Child Care Chronicles

Indiana Edition

Welcome to This Week Newsletter!

A new week is a fresh chance to build strong routines, warm connections, and meaningful learning moments—one small moment at a time. This week’s theme is trust + teamwork: supporting children’s big feelings, encouraging cooperative play, and keeping documentation respectful and professional

📣 Provider Announcements

Indiana Preschool Teachers & Families: Share Your Voice (Purdue University Study)

The Social-emotional Health in Nurturing Environments (SHINE) Lab at Purdue University is currently recruiting participants for their ongoing study. They are currently exploring teacher and parent perspectives on social-emotional well-being and mental health risk in early childhood (IRB # 2025-908).

This study includes a brief, confidential survey for teachers and parents related to their research. There is also an optional interview component. All participation is completely voluntary and fully virtual. To thank participants for their time and effort in contributing to their research, they will receive $30 for completion of the surveys. Those selected for a virtual interview will receive an additional $40. The researchers hope that these findings will support early identification and action for social-emotional health, especially addressing risks early on.

The SHINE Lab is recruiting two groups of participants: 1. Preschool teachers who currently work with children between the ages of 3-5 in a preschool program in Indiana • 2. Parents/caregivers of a child between the ages of 3-5 who is currently enrolled in a preschool program in Indiana

For more information or to participate, please click on the link to the flyer and scan the QR code.

SHINE Lab Purdue Teacher Flyer

***Disclaimer: ChildCareEd and its affiliates are not part of this IRB-approved research study and do not make any claims regarding the research, the IRB review, or study outcomes.***

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🚨 New Class Alert!

Privacy Matters: Documentation and Observation in Early Learning

Documentation helps us tell the story of children’s growth—but it must be done with care.

In this course, you’ll explore:

Builds trust and professionalism through accurate records and strong confidentiality practices
Covers privacy best practices to support legal and ethical compliance
Teaches objective observation and effective documentation methods
Explores appropriate screening/observation tools to support developmental needs
Strengthens collaboration with families and specialists to improve outcomes for children

February-Friendly Savings!

💘Valentine’s Day- Share the Love of Learning. 💘

Lunar New Year Learning $10 select 3 hour trainings (Expires 2/21)

Presidents’ Day Lead with Learning

Illuminate Learning🕯️Maha Shivaratri

More Discounts

Fun Corner: Giggles + Good Vibes

🎉 Fun Corner: What fun classroom ideas can we do this week?

🏅 1) “Build a Winter Olympics” Movement Stations (10–15 min)

Set up simple stations and rotate groups:

⛸️ Speed Skating: “Skate” on paper plates (or pretend skates) across the rug
🛷 Bobsled Push: Partners push a laundry basket (lightweight items only)
🐇 Ski Jump: Two-foot hops over a taped line
🥌 Curling: Roll a soft ball toward a target circle on the floor

Teacher talk 💬:

“Show me how you keep your balance!”
“How can we cheer for our teammates?” 📣

🎒 2) Mystery Bag Observation Game (5–8 min)

Put 3–5 classroom objects in a bag. Children take turns feeling an item and describing it:

“It feels…”
“It might be…”
“I think it’s used for…”

Great for language 🗣️ + thinking 🧠 + turn-taking 🙌.

🌈 3) “Friendship Helpers” Job Cards (ongoing)

Create 4 simple helper roles:

🚪 Door Holder
🧍 Line Leader
🧹 Clean-Up Captain
💖 Kindness Spotter (“I noticed you helped!”)

❄️🏅 Winter Olympics Fun

Even without snow, you can bring the Olympic spirit indoors:

🥇 Make paper medals and celebrate effort and teamwork
💪 Teach the idea of practice: “Athletes practice—just like we practice taking turns!”
📣 Add a “Cheer Chant” during movement: “Go, team, go!”

Save Your Spot—Upcoming Trainings

Including All Children and the Americans with Disabilities Act

Upcoming & running sessions:

February 22, 2026 —

8:00 AM to 11:00 AM (EST)

February 26, 2026 —

6:45 PM to 9:45 PM (EST)

March 3, 2026 —

6:45 PM to 9:45 PM (EST)

March 7, 2026-

08:00 AM EST to 11:00AM (EST)

Basic Health & Safety and Breastfeeding Awareness

Upcoming & running sessions:

February 22, 2026 —

8:30 AM to 11:30 AM (EST)

March 4, 2026 —

6:45 PM to 9:45 PM (EST)

March 7, 2026 —

8:30 AM to 11:30 AM (EST)

Are You Looking for Onsite or Virtual Trainings?

🧑‍🏫💻

If you don’t see what you need on our calendar, you can request an onsite or virtual training for a group of 10 or more here:

Submit an On-site Request

📰 Featured Article

Insights, ideas, and inspiration for your week.

👧 Introduction: What is Milestone Monday and why does it matter?

Introduction: What is Milestone Monday and why does it matter?

Milestone Monday is a short, simple weekly routine you use to notice and record one small set of age-based skills for each child. It helps teachers and directors keep track of what kids can do and spot when a child may need extra help. Using a regular time each week makes #observation easier and builds trust with #families.

✨ Featured Activities/Social Media✨

🌟 Recreate this 3D Masjid Ramadan Activity and tag us for a repost and to be featured in our story. Ramadan Kareem to all those who celebrate. 🌙 We've put together a whole array of simple Ramadan activities with instructions! Access the list here www.linktr.ee/ChildCareEd

🚗 Put away the cars, legos, and dolls. Do you ever stop and appreciate your tidy time skills?

☘️ Have y'all seen Lucky the Leprechaun? Home Daycare Providers and Child Care Providers, spark some St. Patrick's Day magic with this activity!

Boom, Clap, Snatch! Sharpen Focus and Listening Skills. Try it, it'll be a hit in your classrooms. Like, share, and follow ChildCareEd for more 🙂

Definitely try these and tag @childcareed on your video to get featured in our stories!

Follow ChildCareEd and hop on to www.ChildCareEd.com for tons of free resources and child care trainings.

🌙 Ramadan (Theme: Kindness + Community)

If families in your program observe Ramadan, this can be a wonderful time to practice inclusion and kindness 🤍.

Classroom-friendly ideas:

🔗 Create a “Kindness Chain”—each link is one kind act children notice
📚 Read stories about helping, sharing, and community
🏠 Offer a family board: “What traditions matter to your family?” (optional sharing)

Tip ✅: Keep it simple and respectful—families choose what they want to share.

Click Here for Free Resource: Ramadan Classroom Activities

Big Feelings Helper (Quick Script) 💛

😌 Big Feelings Helper

🧰 This Week’s Tool: “Name it + Breathe it + Do a Plan”

When a child is upset, try this simple 3-step support:

🏷️ Name it: “You look frustrated.”

🎈 Breathe it: “Let’s do 3 balloon breaths together.”

🗺️ Do a plan: “You can ask for a turn, choose a different toy, or get help.”

Balloon Breath Script 🎈

“Put your hands on your belly. Breathe in… big balloon. Breathe out… slow and quiet.”

Try this during ⏳ transitions, 🧺 clean-up, 🧍 waiting turns, and 👥 group time.

🎓 Unlimited Learning = More Peace of Mind

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If you’re part of a program using Group Admin, courses can also be assigned and tracked all in one place—making training simple and organized.

👉 Learn more about subscriptions & Group Admin here:

https://www.childcareed.com/a/group-admin-subscriptions.html

And that’s just the beginning! Subscribers can explore a wide variety of professional development courses to stay compliant, grow skills, and advance confidently.

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