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Council Connections
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April 2013 |
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Greetings!
Welcome spring and all the newness the season has to offer. Get outside and smell the freshness of buds, lilacs and green grass. Bring nature into your programs with fresh and new science themed activities. Enjoy this April issue of School Age Connections, an e-newsletter from the Child Care Council of Westchester and as always, we welcome your feedback and ideas. Susan M. Edelstein Director, ISACC |
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School Age Child Care
Regulation Review:
414.15 Management and Administration |
ISACC has seen some recent violations related to staff documentation, which falls under Management and Administration. Review the regulation on Management and Administration to ensure your program is in compliance and you are collecting updated and required staff information. Be sure your staff is aware of the documentation they need to have in order to be employed in your after school program. |
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Resources for After School Professionals and
News from School Age Director's Network
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Engaging After School Program Staff
Are you looking for ways to enhance relationship-building practices with the staff in your program? What are some of the important areas of focus when striving to reach the highest level of success while actively trying to create a sense of community with your staff? The need for high quality programming cannot be supported unless the staff is well trained, well prepared and has a genuine connection to their work.
Some important indicators of success include staff recruitment, training, coaching and supervision, well established support, partnerships and adequate evaluation.Strategies and practices used to bolster relationships among staff can vary depending on the size and type of organization or program, and the number and makeup of the staff. In general, when your staff experiences a sense of community at their workplace, they tend to work better on teams, have a more positive attitude and seem more engaged in their work. An atmosphere of trust and authenticity is key in developing a positive working climate where staff demonstrate integrity and respect for one another. Planned team-building activities, social events and collaboration opportunities are great ways to kick off your staff engagement efforts!
Common relationship-building practices that seem to work across organizational structure and composition include:
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Keeping staff informed of changes, policies, and new directions. Posting a bulletin board, circulating a newsletter, setting up an intranet site, or hosting team meetings to keep everyone abreast of events and procedures can help to make all staff members feel part of the team.
- Forming social groups or clubs. Encouraging staff members to participate in social clubs can help them get to know each other, and promote positive relationships.
- Developing feedback mechanisms. Giving staff members an opportunity to express concerns about the organization or other staff members-and responding to these concerns-can help reduce the likelihood that issues or conflicts will escalate.
- Implementing activities that foster tolerance, such as diversity trainings and cultural awareness workshops. Providing staff members with activities that reinforce understanding and respect for people who differ from them is critical to ensuring that everyone gets along. Such efforts can help ward off misunderstandings, miscommunication, and uncivil behavior.
- Fostering mentor-mentee relationships. Taking this step can offer staff an opportunity to share and gain new insights.
For additional information about this topic:
www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2007_10_01_RB_6SuccessDriversRev.pdf
For great Team-Building Activities: www.officearrow.com/8-fun-activities-to-help-build-your-team.html
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Celebrate in April
April, which means "open", is National Humor Month, International Guitar Month, Keep America Beautiful Month, Stress Awareness Month and National Pecan Month. Weekly celebrations include: Week 1: Library Week and Week 4: National Karaoke Week. Other special occasions and wacky days are:
2nd - Children's Book Day
7th - Caramel Popcorn Day
8th - Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
10th - National Siblings Day
13th - Scrabble Day
14th - International Moment of Laughter Day and Look Up at the Sky Day
15th - Patriot's Day
18th - National High Five Day
22nd - Earth Day
26th - Arbor Day and National Pretzel Day
27th - Tell a Story Day
28th - Great Poetry Reading Day
Click here for more information about these and other wacky days in April. Special programming and activities can be scheduled for several to celebrate these fun and crazy days.
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This Month in History - April
The dollar sign ($) was invented on April 1, 1778 by Oliver Pollack. and on April 29, 1913, Gideon Sundback of Hoboken, NJ patented the zipper. To find about what else happened in April history, click here. Use some of these historical happenings to teach children about history.
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2013 Lights On Afterschool poster contest is underway. Afterschool program participants are encouraged to submit artwork that celebrates afterschool programs and conveys the importance of keeping the lights on afterschool. The winning poster design will be printed on tens of thousands of posters sent to Lights On Afterschool celebrations across the country, and featured on the organizations website,blog and Afterschool Storybook. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2013. Details are here.
GTECH's After School Advantage Program is a national community investment initiative that provides nonprofit community agencies and public schools with computer labs designed to give disadvantaged children a meaningful, fun, and safe learning experience during the critical afterschool hours. To be eligible to apply for the program, organizations must have an existing afterschool program in need of a computer lab, serve youth ages 5-15, and have staffing and monetary support systems in place to sustain the lab. GTECH donates up to $15,000 in state-of-the-art computers, on-line technology, computer software, and volunteer hours to accepted afterschool programs. Applications are taken throughout the year on a rolling basis and can be found here.
Playing with Legos to Support After-School STEM Lessons. February 2013. This article describes some instances in which educators learned that toys like Legos and K'NEX can also be used outside formal classroom time to teach STEM. It provides examples of programs such as Build It in Perrysburg, Ohio or RoboFun in New York, which believe that hands-on activities have the potential to engage students in ways traditional teaching methods may not. In addition, students who participate in such programs not only learn STEM principles but they also learn life skills such as teamwork and problem solving. Education Week.
How to Craft an After-School Program that Doesn't Suck. March 2013. This article is presented in the form of an interview with Hillary Salmons, the Executive Director of the Providence After School Alliance. In it, she addresses issues pertaining to getting students to show up and regularly attend after-school programs, as well as the role of state and local governments in supporting and facilitating after-school initiatives. Governing.
Leap of Faith: A Literature Review on the Effects of Professional Development on Program Quality and Youth Outcomes. 2012. Although there is no empirical research that clearly links professional development and youth outcomes, there exists a large body of OST literature that establishes the characteristics of high-quality professional development. Some of these characteristics are that professional development should be: coherent, content focused, based in a community of learners, and sustained over a period of time. NIOST.
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News from the School Age Director's Network
Meetings continue to be held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. The April meeting is on Tuesday April 16 at 10 am. contact Samantha Mars at SADNpresident@gmail.com for additional information.
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Tip of the Month
Preventing Misbehavior | |
One of the greatest challenges of working with school age children is effectively managing their behavior. For any number of reasons, most children will misbehave at one time or another. The key to managing behavior is to prevent inappropriate behavior from happening. As we all know, it is easier to prevent inappropriate behavior than to deal with the consequences of misbehavior.
Here are some strategies:
- Use your knowledge of the children to plan your environment. Armed with knowledge of the children's developmental level, interests, needs, temperaments, and family background, you can better plan your environment and activities. The way your program is set up will affect the behavior of the children, either positively or negatively. A well designed and equipped environment will allow children to feel comfortable, follow rules, and engage in and enjoy your activities.
- Develop a relationship with each child. Start by ensuring that you greet each child individually upon arrival. This greeting tells each child that their presence matters to you. Work hard to establish a positive relationship with each child. This will give you the foundation to encourage good behavior.
- Learn the appropriate expectations for behavior at each developmental level. By learning the developmental milestones, you will understand what is reasonable to expect from the behavior for each age group. This knowledge will enable you to adjust your expectations for the behavior for each age group.
- Plan activities that will connect with the children. Busy, engaged children are less likely to exhibit inappropriate behavior. Provide the children with a variety of different, interesting opportunities. Allow the children to make the choice about want they would like to do and with whom.
The Child Care Council of Westchester offers technical assistance and training to maintain compliance with OCFS regulations and to familiarize school age staff with best practices in school age care. Contact Mary Ann Brendler at maryannb@cccwny.org or 914-761-3456 x 172 if you would like additional assistance on this topic or any other topic relating to school age care. |
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Upcoming Events and Trainings |
Pre-registration is required for all trainings and conferences. New lower prices: $30 for members and $40 for non-members for individual workshops. Specific Director and Administrator, Infant/Toddler, Preschool, Family & Group Family and School Age tracks.
Check out the January - June 2013 Professional Development Calendar here.
We've got lots of interesting and unique training opportunities for
school age professionals.
Contact us to tell us what trainings you need for your staff.
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