciting. It's inherantly personal: process.

Product
It's all about the parents, the grandparents, the refrigerator. It's pretty typically cute and gets the response, "Oh you made a ______." There's a preconcieved idea. There's a pattern. We need to march along and get the steps in order. Teacher has counted out the parts. Teacher has pre-cut the tricky bits. First this. Then that. This goes here. That goes there. Add some of these. Teacher adds a magnet. Voila. It's usually pretty difficult to tell yours from your friends. Sometimes impossible in fact.

Every one of these students has had access to the same colors of construction paper and yet every one of their finished pieces is totally unique. Individual. Personal. Some artists proceeded to tear their torn pieces into HUGE clumps, others are teeny-tiny miniscule, but all of the artists are indeed engaged in the process. These children know which is their work. You might even have a good guess at which one your child created..... even without looking at the handwriting on the attached reports.

 

 

 

What do you think about these 16 penguins? They were born on the same day, of the same parents on the same ice burg, and have eaten the same thing every day of their cloned existence? In my mind, its like a science experiment gone wrong. If you were the parent volunteer for the afternoon, would you be able to guess which antarctic creature your child had created? 

 This teacher has been very busy. Those children had the opportunity to learn about gluing. Don't get me wrong, there is something to be learned from gluing. There is no room for individuality and self-expression. Allow children the opportunity to use their innate child-like capabilities of original and novel thought-processing just as long as possible. The world will be banging down the door soon enough with demands of product + productivity. Let's let the kids be immersed in their childhood for as long as possible. Let's give them every possible opportunity to explore, create, sparkle with individuality and show us what THEY've got -- show us what's inside -- show us their process.

Baby Place Space for 6-18 Months: Inspired by Montessori and Reggio

Baby Place Space for 6-18 Months: Inspired by Montessori and Reggio

Creative Curriculum for Family Home Child Care

 

 

                                                          

                                                           Creative Curriculum for Family Home Child Care

                                                           Saturday, December 1, 2012

                                                           8:30 AM - 3:30 PM

 

                                                           Location:

                                                           GRCC - Applied Tech Center        Map

                                                           151 Fountain St. NW

                                                           Grand Rapids, MI  49503

 

 

                                                            Click here to Enroll!

 

 



Brush Up On Oral Health

Brush Up On Oral Health
September 2012 Newsletter
Click Here

 

Child Care Providers! Check out our Regional Educational Media Center (REMC8) at the KISD for some helpful resources!

Contact the Kent Resource Center to find out how to access recorded and digital media for the classroom, laminating services, die-cutting room for visual aids/bulletin boards, and free access to a Moodle Learning Management System, and many other services.

 

                                             
616.447.5678

Creative Curriculum for Preschools

Great Start to Quality Kent Resource Center Presents

Creative Curriculum for Preschools

8:30 AM – 3:30 PM both days (lunch will be on your own)

Day 1 – November 29^th is at the Student Community Center in the Multi-purpose Room

                122 Lyon NE / Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (corner of Ransom and Lyon)

Day 2 – November 30^th is at the GRCC Applied Tech Center

                155 Fountain NE / Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Click here to Enroll!

Great Start to Quality Kent Resource Center:  Creative Curriculum for Infants andToddl...

Great Start to Quality Kent Resource Center:    

 
Creative Curriculum for Infants andToddl...:              Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers   November 28, 2012 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM Grand Ra...

 

 

 



 

 

 

Creative Curriculum

for Infants and Toddlers

 

November 28, 2012

8:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Grand Rapids Community College Applied Tech Center

151 Fountain Street, N.E.

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Click here for directions.

 

Click here to Enroll Online!

Infant/Toddler Symposium

Infant/Toddler Symposium

November 3, 2012

8:00 am – 12:30 pm

 

GRCC – Applied Technical Center

151 Fountain N.E.

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

For directions CLICK HERE

 

An overview of the Great Start to Quality Kent Resource Center will be

followed by the following sessions:

 

Session 1: Participant Choice of one of the

following

- Intro to PQA

- Positive Guidance Social Emotional

Session 2: Participant Choice of one of the

following

- Adult Child Interactions

- Language Development

Session 3: Participant Choice of one of the

following

- Leadership & Relationships

- Supporting & Involving Families

 

Instructors: Eileen Cronin, Barbara Corbin, Diane

Sparks, Jane Ann Benson and Nancy Schmidt.

 

A continental breakfast will be served at 8:00 AM.

 

CLICK HERE to Explore & Enroll Online

 

Infant / Toddler Symposium Workshop content

questions? Email Sarah Otis

sarahotis@kentisd.org

Poverty Simulation Workshop

 

Could You Survive A Month In Poverty?

 

LOCATION: KENT ISD – ESC BUILDING (PARK IN LOT #11)

2930 KNAPP N.E.  GRAND RAPIDS, MI  49525

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS

November 1, 2012 6:00 p.m.

The poverty simulation experience is designed to help participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family trying to survive from week to week. It is a simulation, not a game. The object is to sensitize participants to the realities faced by low-income people.




In the simulation, 50 to 75 participants assume the roles of up to 26 different families facing poverty. Some are newly unemployed, some are recently deserted by the “breadwinner”, and others are recipients of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, formerly AFDC), either with or without additional earned income. Others are disabled or are senior citizens receiving Social Security. The task of the “families” is to provide for basic necessities and shelter during the course of four 15-minute “weeks”.

The experience lasts from two to three hours. It includes an introduction and briefing, the actual simulation exercise, and a debriefing period in which participants and volunteer staffers share their reactions and experiences

T.E.A.C.H. Scholarships are Available!

T.E.A.C.H. Scholarships are available!
If you...

*        Work a minimum of 20 hours per week in a licensed child care center, group home or registered family home.

*        Earn $14.25 or less per hour as a teacher, assistant, or aide.

*        Earn $15.00 or less per hour after expenses as a family home provider or a group home owner.

*        Earn $15.00 or less per hour as a director.

You may be eligible for a T.E.A.C.H. Scholarship.

T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® MICHIGAN provides scholarships at participating colleges and universities for tuition, books, travel, and release time. Scholarships are available for providers who are currently working in early childhood programs and who are interested in pursuing a CDA Credential, an Associate's or a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood or Child Development.

For information call

Phone: 866-648-3224 or visit www.MiAEYC.org

 

September is Infant Safe Sleep Awareness Month

In April 2010 a study was published in the American Journal of Public Health. It found 70% of the 3,136 sleep-related sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUIDs) were on a surface NOT intended for infant sleep. 64% of were sharing a sleep surface and almost half were sleeping with an adult. To see the Abstract click here.