June 12th, 2023

ECC SLV's Denise Benavides was recognized by the Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance!


Child Care Navigation Spotlight: Denise Benavides, M.Ed. with the ECC of the San Luis Valley


In early 2022, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (formerly Office of Early Childhood) contracted with Colorado’s Early Childhood Councils to deliver services related to Family Child Care Navigation and Access and Outreach of Care Navigation. The funding for these positions builds upon the important work that Early Childhood Councils are already doing in their communities and gives them additional resources to continue to meet local needs through support, technical assistance, and outreach to providers who are licensed or interested in becoming licensed...


Click here to continue reading the full article!

Invitation to Partner with Early Head Start!

Interested parties must participate in 1 of the 3 informational meetings on Zoom.


To join via Zoom, click on the buttons below!

June 20th - JOIN
June 21st - JOIN
June 22nd - JOIN

Universal Preschool Colorado-Updates


Families that applied in the second round of UPK Colorado, as well as families from the first round that didn't match to a provider or declined their provider match, will receive notification of their matches on Thursday, June 1. Families have until Thursday, June 8 to accept or decline their match.

The determination of whether or not there will be a third round of matching will be made after the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) assesses the number of additional applications received after May 17. If warranted, a third round will be conducted. If not necessary, applications will be processed on a rolling basis.

Between the first two rounds of matching, more than 30,000 families have been matched to a provider!

You can also contact Bryan Lindert at [email protected] for more information.  


Our local website with updates and frequently asked questions can be accessed here.

HB23 - 1290: Retain Revenue for Universal Preschool


HB23-1290: Retain Revenue for Universal Preschool (McCluskie & Sirota/Moreno & Fields): Refers a question to November 2023 voters about whether to retain excess revenue raised from Proposition EE, a ballot measure Coloradans passed overwhelmingly in 2020. Prop EE raised taxes on tobacco and nicotine products to fund a free, voluntary universal preschool program. Retaining the additional revenue will allow Colorado to provide universal preschool services and extend additional preschool programming to more children, especially those with qualifying factors who need it most.

https://www.coloradokids.org/

Health & Safety


One of the most important ways we can keep our children and teachers safe is by having children up to date with their immunizations. Early Head Start Performance Standards requires that all child that are enrolled follow the CDC vaccination schedule. If you feel like your child my not be up to date with their vaccines please call their primary care provider or public health to get them caught up. 


Click here for full size flyer.

Colorado Fatherhood Program


Fathers play a vital role for children and families. In fact, children with involved fathers are at lower risk for a host of poor childhood outcomes. A nurturing father’s presence makes a positive difference in the lives of children, mothers, families, and communities. 

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood is empowering Colorado fathers to build healthy parent-child relationships through the Colorado Fatherhood Program—a five-year, $7.5 million federally funded initiative. 

This grant funds seven fatherhood programs with nine locations across Colorado to support fathers to grow their parenting knowledge, strengthen relationships, work toward financial well being, and navigate programs like child support. 

Our grantee sites offer a free, 10-session workshop where fathers learn healthy co-parenting and nurturing parenting skills, how to be more active in their children's lives, network with other dads, and receive connections to resources (legal aid, job training). Dads also get one-on-one coaching from local fatherhood advocates. All services are voluntary and targeted to fathers and father figures over the age of 18, with a child or children under the age of 24.

The more fathers we reach, the more opportunity we have to connect them to beneficial services and grow and maintain strong families. Click below for the flyer to learn more about the Colorado Fatherhood Program or to make a referral to a local program.


Click here for flyer

We still have FREE Boxes of DIAPERS!


For a diaper distribution center near you, please click here or scan the QR code below!

Parents As Teachers - Mental Health Awareness Month

(For Families with children pre-natal to age 5)


Child developmental screening takes place for all children within 90 days of family enrollment or child’s birth, and then at least annually thereafter. Developmental domains that require screening include language, cognitive, social-emotional, and motor development. Child developmental surveillance takes place during each personal visit.

 

Parents as Teachers affiliates use the most up-to-date instrument available from the publisher and are required to transition to the new edition of any tool used no more than one year after its release. Affiliates must follow the publisher’s guidelines for instrument use, including training requirements. Parent Educators document results using the summary report provided by the tool’s developer and/or the Child Developmental Screening Summary. These summaries are shared with the family and stored in their family file. While affiliates may also use other screening tools, they will not meet the screening requirement.

 

Both screening and monitoring can result in early identification of developmental delays and overall improved health and development of young children, and are essential to the Parents as Teachers evidence based model.

Coaching


The National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations

The goals of the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations (NCPMI) are to assist states and programs in their implementation of sustainable systems for the implementation of the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children (Pyramid Model) within early intervention and early education programs with a focus on promoting the social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes of young children birth to five, reducing the use of inappropriate discipline practices, promoting family engagement, using data for decision-making, integrating early childhood and infant mental health consultation and fostering inclusion.

 

This link to a children’s book list includes diverse examples of books that can be used to promote social-emotional skills such as feelings and emotions, friendships, kindness, and problem solving.


Children’s book list

Pyramid Training - Promoting Children’s Engagement

A 1.5 hour interactive training of effective strength-based social/emotional supports for teachers, children, and families.


When: June 27, 2023 – 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Where: A ZOOM Training

Fee: Scholarship from Council (no fee)

For more information – Cindy Harris – 719-588-2870


Click here to register!

Pursuing Bad Guys-A Webinar:


In this fascinating webinar, Donna King, a preschool teacher, and author of Pursuing Bad Guys: Joining Children’s Quest for Clarity Courage and Community, and Pam Oken-Wright, M.Ed., a pedagogical consultant, will tell the story of their work together on a long-term investigation of “Bad Guys.” We have all observed children playing “bad guys” in their pretend play, and grappled with whether to intervene or not, and if so, how to handle those moments. If you typically encourage creative and spontaneous imaginative play you are likely to be unsure how to constructively respond to violent imaginative play. This webinar explores a specific approach and the stories of how the approach works.

Pam will share some of the important tools and strategies she offers to teachers who hope to engage in collaborative research with children, and Donna will share stories of what it was like to try those tools and strategies.

This remarkable journey brings to light multiple streams of transformation in one story: the first ever sustained investigation for children and teachers, a courageous trust in a pedagogical companion to support the teachers’ intent, a pedagogical paradigm shift, and a renewed energy and vision for teachers and children.

Join us to:

  • get a sense of what it’s like for teachers to work with a pedagogical consultant to grow their practice.
  • experience, through examples of children’s visual work, storytelling and conversation, the unfolding of a research investigation into a very common and often sticky preschool issue – a preoccupation with bad guys.
  • learn guidelines for growing long-term investigations that truly matter to children. 

All sessions are 1.5 hours long and include a brief announcement from our sponsor.

2:oo PM – 3:30 PM Eastern Time.

To ensure you receive confirmation and reminder emails, add [email protected] to your contacts list. If you do not receive your email confirmation, check your Spam or Junk mail folders in your email system.

New information about how to obtain Certificates and CEUs

Beginning April 19, 2023 at the end of every webinar, you will be provided with a link to take a short quiz to earn your certificate + CEUs for the webinar. The certificate will include.2 CEUs. The cost is $3, which is paid online to our certificate partner, Bertelsen Education when you take the quiz and download the certificate + CEUs. Learn more here: Certificates + CEUs – New Process

Can’t participate in our webinars at the appointed time? Never fear! All webinars are recorded. To view the recording, simply register now and you will receive an email with a link to the recording when it is ready to be viewed. You can obtain a certificate + CEUs by watching the recording to the end and following the directions announced and displayed on the screen. The cost is $3, which is paid online to our certificate partner, Bertelsen Education when you take the short quiz and download the certificate + CEUs. Read more about certificates for recording viewers here: Certificates + CEUs for Recording Viewers

We start all webinars 30 minutes in advance of the start time. Arrive early to make sure you get in.


Click here to register.


Personal Development - Career opportunities and financial supports for you! 

 

High quality early childhood settings begin with well-trained and well-prepared educators. The Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) currently offers several state-wide scholarship and grant opportunities for students who would like to earn a degree, certificate, or credential in early childhood education, and for home-based providers who are seeking funding to start up, expand, or maintain consistent operations for their family child care home facility:



  • ECCLA’s Back to Work Scholarship Program provides 1:1 career and college navigation and scholarship awards up to $2,500.00 that can be used for several different types of expenses (like books, supplies, child care, and more!)
  • ECCLA’s Concurrent Enrollment Scholarship is for high school students interested in earning college credits and experience in Early Childhood Education.
  • ECCLA’s Early Childhood Coach Credential Scholarship is available to help recipients complete the training requirements to earn a Colorado Coach Credential.
  • ECCLA’s Family Child Care Home Improvement Grant is available to help home-based providers start up, expand, or maintain consistent operations for their family child care home facility. 
  • ECCLA’s Rural R.U.N. Scholarship Program provides career counseling and tuition support to early childhood professionals in rural communities seeking to earn early childhood credentials like ERS®, CLASS®, National Director Credential, Coaching Credential, and any of the ECE College Certificates.
  • ECCLA’s T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® Colorado Scholarship Program offers early childhood professionals a pathway to pursue higher education. 
  • ECCLA’s  Early Childhood Coach Credential Scholarship, in partnership with the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC), ECCLA offers a scholarship opportunity for early childhood professionals seeking an Early Childhood Coaching Credential. 


The Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) is committed to the process of ensuring equity, dismantling systems of racism, and supporting young children, families, and early childhood professionals to have a voice as their true selves in our early childhood system. ECCLA’s Justice, Equity, and Belonging (JEB) Collaborative has created a Resource Collection that can support you in creating inclusive environments for children, families, and educators. We have resources created by ECCLA, resources for caregivers and educators, administrators and program leaders, and other community and state stakeholders, along with a list of Equity Trainings and Trainers. Check out ECCLA’s JEB page to see how you can create inclusive environments for children, families, and educators!


Click here to Apply 
Click here for Resources

Opportunities with deadlines-Repost


Merit Awards/Quality Incentive (bonus $) are available for licensed providers who were in operation on March 11th, 2021, and are interested in increasing a Colorado Shines quality level. The deadline is September 30, 2023 or until funds are no longer available. For more information, click here.


If you need additional information please contact Monique Bosch at [email protected]

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ECCSLV considers requests based on relevance, capacity, and timeliness. We do not guarantee that all information will be shared.

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