Spring 2007
Sharing the Wisdom of Many Voices Conference
PITC Trainers
PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES::
Contact: Gail Mahr
651-290-9704 ext. 200
Not by Chance:
Contact: Gail Mahr
651-290-9704 ext. 200
Ounce Scale MN Child Care Project
Contact: Mary Scott
651-433-2182
Sharing the Wisdom of
Many Voices Conference
Contact: Julie Wasiluk
651-290-9704 ext. 119
Contact: Cory Woosley
651-746-4024
Program for Infant/Toddler Care (ITTI) Trainers
Minnesota's 2nd Annual Birth to Three Conference
The 2nd Annual Birth to Three Conference exceeded expectations of planners with more than 450 registrations. There were 20 workshops, two keynote speakers and a dinner presentation offered. This year the planning committee offered several wellness and recreation activities to participants that included water aerobics, yoga, aromatherapy and reflexology. Massages were also available at the conference.
The theme for the 2007 conference “Poverty: Its Effect on Our Youngest Children and Their Families” provided guidance for presentations which included statistical information, recent trends and new strategies for reaching and supporting families who are living in poverty.
Dr. Jane Knitzer, Author, Executive Director of the National Center for Children in Poverty, and Clinical Professor of Population and Family Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health provided a keynote presentation of her work on understanding how public policies can improve outcomes for children and families, especially those in low-income brackets.
The second keynote presenter, Jolene Roehlkepartain, Author of “Building Assets Together” provided information from the Search Institute's identified 40 building blocks (Developmental Assets). These assets provide a powerful paradigm that has mobilizing communities, organizations, and individuals to take action for children and families.
A special dinner presentation on the Wakanheza Project: The Spirit of the Child was very well received. Wakanheza is the Dakota word for “child”; its literal translation means “sacred being.” When we regard our children as they are, and are intended to be, it has a powerful impact on the way we treat children, youth and families. Speakers highlighted the principals, practices and vision of the Wakanheza Project that have been shared with communities, institutions and individuals, to change the way we respond to children and families in stressful times.
Trainer Mentors Still Available!
Need a mentor to help you finally write that WestEd Certification paper or go through the Minnesota Certification process? PITC (ITTI) mentor trainers are available to help you. For a limited time, the Minnesota CCR&R Network has funds available to pay for the cost of working with a mentor. This is a great opportunity to tap into the expertise of experienced, certified PITC mentor trainers. If you want to take advantage, please contact Julie Wasiluk, Professional Development Program Specialist, at juliew@mnchildcare.org or 651-290-9704, ext. 119 for more information. But hurry – the deadline to request mentoring services is March 15th !!
Attention On-Site Consultants!
The Minnesota CCR&R Network currently has funds available to support on-site consultation for providers and programs. If you are interested in providing consultations to family child care providers and/or centers in your area, please contact your CCR&R Professional Development Coordinator by March 15 !! Consultation is an effective way to increase the quality of care for infants and toddlers. Don't miss this opportunity to share your knowledge with providers in your area!
PITC Curriculum Adaptation for Center Directors
Since the PITC curriculum has been delivered in Minnesota, we have all heard the frustrations of center staff who, after taking the PITC training, want to implement changes in their infant and toddler rooms but aren't able to because their center director can't or won't approve the changes. Center directors and program administrators are a crucial link to quality infant and toddler care environments and practices, and yet many have missed out on the PITC training. In response to this missing piece of the puzzle, the MN CCR&R Network contracted with Vicki Hawley (certified PITC trainer) and Katy Chase (experienced center director) to development two new training adaptations geared to help you include the center director in PITC training by addressing their concerns and issues. The adaptation materials were reviewed by a wonderful committee made up of both experienced PITC trainers as well as center directors. The materials were also presented to a group of 30 PITC trainers last fall, during a special session of the Sharing the Wisdom conference. Both training adaptations are now available and ready to use in future PITC trainings.
The first adaptation is a guide designed to be used when your training audience includes a center director or directors, or when specific questions are asked by your participants about implementing the PITC philosophy in a child care center. Information included in the guide will help you as a trainer address specific concerns and questions center directors or others often raise when hearing about implementing the PITC philosophy in a child care center setting. This adaptation guide is available for any certified PITC trainer who trains in Minnesota . Copies of the guide will be available on the Minnesota CCR&R Network website http://www.mnchildcare.org/providers/prodev.php
The second adaptation developed is a special six hour training designed specifically for child care center directors or other administrators. This training examines the PITC philosophy from a center director “lens” – addressing common concerns and barriers program directors an d a dministrators face. The goal of the training is to help directors see the benefits of PITC, an d a t the same time, help them create strategies to overcome some of the common obstacles they face when trying to implement the changes needed in their programs. We realize that the director audience is not a large one, especially in greater Minnesota , and therefore opportunities to train this adapted training will be limited. However, we hope that with outreach and marketing efforts through CCR&R and other avenues, we will make this training available to as many directors as possible. The training has also been designed to be delivered through the CCR&R Network's Eager-to-Learn online program, and the first online class has been scheduled for this fall, 2007.
While the training manual and materials are available to any certified Minnesota PITC trainer, we do ask that you give careful consideration to your own background knowledge of Minnesota Rule 3 and child care center administration before training this material. If you will be conducting a training on your own, you should have in-depth knowledge of both Rule 3 and child care center administration. If you do not have the knowledge or experience, and you want to train this material, we ask that you co-train with someone who does have this knowledge and background. Obviously, we want to give the participants the best possible learning experience, and we want you to be fully prepared to offer that experience to them. To request a copy of the training manual and materials, contact Gail Mahr, Professional Development Coordinator, at gailm@mnchildcare.org and 651-290-9704, ext. 200.