Day Care or Child Care? What do you say?
Trying Together, a local non-profit early childhood agency supports high-quality care and education for young children by providing advocacy, community resources, and professional growth opportunities for the needs and rights of children, their families, and the individuals who interact with them. Trying Together works regionally (in Southwestern Pennsylvania) and takes its expertise and models to statewide and national audiences. They have a long history (grass roots beginning in 1963) and continue to provide the much needed guidance and support that the early childhood community needs. One of their biggest advocacy efforts is acknowledging that early childhood professionals and teachers demand the same amount of respect and admiration that elementary school teachers receive. They also acknowledge that the disparity between salaries is at a critical point and that because of pay, child care centers are having an increasingly difficult time finding highly qualified teachers.
We, at UCDC, agree with all of these statements. Teaching the youngest children is one of the most noble and complex professions, yet early childhood teachers are rarely looked at as professionals and sometimes merely viewed as babysitters or caregivers. Early childhood teachers have degrees (Associate, Bachelor, Master), some are certified, and most enter a position with years of experience. Early childhood teachers are also required to continue to grow professionally, maintaining up to 24 hours of professional development annually. This is not reflected in the pay scale. Many early childhood teachers work second jobs, and many eventually leave the field for positions that donāt involve children, but pay more money.
This past June, the Pennsylvania State Legislature passed the House Bill 1677 to update Pennsylvaniaās regulations and code to use the term āchild careā rather than āday careā to reflect the work of early learning programs more accurately.
Trying Together worked closely with the billās prime sponsor, Representative Jason Oritay, who represents Allegheny and Washington counties. To further support his effort, Trying Together is launching the āCall it Child Careā initiative.
Why call it Child Care?
Trying Together recognizes that shifting commonly used language can be difficult. However, by using the term āchild careā instead of āday care,ā you recognize that:
- The impact of child care and early education is much longer than a day. Most importantly noting that early childhood programs support lifelong success for children and families and high quality child care builds a strong foundation from which children grow and thrive.
- The words we use matter. The words we all use affect the publicās perception of the early care and education field and affect the fieldās own accountability in providing high-quality care. Using āchild careā rather than āday careā recognizes the important work of these professionals, in addition to the work children put in to learn, develop, and grow. Accurate language is critical to gaining respect, validation, and investments in currently under-resourced systems.
- āChild Careā acknowledges the complexity of high-quality early care and education programs. High-quality child care programs employ, develop, and retain educated, credentialed teachers. Child care professionals use a curriculum, lesson plans, and family engagement to promote the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of the children they serve.
How can you help? If youāre a family member, embrace the term āchild careā and use it when referencing UCDC, both here in the building, with your children, and with friends and family members. If youāre an early care and education professional, use the term āchild careā when speaking about your work and your profession.
It is literally just a one-word difference. But what a difference it can make.
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Curriculum in the Classroom: Toddler Three
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Children love to be messy and participate in messy activities. Our new playground has the best solution for that: our mud kitchen! The mud kitchen offers a large dirt box for the children to dig with trucks, rakes, and shovels. Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers love to dig and transfer the dirt around the area.
The mud kitchen has taught our younger and older toddler children independence and turn taking. They have learned a routine when we go outside and will take their shoes off and put their boots or water shoes on independently. There are many trucks and shovels in the dirt box and this naturally limits the number of children in the area. The children have learned to use patience while waiting for turns with their favorite truck or waiting for that specific shovel theyāve had their eye on.
The mud kitchen also offers our students a child centered and child focused experience on the playground. Within the mud kitchen, the children can use water from the water table and mix it with the dirt using pots, pans, and mixing spoons. The children put their minds and imaginations to work when exploring the mud kitchen. It engages the children to talk to their peers and teachers about what they are doing and allows them to answer open ended questions with their teachers. The water tables gain attention as well. The children love to use the water toys and pour water and watch the different moving gears spin as the water rushes down.
So just remember, when your child is wet, muddy, and smiling at the end of the day, just know that they were enjoying a messy, fun learning experience!
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DHS Inspection and Immunizations
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We recently had our two-day visit from the Department of Human Services. They are in the process of updating some of the regulations, including the immunization regulations. We will now require annual documentation for the influenza vaccine, which is now considered a required immunization. We will be sending out a letter explaining the process for providing information if your child receives the vaccine and the process if they donāt or will not get the immunization. Until then, if you take your child to get the influenza vaccine, can you please ask for documentation so that we can add it to your childās file.
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FYI
- We are hosting a large number of student observations this fall from the Department of Instruction and Learning as well as Applied Developmental Psychology. They will be in the classrooms and observation booths for their observations. We love having this relationship with the University allowing us to host so much learning.
- Our garden has produced so many crops this summer and now we're working on fall! We pulled out most of the tomatoes and the cucumbers and have planted kale and spinach. We look forward to more crops this fall!
- Students from a Psychology course at the University will be joining us on October 1st and 3rd to observe play themes and toy choices in the preschool classrooms.
- The fire truck is coming for a visit! On Wednesday, October 16th, the fire truck will be here for the children to explore! More information to follow.
- UCDC will be closed on Monday, October 14th for Professional Development Day.
- Reminder that our United Way code for center donations is 1280.
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Preschool Wisdoms
It's that time of year where lots of transitions are happening in all of the classrooms! We thought we'd hear from the brand new preschoolers in Preschool Three on the topic.
How is Preschool different than Toddlers?
- Toddlers donāt have big blocks, bean bags, steps and Connect Four
- Friends
- You donāt do as much art in Toddlers. You brush your teeth after breakfast in Toddlers.
- Raise your hand and go to potty. (in group)
- Go on the big kids stuff on the playgroundāthe rock and balance beam.
- You can skateboard in preschool.
- Play with Averie
- Cut with scissors
- I want to do the dinosaur puzzle.
- The wall, big blocks, the windowsāin Toddlers they have medium windows.
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Thank you to families, staff and friends for supporting our first ever restaurant fundraiser. With the generosity of the Uno staff (they counted all sales that day for our 20% donation!!) we were able to raise $450.00 dollars.
We have not determined how much of that will be needed to ship our crayons and how much will be able to be donated to the United Way Impact Fund, but we will let you know when the numbers are finalized. We are very grateful for the time and generosity of everyone who was able to make it.
Our next fundraiser will be our annual Poinsettia sale. Look for information and order forms at the end of October and order the beautiful Poinsettias for yourself, family and friends. They are from the same greenhouse as our spring plants and they are incredibly beautiful!!
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This month, we want to welcome two new teachers to UCDC. Amber Ricker is Preschool Two's new Head Teacher and Cherie Xi is the new Assistant teacher in Preschool One. Read on to learn more about our newest teachers. Welcome to UCDC!
Hello! My name is Amber Ricker, and I am excited to join the UCDC team as the new Preschool 2 Head Teacher! I am proud to say that I have been working in the Early Childhood Education field for the past 13 years! I graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies in 2005 and quickly joined the Bennett Family Center (one of Penn Stateās child development centers) as an Infant/Toddler teacher. Since then, I have worked at numerous centers on the east coast with children of various ages, most recently as a lead preschool teacher with an early learning center in Mt. Lebanon for the past 5 years. I have also had the opportunity to run the childrenās program at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.
I have a wonderful family of my own at home, which includes my husband, Bob, my three beautiful children Kennedy (5), Avery(4), and Jude(2), and our three fur babies Rocky and Adrian (our hound dogs) and Sammy (our cat). We love doing anything outdoors, especially camping!
I am so excited to be a part of the UCDC family, and to meet all of you and your wonderful children!
Hello!!! Preschool kids and parents! I'm Cherie, the assistant teacher from Preschool One. I have a Master's Degree in Education from Duquesne University. I have spent time as a TOEFL and college ESL instructor, as well as a Kindergarten Teacher both in the US and in China. I have also worked with preschool aged children. While working with preschoolers, I love doing fun imaginative activities, playing games, reading stories, singing, dancing, and doing math and science experiments. I believe instruction needs to be tailored to meet the needs of every student in order to ensure their success. Creativity, love, and kindness are three of the values that I instill in my students every day. With almost ten years of teaching experience, I consider myself as both a teacher and a learner, and I love to learn from my students. Personally, I love learning languages, watching movies and traveling around the world. I love to explore different cultures and exotic foods, as well as meeting interesting people from different cultural backgrounds.
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UCDC utilizes a child centered, extended family approach that is fostered by supporting the developmental needs of all children. We foster children's self esteem, creative abilities, sense of belonging and success by implementing a developmentally appropriate curriculum based on NAEYC and Keystone STARS standards, through a play-based approach to learning. We support families and partner with them to provide an environment that welcomes their collaboration and supports both cultural and family preferences.
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