Dear Providers,

As we start the new year, please take a moment to review the Reimbursement Upload Guide for the Coalition Document Exchange . The guide outlines how the Coalition expects providers to organize their attendance documentation so that paperwork can be reviewed, downloaded, and processed during Reimbursement in a timely manner. There are specific instructions for both School Readiness and Voluntary Prekindergarten attendance submissions. The Coalition needs to be able to find the Enrollment/Attendance Certifications and required documents. By creating the requested folders and uploading the information the correct way, the Coalition should be able to locate necessary documentation and speed up the processing time. Everyone likes to be paid on time, so please help us help you.

You may have seen in a previous blast article instructions on notification of corrections/revisions to Enrollment/Attendance Certifications. Here is that reminder again:

All supporting documentation (including doctors' notes, Rilya Wilson documentation, etc.) must be uploaded along with the Attendance Certifications. Any documentation not submitted with the Attendance Certifications will need to be sent as an adjustment via the Child Care Payment Adjustment Form . If you have questions about this request, please submit it to redline@elcnwf.org .

In your service,

Lynne

The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida is pleased to open registration for our winter workshop (LITTLE ENGINES THAT CAN: A Self-Regulation Workshop) to be held on Saturday, February 3, from 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., at Gulf Coast State College’s Panama City Campus. The workshop fee is $10 per person. You must register online (including payment) in advance of the workshop. You can sign in starting at 8:00 a.m. on February 3, and the workshop will start promptly at 8:30 a.m.

The Winter Checkpoint period (when TSGs are due) is January 30, 2018. We understand that maneuvering through the revised MyTeachingStrategies website has been a challenge to many. Reviewing fall TSGs took twice as long as usual due to some technical difficulties. Just a reminder: a TSG is a continuous assessment during a checkpoint period (approximately 90 days). Documentation should be accrued and kept during a checkpoint period so teachers can update their observation recording, especially when it is different than their preliminary observation. During the last 2 weeks of a checkpoint period, a teacher should review the level where he/she has placed a child to determine if the observation is accurate. Then, the teachers should finalize the TSG.

Coalition staff review TSGs by generating an “Individual Child Report” for each child. If a child is two or more steps down in four or more dimensions, that child is considered for referral. A master list is compiled of all children meeting referral criteria, and the fact-finding process begins. This process must not be deviated, per Coalition protocol. Included in the referral consideration procedure is interviewing the teacher and/or provider to ask about the child and make sure he/she meets referral criteria. During the last review cycle, teachers reported no concern for 35-40 percent of their children who met referral criteria and appeared on the referral list. Remember that children are placed on the referral list based on data collected from classroom teachers completing TSG assessments.

The priority of the Coalition staff is to help identify children who need referrals, so please assist the Coalition by including the most current information just prior to checkpoint dates. If something changes from your preliminary observation to the checkpoint date, please update TSGs for children. Failure to incorrectly record child observations can result in unproductive time on the part of Coalition staff as well as staff from Early Steps and Child Find. We hope that you will consider TSGs an instrument to effectively target a child’s progress to plan for and scaffold a child’s next level of success. 

Planning ahead and during pregnancy can increase the chance of having a healthy baby. Some ways of planning ahead include avoiding harmful substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. Remember that when using these substances, the baby is also exposed to them. In addition, be mindful of your eating habits; proper nutrition supports your baby’s growth and development. Please refer to this link below for further information.

As early childhood professionals, it is our aim to provide an environment in which all our students can continuously thrive and grow. It is becoming more important to shed light on the important topic of “inclusion.” Regardless of a child’s developmental delay, it is our responsibility to ensure that each child can progress and grow to his/her fullest potential without being isolated or excluded from his/her class.  Click here for a link to a website that highlights this topic of inclusion in early childhood.   

A Joint Position Statement of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), April 2009

The Spring 2018 semester for Gulf Coast State College's Early Childhood Education Program is approaching. Attached you will find a flier with course schedule information as well as a registration form for the program. It is important that teachers wanting to take classes go ahead and register as soon as possible.  If you have any questions, reach out to the Gulf Coast Early Childhood Education Program representative or email redline@elcnwf.org.

Attached please find updated information about Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! 2018. The books have been selected, so make plans to share these stories in your program.

Children's Week will be January 21-26, 2018, and will share the week with Celebrate Literacy Week Florida. (Look above for updated information about Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! 2018.) So much beautiful hand art has been created throughout contracted provider programs, and we are pleased to deliver this artwork to Tallahassee next week. Thank you to everyone who participated and made this year extra special.

Click here to view the January 2018 edition of OEL's "Early Learning Parents' Pages." Click here to view an archive of all past editions.