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Smart Start of Pender County

Monthly Newsletter

May 2023

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Agency Hours

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday 9:00am - 5:00pm


Friday 9:00am-1:00pm 


We are open other times by appointment.


First Saturday of the month 9:00am - 12:00pm 


* First Friday of the month we are closed to the public. 


The Resource Library will continue to follow Pender County Schools schedule for closings and delays for inclement weather. 


Phone: (910) 259-9978

1-866-606-0909 

Fax: (910) 259-9728

Email: info@pender4kids.com

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Smart Start of Pender County will be closing early Thursday, May 25, 2023, at 1:00pm and will be closed on Friday, May 26, 2023, for Memorial Day weekend. We will also be closed Monday, May 29, 2023, in observance of Memorial Day. Normal business hours will resume Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

Early Intervention

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month


What is Hearing Loss in Children?


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Autism

What’s available in the Resource Library?

Early Child Development


Phonics Flip Books # 490



These easy-to-use flipbooks each focus on a specific spelling pattern, from long and short vowels to blends and digraphs. Children can just flip through the pages to create 6 to 8 simple words that share the same sound and build reading and decoding skills as they go! The Phonics Flip Books set can help children build and read over 250 words using specific phonics and sound. 

Wild Word Adventure #2383



This game encourages young children to build 3, 4, and even 5 letter words by simply matching cards together. The Wild Word Adventure game also reinforces letter identification, beginning and ending letter sounds, rhyming and spelling for early learners. 

Family Resilience

Sesame Street Military family resources

Division of Child Development and Early Education Updates


Early Care & Learning Expansion & Access Grants can be used for startup costs and projects to expand capacity.


The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Division of Child Development and Early Education invites current and potential North Carolina child care providers to apply for new, one-time, competitive Early Care & Learning Expansion and Access Grants.

The Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2021 (PDF) appropriated $20 million in nonrecurring funds to provide grants for licensed or regulated child care facilities including NC Pre-K classrooms, child care centers and family child care homes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in child care deserts and low-performing and high-poverty districts.

These Early Care & Learning Expansion and Access Grants shall be one-time awards (up to $125, 000) to assist with new or expanded high-quality child care initiatives as follows:

1.    Start-up costs associated with establishing a new licensed or

regulated child care facility;

2.   Quality improvements for existing licensed or regulated child

care facilities that increase the classroom or facility's capacity

or upgrade its star rating; or

3.   Capital improvements or renovations to existing licensed or

regulated child care facilities, including adding or upgrading

outdoor play and learning environments, or increasing a

facility's total capacity.

Unlicensed applicants will have to be licensed or regulated (including passing a criminal background check) by the Division, open, and ready to accept children for care on or before December 31, 2024.


Application Round 2 will open May 22, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. and close June 12, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.

For more information about the program click the link below.

https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Whats-New/new-child-care-grant-applications-now-open

Child Safety

Community Partner Information

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Pender County

Health Department

Pender County Health Department Website

Pender County Library

Check out the programs and events at the Pender County Library Website


Trainings

Child Care Provider Trainings

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May 11th- Building Your Bounce (Providers) - Via Zoom

6:30-8:30 pm, Cost: Free, 2 Credit Hours, Presenter: Regina Bass- Corley

Building Your Bounce is a workshop designed to meet you where you are and help you focus on your own health, happiness and overall well-being. Together, we will learn about resilience and how important it is that you learn to promote your social-emotional health; how your social and emotional well-being can impact the children and families your serve, in both positive and negative ways; and specific, simple and inexpensive strategies to reduce stress and promote your social -emotional health. The Devereux Adult Resilience Survey (DARS), a self-reflective tool, will be shared to help you gain insights into your resilience. Participants are sure to leave this workshop with energy, enthusiasm, and a commitment to make a few positive changes that will lead to greater happiness, fulfillment, and that will undoubtedly resonate in the work you do every day with children, families, teams and communities! All classes are FREE to participants. This is a two-hour class.


May 18th- CPR and First Aid - In Person

6:30-8:30 pm. Cost: $40, Location: SSPC, Presenter: Lakeasha Glaspie

This training teaches early childhood educators and others how to respond to and manage illness and injuries in a child or infant during the first few minutes until professional help arrives. Class size is limited. Register here: https://www.newhanoverkids.org/community/workshops-training/cpr-first-aid-recertification-in-person-pender-county/


May 23rd- Communication and Language Development – Via Zoom

6:30-8:30 pm Cost $10, 2 Credit Hours, Presenters: Candice Dillard & Shelly Martin

From The Growing the Brain: From Birth to 5 years old, A Zero to Three Curriculum for Early Childhood Professionals.

This session will explore how communication skills develop over the first 5 years. We will learn about key milestones in language development and strategies for supporting early communication skills. (This training is free to Pender County Early Educators, call for more info.)


June 8th- Building Your Bounce (Providers) – Via Zoom

6:30-8:30 pm, Cost: Free, 2 Credit Hours, Presenter: Regina Bass- Corley

Building Your Bounce is a workshop designed to meet you where you are and help you focus on your own health, happiness and overall well-being. Together, we will learn about resilience and how important it is that you learn to promote your social-emotional health; how your social and emotional well-being can impact the children and families your serve, in both positive and negative ways; and specific, simple and inexpensive strategies to reduce stress and promote your social-emotional health. The Devereux Adult Resilience Survey (DARS), a self-reflective tool, will be shared to help you gain insights into your resilience Participants are sure to leave this workshop with energy, enthusiasm, and a commitment to make a few positive changes that will lead to greater happiness, fulfillment, and that will undoubtedly resonate in the work you do every day with children, families, teams and communities! All classes are FREE to participants. 

 

June 21st- Go NAPSACC Orientation- Via Zoom

6:30-7:30pm, Cost: Free, 1 Credit hour, Presenter: Shelly Martin

In this session, we will introduce Go NAPSACC, explain its simple 5 step improvement process, and build comfort with its online tools. Providers will explore how to use Go NAPSACC to improve practices, policies and environments to meet best practices in these seven areas: Child Nutrition, Breastfeeding & Infant feeding, Oral Health, Infant & Child Physical Activity, Outdoor Play & Learning, Screen Time, and Farm to ECE.

 

Parent Trainings

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Ways to Donate

Thank You

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International Longshoremen's Association - Local 1426

Wilmington, North Carolina

Thank you for your support and monetary contribution to support the families in Pender County!

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Join Goodsearch.com to raise funds for Smart Start of Pender County. Goodsearch donates money to your favorite cause when you search the internet, shop online or dine out at local restaurants!  Use Goodsearch.com to search the internet and they donate a penny per search to your cause. Use Goodshop.com when you shop on line and they donate a percentage of every purchase and offer over 100,000 coupons to help you save money too! Sign up for their good dining program and they will donate a percentage of your restaurant bill when you eat at any one of thousands of participating restaurants. It's really easy; it's free and turns simple everyday actions into a way to make the world a better place. Please sign up today to support Smart Start of Pender County. 

Birthday Fundraiser for Smart Start of Pender County

Join in supporting a good cause for your birthday this year. Please consider Smart Start of Pender County as your facebook nonprofit fundraising project. Your contribution will make an impact. Every little bit helps. Meta will donate $5.00 too after the first donation.

The mission of Smart Start of Pender County, Inc. is to support services that help every child to grow into his or her potential as a person. Facebook takes care of the donation processing with no fees. 

Or 

PAYPAL

Donate
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About Us

Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at

919-814-5400.

The license is not an endorsement by the State.

Board of Directors

Leslie Green-

Board Chair

Donald Hall - Vice Chair

Sharon Willoughby - Treasurer

Allen Phillips-Bell– Secretary

James "Jimbo" Robbins

Angela Beacham

Stacie Poulin

Rev. Dean Walker

William Marshburn

Edith Meza

S. Eugene Jordan

Sandra Sarmiento

Kimberly Trotman

Avery Ellington

Tandra Henderson-Shepard

                         

     If you are interested in serving on the Smart Start of Pender County Board of Directors, or volunteering with our agency, please contact our office at (910) 259-9978 or stop by and visit with us. 

SSPC Team

                    

Connie Carr-Costin, MSW

Executive Director

ccarr-costin@pender4kids.com

 Ext: 31

 

Angel Parker

Program Manager

aparker@pender4kids.com  

 Ext: 24

 

Shelly Martin

Program Manager

smartin@pender4kids.com  

 Ext: 36

 

Regina Bass-Corley, M.A.Ed

Consultant

rbasscorley@pender4kids.com  

Ext: 26

 

Candice Dillard

Consultant

rcdillard@pender4kids.com   

Ext:22 


Lisa Worley

Program Evaluator/ Coordinator

lworley@pender4kids.com

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The staff of Smart Start of Pender County would like to

thank our board members, child care providers and our local

community for investing in early care and education.

Special thank

you to Lauretta Murray and Angela Ortiz.

 

Please like us on Facebook, check us out on Pinterest, follow on Twitter and connect with our website at www.pender4kids.com

The mission of Smart Start of Pender County, Inc. is to support services that provide opportunities for every child to grow into his or her potential as a person.