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April 28, 2014
Consultants Connection
In This Issue
Powerful Interactions
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Dear Great Start to Quality Providers,

This is your bi-weekly touchpoint with the Great Start to Quality Consultants! The focus will be a shared topic that will provide support to each of you in your daily work with young children and families.  Enjoy!

Angie, Dawn, Heather
Quality Improvement Consultants - Eastern Region

 

Powerful Interactions

In early childhood settings, children and caregivers/teachers interact all day long. The benefits to everyone - children and caregivers/teachers - will be huge if just some of those "everyday" interactions can become intentional and purposeful "Powerful Interactions"!

In extending a child's learning hand-in-hand with nurturing a positive relationship, a powerful interaction creates the best condition for you to teach and the child to learn.
  • Be Present:  Tune in to how you are feeling and consider how you might need to adjust to create a "just right" fit with a child.
  • Connect:  Let the child know that you see him/her; are interested in what he/she is doing, saying and thinking; and want to spend time with him/her. Deepening your relationship this way helps the child feel safe, confident, and open to learning.  Staying connected and observant helps you make good decisions when extending the child's learning.
  • Extend Learning:  Use strategies to extend the child's learning, to stretch his/her knowledge, skills, thinking, language and vocabulary with a topic. Using open ended questioning or "I wonder..." statements is a great way to extend a child's learning.
Whether you work in a home or child care center, Early Head Start, Head Start, or GSRP program, tuition based preschool program or other type of programming, you make a difference in the lives of children and families! 
Powerful interactions can make that difference even bigger! 

~Powerful Interactions:  How to Connect with Children to Extend Their Learning by Amy Laura Dombro, Judy Jablon, Charlotte Stetson

This brief summary and more information on this resource book can be found at:


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Interested in learning more about Great Start to Quality?

Take advantage of monthly webinars hosted by Great Start to Quality!  The webinars will keep you informed about Michigan's tiered quality rating and improvement system.

The next webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21st
1:00 - 2:00pm
Topic:
  TBD

Did you miss a webinar?  You can view recorded webinars anytime at: 

If you haven't already, please sign up for the Great Start to Quality listserv at http://greatstarttoquality.org/.  Click the "Sign Up" link at the bottom of the home page to get updates and answers to frequently asked questions.


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Need help with the Great Start to Quality STARS system?
Please contact the Resource Center's support team.
  • Toll Free support is available: 1-877-614-7328
  • Our Quality Improvement Specialists are available to help you! 

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 The PQA...
 
The PQA, Program Quality Assessment is the assessment tool identified by the Great Start to Quality program to be used when assessing a program/provider.  The standards listed in the PQA have identified high quality program practices for all children. 
 
Infant Toddler PQA:
III.  Adult-Child Interaction
III - B.  Children form trusting relationships with their caregivers.
III - C.  Children interact in partnership with their caregivers.
 
 
Preschool PQA:
III.  Adult-Child Interaction
III - B.  Children's separation from home and daily entry to the program are handled with sensitivity and respect.
III - C.  Adults create a warm and caring atmosphere for children.
III - D.  Adults use a variety of strategies to encourage and support child language and communication.
III - F.  Adults participate as partners in children's play.
III - G.  Adults encourage children's learning initiatives throughout the day (both indoors and outdoors).
 
 
 
Family Child Care PQA:
III.  Provider-Child Interaction
III - A.  Providers are warm and supportive with families and children during arrivals and departures.
III - B.  Providers create a warm and caring atmosphere for children.
III - C.  Providers use a variety of strategies to encourage and support child language and communication, including verbal and nonverbal communication of their thoughts and feelings.
III - E.  Providers participate as partners in children's play.
III - F.  Providers support and extend children's ideas and learning during group activities.
 

  

***Check your PQA booklets for all Level 5 Indicators***

 ***Contact your local Lending Library to check out a PQA booklet***

  

Pinterest Find of the Week....
                   
       
May is Teacher Appreciation Month!  For all of our early childhood leaders, teachers, caregivers, child care providers, we say "Thank You" for all you do!





 
Looking for Training? 


Below is a list of trainings offered for each county.  Trainings are being added often so for more detailed information and to register, go to:

  

Arenac/Bay Counties:

  

  

  

Huron County:

  

Moving from Bystander to Allies

Alternatives to Anger for Parents & Caregivers

Keeping Our Kids Safe

  

Lapeer County:

  

"Time to Play!  Where are the Adults?"

  

Saginaw County:

  

Parents and Providers Working Together
Extreme Makeover:  Classroom Edition

Saint Clair County:

  

Adults in Partners in Children's Development
Keeping Our Kids Safe
RELAX:  Alternatives to Anger for Parents and Caregivers

 

Sanilac County:
 
Nature Explore Classrooms

  

Tuscola County:

  

  

Mail Correspondence and Online:

  

Safe Sleep & Shaken Baby Syndrome
Building Positive Relationships
Building a Better Brain
Using and Extending Lending Library Materials
Behavior Expectations and Rules
 
Have you visited your Lending Library lately?
 
The Eastern Resource Center's Lending Library is a FREE educational resource available to parents and early childhood professionals. We offer themed bins and CARES bags full of learning materials to enhance your classroom or childcare environment for children birth to age 5! Stop by your local Lending Library to check out something new today!  

  

Not sure where your local Lending Library is located?  

  • Click on "Great Start to Quality Resource Centers". 
  • Click "Eastern Resource Center" on the map to find the Lending Library near you!
 
Featured Lend
ing Library Resource
Teacher Resources 

  

"UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not"

  

~The Lorax, Dr. Seuss

  

  

  

  

  

 

  

In supportive early childhood settings, adults' nurturing relationships with children serve as the foundation for learning.  Through this media program, you'll gain strategies for interacting with children in three key areas:

  • participating as partners in children's play
  • conversing with children
  • encouraging learning in curriculum content areas through adult scaffolding.
With footage from the High Scope Demonstration Preschool, Part 1 of this program (23 minutes) offers and illustrated summary of strategies in these three areas, and Part 2 (25 minutes) offers a selection of unnarrated scenes of adult-child interactions to discuss and consider.

 

-This DVD is included in Step One of the Step by Step program. 

-48 minutes, viewer guide included 
How to contact your Consultant:

Angie Pearcy
(Huron, Sanilac, Tuscola)
Cell:  989-280-0979
  
Dawn Kalkman
  (Lapeer and St. Clair )
  Email:  [email protected]
  Cell:  989-280-1103

  Heather Rousseau 
  (Arenac, Bay, Saginaw)
  Email:  [email protected]
  Cell:  989-284-2250