RIAEYC E-News, October 2010

Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children

promoting excellence in early childhood education

NAEYC PD Institute Coming to Providence, RI in 2011!

Mark your Calendar for June 12-15, 2011 to attend next year's 20th National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development

Providence, RI NAEYC's National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development is designed for teacher educators, program administrators, and others who provide professional preparation and ongoing professional development experiences for the early childhood workforce: center and school-based teaching staff, family child care providers, and other direct service specialists.

The goal of the Institute is to deepen participants' understanding of the expanding early childhood knowledge base, develop skills that improve professional preparation and practice, and sharpen their ability to use effective, active learning approaches for adults.

Each year, the Institute focuses on a theme that addresses a key issue in the field. The theme for the 2011 Institute is, "Curriculum, Assessment, and Teaching: Putting It All Together!"

NAEYC is now accepting proposals to present at the 2011 National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development. The deadline for submissions has been extended to November 19, 2010. Click here to learn more about and submit a proposal. Presenters receive a discounted registration to the entire Institute.

RIAEYC Welcomes Student Representatives to the Board

Please join us in welcoming three new student representatives to the RIAEYC Board! All currently attend the Community College of Rhode Island. They are:

Jaclyn Farrar
Bianca Ianiero
Amanda A. Reed

Student representatives play a critical role on the RIAEYC Board, each serving a term of one-year. We thank them for their commitment to advocating for the well-being of young children, their dedication to the early care and education profession, and vision for seeking college student involvement in RIAEYC.

Legislative Commission Launches New Website

This month the Permanent Legislative Commission on Child Care released a new and improved website.

The Commission was created in 1985 to address the issues, problems, and alternative solutions that are critical to the development of accessible, affordable, and quality child care. The Commission also reports on the concerns and issues impacting the quality child care, and identifies the programs, projects, and activities the Commission will undertake regarding those issues.

The Commission is chaired by Representative Grace Diaz.

BrightStars to Offer FCCERS-R Training in December

In December, BrightStars will offer a training on the FCCERS-R for family child care programs. Preparing for the FCCERS-R will be held on
December 14, 2010, 6-8pm. The training will include:

Information, explanations, and answers about the FCCERS-R
How best to prepare for a BrightStars assessment visit
How BrightStars uses the FCCERS-R in determining a program's star rating

We hope you will join us for this training! Participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance for the session (2 hours) and will have the opportunity to ask specific questions about the FCCERS-R and BrightStars. BrightStars will offer this session in Spanish at a later date.

For more information and to register, contact us at (401) 398-7605 or info@BrightStars.org.

Resources for Families: New Tools from CSEFEL & CELL

Teaching Your Child to Become Independent with Daily Routines

The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) has released a new New Family Tool - Teaching Your Child to Become Independent with Daily Routines to help parents and caregivers understand what self-help skills can be expected from young children and to provide tips for helping children learn how to become more independent with daily routines. It is available online at http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/documents/teaching_routines.pdf

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Child Interests - Interests Lead to Learning

The Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) recently published a new CELL video entitled Child Interests - Interests Lead to Learning (2010). This video can be used by parents or practitioners to explore how to identify a child's personal and situational interests, and how those interests can be used for early literacy learning. It is available online at http://www.earlyliteracylearning.org/interests_lead_to_learn.php.

Research Roundup: Diverse Perspectives on Play

Two recent articles give us food for thought on unstructured play. Read on.

First, the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) recently published the two-page brief Expanding School Readiness Gains in Prekindergarten, based on an article by Nina Chien, Carollee Howes, Robert Pianta, et al. The brief summarizes a study focused on individual children and the type of activities with which they engage during their prekindergarten day - what the researchers call "pattern of classroom engagement". Looking beyond the environment provided for learning and delving more deeply into activities occupying children's time, this study sought to examine the relationship between four different patterns of classroom engagement and children's later success on language, literacy, and mathematics school readiness indicators. The brief highlights that "results from this study suggest that more quality instructional time with teachers and less free play time without teacher guidance or scaffolding would better prepare children for entering kindergarten".

Second, the October 20, 2010 edition of Exchange Everyday discusses the Piagetian view of play. "Jean Piaget theorized that a child's mental models, or cognitive structures, are based on the child's activities; engagement makes meaning. Free, unstructured play is healthy and, in fact, essential for helping children reach important social, emotional and cognitive developmental milestones. Piaget's theory is based on the idea that the developing child builds cognitive structures known as mental maps, or schemas, for understanding and responding to physical experiences.

... Community Postings ...

Events...

Fall 2010 CDA Core Components
Wednesdays, November 3, 2010-February 9, 2011
6:30-8:30pm, Children's Friend
Independence Square, Pawtucket
This twelve-week series will help child care providers understand developmentally appropriate practice as it applies to the CDA functional areas. The content areas covered in this course will include the CDA competency goals and functional areas. Price: $220 (for 24 class hours plus textbook). To register, please contact Yeimy Bakemon-Morel before November 1, 2010. ybakemon-morel@cfsri.org or by phone: 401-721-6401.

ON PLAYFUL PARTNERS: BEST PRACTICE STRATEGIES CAN BE FUN
Sargent Rehabilitation Center will hold a free 'Link to Learning' parent workshop on Thursday, November 4 from 7-8:30 pm on the topic of "Playful Partners: Best Practice Strategies Can be Fun." The speaker is Kathleen Schlenz, MS, OTR/L, Occupational Therapist, at Sargent Rehabilitation Center, Warwick, RI. This workshop will present a unique and creative program that teaches parents and caregivers specific skills to support children with developmental delay. Through a coaching-learning play-based model, parents and caregivers enrolled in the program learn how to implement evidence-based best-practice strategies to carry over at home and in the community. The workshop is open to parents of children with disabilities and will be held at Sargent Center, 800 Quaker Lane, Warwick. Parents should register on the Center's Link Line at 886-6612 as seating is limited. To see a full listing of the 2010-2011 Link to Learning workshops please check community outreach offerings at www.sargentcenter.org.

Boston AEYC'S 20th Annual Conference for Directors & Administrators
Save the Date
"FIT AS A FIDDLE ~ CARING FOR THE WHOLE CHILD"
FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011
BOSTON MARRIOTT, BURLINGTON, MA
Contact Julie Gillcrist: julieg2811@gmail.com

Discounts...

NAEYC Online Store

NAEYC members save 20% off all resources on the online store. Visit the online store to begin taking advantage of your member savings today!

Kaplan Early Learning Company

Offering a 17% Discount and Free UPS Shipping on orders over $200! Please use code 18631 when placing your order. The offer expires on 1/31/2011. Please contact Dave Kulick at 1-800-334-2014 ext. 5240/Cell: 860-460-2350 for more information about the wide variety of offerings that Kaplan provides.

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Submit your news, announcements, and items of interest. Items received by the 10th of the month will be included in that month's publication.

The mission of RIAEYC is to support professionals in their work by promoting quality education and the healthy development of children birth through eight.

Upcoming Events

Election Day
Tuesday, Nov. 2

Legislative Commission on Child Care

Veteran's Day

RIAEYC Board Meeting

Nov. 15, 6pm

RIAEYC office