February 2024

Here's "The Scoop!"

As February unfolds, we want to extend a heartfelt thank you for the incredible love and dedication you bring to your role.

This month, as we celebrate love in all its forms, we want you to know how much you are cherished. Your resilience and kindness make all the difference.

Thank you for being the HEART of our child care community!

~ Child Care Aware of NH

Got something specific on your mind that you'd like us to cover? We're all ears! Your thoughts and ideas shape this newsletter, so send us an email at [email protected].

TA Tip: Building Trusting Relationships

Have you ever heard of serve and return? This is a technique that can be used with children to help build their brains, shape their development, and form trusting and nurturing relationships with their caregivers. Serve and return is like a game of catch, but with interaction! The child or caregiver can start this exchange, one would serve by initiating the interaction and the other would respond to that interaction. The more these types of correspondences happen between children and their caregivers, the safer and more secure they will feel in their environment. We know when a child feels safe in their environment, their want and ability to learn will increase.

To learn more about how to serve and return works, please watch the video 'How-to: 5 Steps for Brain Building Serve and Return'.

This TA Tip was graciously shared by Lindsey Parisi,

Lead Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator.

Child Care Aware of NH is here to assist you! To learn more about how we can support your practice, please refer to our Services and Supports Guide.

Resources for Providers

Being a child care provider can be stressful. The care that you provide for children is essential and caring for your well-being is essential, too. 

Doing small things every day to take care of our minds, bodies, and health not only helps us handle what life brings our way but also helps us to take better care of others. 

Try these self-care activities and cross them off as you go!

Resources for Families

"My baby loves to be held and won’t stop crying if I put him down. What can I do to help him stay calm, even when I’m not holding him?"

No doubt about it: a crying baby can be stressful. But remember that crying is one of your baby’s earliest ways of communicating with you. In fact, he is learning about his own ability to communicate through your responses to his cries. There are many ways to deal with your baby’s constant crying and at the same time, help build a strong foundation for the life skill of Communicating, even before your baby can talk. These also will help your child learn to communicate with words later on..

Read more tips on promoting the life skill of communicating with your child, and find more skill building opportunities at the links below.

Child Care Aware of NH is a Child Care Resource and Referral Program of Southern New Hampshire Services. The preparation of this (report, document, etc.) was financed under a Contract with the State of New Hampshire, Department of Health and Human Services, with funds provided in part by the State of New Hampshire and/or such other funding sources as were available or required, e.g., the United States Department of Health and Human Services.