September 22, 2021
We wanted to let you know that the October Provider Network Meeting will not take place.

More details to follow on the upcoming Network Meetings for the remainder of the year!
VPK Providers:

AP1’s are required for ALL VPK Providers - Assessments must be completed within the first 30 days of the class start date. And the data must be entered in the Bright Beginnings system within 45 days of the class start date

Child Attendance and Parental Choice Certificates:

You have different options for VPK Attendance:
  • OEL-VPK 03S-Short Form - Form requires supporting documents such as a sign in and out sheet
  • OEL-VPK 03L-Long Form - Form is a Calendar – X means the child was Present and you will leave it BLANK or write A for an Absence

Forms CANNOT be signed prior to the last day of the VPK Program for the month as it verifies attendance. Documents should be uploaded to the Coalition Document Exchange/Sharefile by CLOSE OF BUSINESS on the 3rd Business Day.

VPK Contract Monitoring will begin soon. As always, your facility’s staff and children’s safety are our first priority. Monitorings will include a desktop review and a Payment Validation (Attendance Certification Review). Please ensure that you maintain proper attendance records, comply with record retention guidelines, and meet all contractual requirements. Look for Emails with more information as we begin to monitor your programs for compliance.
SR Providers,

Please remember that attendance is due on the 3rd business day. Also, remember to upload your absence documentation to MOD as well as ShareFile. Failing to upload your absence documents into both locations could delay the processing of your attendance. We are working on a tight schedule this month due to the Labor Day Holiday.

If you are closed on Labor Day, please ensure that the day is marked on your closures calendar and is a blue/gray color. If it is not marked on your calendar, please reach out to your contract specialist before submitting attendance.

If you are coding your attendance and you had a closure and it is incorrect in MOD, please let us know before you submit attendance. Remember that partial closures do not get coded, for those children you will mark an “Absence Due to Disaster”. There is a new update that will let you code partial classroom closures in the future, but as of yet, that has not been deployed.
Children's Mental & Behavioral Health Trainings

This training is free and open to all. The goal is to increase awareness of how to leverage available resources and services and build collaborative connections to reduce children in mental and behavioral health crisis, and establish concrete connections for families.  
Conference Update
Stay tuned for more information about our fabulous speakers and session details.

Registration information will be available soon.
Don't Miss This! The next training will be a virtual session.
Sign-up Today!
Child Care Centers
Friday, September 24th 9am - 1pm
plus additional one-on-one training offered until 3pm
Family Child Care Homes
Saturday, September 25th 9am - 1pm
plus additional one-on-one training offered until 3pm
Please complete the pre-training survey below and a link for the Zoom registration will be sent to you.
You will receive a digital copy of Caroline's book, Child Care Success Formula when you register!
Contact kate.burch@elcnwf.org with any questions.
Tips For Encouraging Parent Involvement

Invite parents to learn more about you, your staff and how your child care center operates.
Making families more comfortable with your center and the educators who work there will go a long way in making them feel at ease and more likely to be involved.

Ask parents if they’d be interested in participating in your classroom.
Do they have a special talent that they would like to share with the class? Would they be interested in volunteering to help in an art project or read a story?

Ask parents if there are any topics they would like to see incorporated into your curriculum.
Once they are aware that they can have a say in what is taught in the classroom, parents may want to help shape what their child learns throughout the day.

Create a daily report or journal for each child.
Use these daily reports to outline their individual progress and offers a way for parents and educators to communicate and give feedback. Need help with observations? Download our free ebook!

Make useful resources available to parents.
These can be in relation to developing motor skills, language development, behavior management and more. These resources can offer additional guidance that parents can use at home to cultivate further skills and talents in their children.

Recommend complementary activities that a parent and child can complete at home.
These activities can extend your curriculum beyond the classroom setting and reinforce what you have been teaching. Once parents get firsthand experience teaching new things to their children and seeing the impact, they will be more compelled to take an active role on an ongoing basis.

Thank parents for being involved.
After a parent visits or volunteers at your child care center, write a thank you note to let them know you appreciate their time and assistance.
Disaster Relief Payments
The $1,000 teacher bonuses have started popping up in mailboxes across the state! DEL has asked that you and your teachers share selfies or group photos with your check on social media using the hashtag #TYEarlyLearningTeachers.

If you can get a few photos, but would prefer we share them on your behalf, send them into the Redline with “Social Post” in the subject line. 
If you haven’t submitted the application for the $1,000 bonus/disaster relief payment, its not too late to do so. The deadline is 10/15.

If you have not received the email invitation to apply or if you are experiencing any difficulty in completing the application, contact DEL by email at disasterrelief@oel.myflorida.com or by phone at (833) 258-6735. 
The Provider Recruitment Team is continually looking for opportunities for employee pools to assist with your staffing needs. Below are some additional resources for employee leads:

The Arc of the Bay/St Andrew Bay Center Vocational Rehab Program
  • Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, and Washington Counties
  • A DOE funded program for high school students with varying levels of disabilities
  • Currently have students successfully placed at two childcare centers in our area
  • Arc of the Bay will pay the student's salary for three months 
  • Contact: Crystal Grizzle (cgrizzle@bayarc.org or 850.532.0884)

Gulf Coast Career Source Packet
  • Bay, Gulf, and Franklin Counties
  • Information on how to post positions on the Hot Jobs and Employee Florida sites
  • Take advantage of their Bonding Insurance Program
  • We plan to be a part of the fall Job Fair. Details soon! 

Click the button below for additional information about these programs. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact: Tami.valdez@elcnwf.org 
9 Ways to Help Parents Appreciate All Your Hard Work

Things have really changed for childcare in these pandemic times and one of those big changes is that parents aren’t really coming into the center to drop off and pick up their children anymore. Due to social distancing, gone are the days when Educators could create pedagogical displays in the facility for the parents to discover and also the days of parents hanging out and observing their children’s and caregiver’s interactions. 

As professional Early Childhood Educators, you know just how far we have had to come to bring our field into the light and to educate the public as to just what it is that we do. Early Childhood Educators have banished the “babysitter” stigma but how do we keep that alive? We know how important and valuable the work is that we do, but how do we educate and inform the families that use our services and help them to appreciate and understand all of our hard work? Read more...
Quarterly Frog Street Training will be available beginning November 2021. 
 
These recurring trainings will be for new staff coming on board or current staff needing a refresher.

  • Frog Street roll-out training is available for providers needing beginners training for their current staff.  
  • This can be completed virtually or on-site at your center.  
  • 80% of providers, currently using Frog Street Curriculum, has received this roll-out training for staff, but if you feel you need additional training, please email the redline.
HiMama Helps – Childcare Webinar Series

Now, more than ever, the early childhood community has to come together to figure out life during a global pandemic. The HiMama Helps Webinar series was created as a platform for ECEs and child care experts to share stories and practical tips with each other.
Join your hosts, Ria Simon and Kiah Price every Thursday at 2 PM, to explore different topics, offer practical strategies, and have your questions answered. Click below for the library of past webinar recordings.
Conference-Quality Professional Development by Early Childhood Experts

Early Childhood Investigations offers free webinars to early childhood educators. The series is produced by Engagement Strategies, LLC., and presented by leading authors, experts, and leaders. Now, you can participate in conference-quality training without leaving your home, classroom, or office.
We are looking for parents to join the Parent Advisory Committee (PAC)

Download a copy of the flyer by clicking the button below. Please make sure all parents in your center receive a copy of this flyer. You can print to send home with each of your children, or you can simply post the flyer on your social media page.
Florida KidCare

In a time when the health and safety of our community are most important, help keep the children in your center insured.
Encourage families in your centers to contact ELCNWF for information and assistance applying for Florida KidCare. Call 850-747-5400 X 108 or request CCR&R via the link below!
Big Heart World is an initiative produced by Sparkler in collaboration with Noggin that enables parents and educators to help children explore what it means to have a “big heart” and how to grow one. This means:

  • Learning About Me — Awareness of self: identity & belonging, feelings and self-regulation
  • Learning About You — Awareness of others: empathy, appreciation of diversity
  • Learning About Us — Relationships with others: interpersonal strategies

Have your kids listen, sing, and dance along to "Help Work It Out", the next song from Noggin’s Big Heart Beats album. And be sure to follow their site as they will release a new video every month.
September Special Dates

Hispanic Heritage Month
National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
National Neonatal Intensive Care Awareness Month
Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week (September 19-25)
September 25
National Daughter’s Day
Family Health and Fitness Day USA

September 27
Chocolate Milk Day
National Family Day
We exist to grow healthy children, parents, and the relationship between them.
Sponsored by the Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida and the State of Florida, Division of Early Learning