Spring 2014

YAAEYCs

The White Rose

York Area Association for the Education of Young Children

Letter from the President...

Words of Encouragement: In the last newsletter, I asked you to send some encouraging words to share with other teachers and early education professionals. This is from Angie Sparks who works at YWCA York: You are teaching this child to be self-sufficient and independent. You are helping this child learn selfregulation skills and pro-social skills that will help her in kindergarten. Thanks Angie! If you would like to share some encouraging words in the next newsletter, email me at debbie_riek@witf.org.

Celebrate! verb \se-l-brt\ : to do something special or enjoyable for an important event, occasion, holiday, etc. : to praise (someone or something) : to say that (someone or something) is great or important I love the YAAEYC Week Of The Young Child Banquet. Of course, I love to celebrate thingsbirthdays, odd special days like National Pancake Day (who knew?), anniversaries, friendships, holidays. I am all about the celebrating. Do you know why? Because we all dont do it enough. We dont pause and look at where we are and all we have done and see it. We dont pause and look around us and see where we all are and what we collectively all have done. Maybe we dont because we think it is not that important or it would be selfish or we are just too busy or too tired to be able to look up at all. Maybe it is because of all of those things.

Inside this issue:

WOYC Presents for Paws YAAEYC Conference Mar-May Observances Tip of the Day Shared Resources Position Statement 3-6 7 7 8 9 10

On April 8, join us at the Valencia Ballroom to pause together, to celebrate each other and to notice where we are. We hope you can be there as it would not be the same without you! In this newsletter, you will see the first of a regular feature that will help all of us think about some of the NAEYC position statements. Heather Miller, YAAEYCs president elect, has thoughtfully written about the Developmentally Appropriate Practice position statement. If you are interested in writing about a position statement of have questions about them, email me at debbie_riek@witf.org. See you on April 8th! Debbie

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Thank you for Joining or Renewing your Membership!

Joan Adams (11/15/13) Kendria Bitonti (1/29/14) Amanda Bollinger (12/17/13) Noel Czerwinski (12/17/13) Elizabeth Fazio (12/17/13) Addie Ferguson (12/11/13) Melissa Fry (1/9/14 Tim Gulley (11/6/13) Chae Korb (12/17/13) Jessica Littleton (11/15/13) Linda Mortiz (12/17/13) Melinda Reynolds (1/9/14) Sheryl Stottlemyer (1/14/14) Alicia Elena Vazquez (12/11/13) Karen Walter-Staub (2/5/14) Lisa Young (1/20/14)

*Membership status varies between Comprehensive, Basic and Student. Please encourage your fellow colleagues, classmates and friends to join YAAEYC and help make a difference in the lives of children and families in York County! For more information on Affiliation/Memberships, go to www.naeyc.org

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2014 Week of the Young Child

The week of the Young Child will take place April 7-11 with lots going on to celebrate and honor York and Adams Counties early childhood professionals! Attend a Special Recognition Event for teachers, caregivers, and anyone interested in helping young children develop to their fullest potential!

When? Tuesday, April 8, 2014 Where? Valencia Ballroom 142 N. George Street, York PA 17401 5:30 PM 6:30 PM7:30 PM 7:30 PM9:00 PM Doors Open, Cash Bar Open Dinner Served Awards Ceremony

SAVE THE DATE! Tuesday, April 8th

To reserve your place, please register by March 28, 2014. Registrations are made online on Eventbrite at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2014-week-of-the-young-child-recognition-banquet-tickets-10574120479

YAAEYC members $5, non-members $15

Dont forget to nominate individuals for this years Child Champion Award, White Rose Award and Outstanding Early Childhood Professional Award! You can find the nominations forms on the following pages and also on the YAAEYC website!

Joining us as our keynote speaker will be Susan Stockdale, author of this years Pennsylvania One Book, Stripes of All Types!

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Outstanding Early Childhood Professional

Parent Nomination Form Each year YAAEYC (York Area Association for the Education of Young Children), celebrates our communities success in the quality and care of early childhood education offered throughout our county during the Week of the Young Child in April. As a parent you have daily interactions with many excellent child care providers/teachers. These individuals often are not recognized for the hard work, dedication and love they give daily. YAAEYC would like to recognize these Outstanding Early Childhood Professionals at our event on April 8, 2014. If you wish to nominate a teacher or assistant for an Outstanding Early Childhood Professional Award, please complete the information below. PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY Nominees Name (First & Last): _____________________________________________ Center or Program Name: __________________________________________________ Classroom Name: ________________________________________________________ Briefly tell us why this person is an outstanding Early Childhood Professional:

Your Name: ____________________________________________ Phone Number: ______________ You will be contacted only if there is a question. May we share a copy of this nomination with the award recipient at the banquet? YES or NO Please return your nomination by March 7 to Wendy Latshaw, Otterbein Early Education Center, PO Box 386, Mount Wolf, PA 17347. You may email your nomination to otterbeineec@aol.com or fax to 266-1880. You may nominate one teacher for each child enrolled in a program.

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Childrens Champion Award

It is time to nominate individuals for YAAEYCs Childrens Champion Award. The awards will be presented during the Week of the Young Child Awards and Recognition Reception on April 18, 2014. The Childrens Champion Award is given to someone who has a great impact on the lives of the children and families in our area. These individuals should be someone active in the community, either through their work or as a volunteer, who raise their voice on behalf of our counties children. These individuals are not direct care providers. To nominate someone for the Childrens Champion Award, please complete the information below. The deadline for nominations is March 7, 2014. The YAAEYC board will review all nominations and make a final decision. Please send the completed form to Wendy Latshaw, Otterbein Early Education Center, PO Box 386, Mount Wolf, PA 17347 or email otterbeineec@aol.com. Name of Nominee: ___________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________ Phone Number: _____________________________________________________ Center or Private Affiliation: ___________________________________________ Your Name: _________________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________ Phone Number: _____________________________________________________ Please provide in 200 words, your reason for nominating this individual for a Childrens Champion Award.

Thank you for the work you and for taking the time to thoughtfully nominate someone for the Childrens Champion Award.

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White Rose Award Nomination

Each year YAAEYC celebrates our communitys success in the quality and care of early childhood education offered throughout our county during the Week of the Young Child. As a child care professional you know the hard work it takes to create a warm, caring, successful learning environment for children and we all strive for this daily. However, we all know there are teachers and directors who go beyond what is expected of them to create exceptional learning experiences for children. The White Rose Award is given each year to recognize these individuals. This person should be an early childhood professional who is committed to the active support of the childrens greatest social, physical, emotional and intellectual potential. If you would like to nominate someone for this award, please complete the form below. Name of Nominee: _____________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________________________________ Phone Number: _______________________________________________________________ Center or Private Affiliation: _____________________________________________________ Position: ____________________________________________________________________ Years in Early Childhood Education: ________________________________________________ Your Name: ___________________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________ Phone Number: ________________________________________________________________ How are you affiliated with the nominee? ___________________________________________ Please provide in approximately 200 words, your reason for nominating this person for a White Rose Award. Please attach an additional sheet.

You may return your nominations to: Wendy Latshaw, Otterbein Early Education Center, PO Box 386, Mount Wolf, PA 17347. You may email your nomination to otterbeineec@aol.com. Deadline for nominations is March 7.

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Presents for Paws

Early Childhood educators, facilities, families, and friends are encouraged to collect items to benefit our local York County SPCA. Donated items can be brought and displayed at this years WOYC Banquet at the Valencia on April 8th. Items in need: Canned cat & dog food Treats Bath towels Blankets Litter Toys Paper Towels Grooming items Cat or Dog beds Leashes and collars Distilled Water Plastic sheet protectors Trash Bags Bleach Stamps 3 inch binder Pens Highlighters AAA batteries Food dishes Copier paper Index Cards: blue, pink, or yellow

Arrangements for pick up can be made with Vickie Wooditch at Children First Learning Center 717-741-5426 Ext 21

2014 YAAEYC Conference

The YAAEYC conference committee will be having it's first meeting for this year's conference on Thursday, March 13 at 3 PM at the United Way. Anyone interested in helping with this year's conference should plan to attend or contact co-chairs Ashley Zurawski (azurawski@ywcayork.org) or Wendy Latshaw (otterbeineec@aol.com).

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Be Aware!
March

Check out whats being recognized by the National and Global communities this Spring and show your support!
Brought to you by evms.edu

Child Life Month- During Child Life Month, child life programs around the world will educate colleagues and the public about the psychological needs of children in pediatric settings. Research has demonstrated that child life interventions reduce the anxiety that children and families experience. Child Life Month is designed to honor child life specialists as they work to ensure high quality, family-centered, and developmentally appropriate care for children. Nutrition Month- National Nutrition Month is a nutrition education and information campaign focusing on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. Make sure your children get plenty of nutritional choice snacks and physical activity throughout the day. Poison Prevention Week (March 16-22)- National Poison Prevention Week was established to raise awareness about how to prevent poisonings. More than 2 million poisonings are reported each year and more than 90 percent of these poisonings occur in the home. The majority of nonfatal poisonings occur in children younger than 6 years old. Become educated and aware of what is around your children and what they could potentially be in contact with that is poisonous.

April
March for Babies- The March for Dimes is committed to reducing the toll of premature birth by funding research to find the answers and providing comfort and information to families who are affected. The funds raised by March for Babies events help women to have full-term pregnancies and healthy babies, reducing health costs to employers. To join March for Babies, visit their website and register in for an event in the area. School Library Month- School Library Month is a celebration of school librarians and their programs. Every April school librarians are encouraged to create activities to help their school and local community celebrate the essential role that strong library programs play in a students educational career. (National Library Week: March 13-19) Global Youth Service Day (11-13)Global Youth Service Day is an annual campaign that celebrates and mobilizes the millions of young people who improve their communities each day of the year through service and learning. Check out whats planned in the community for this year by contacting the United Way of York County. World Health Day (7)- World Health Day is celebrates to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO). Each year a theme is selected that highlights a priority area of concern for the WHO. This year they are focusing on Vectors, which are small organisms such as mosquitos and bugs that may carry disease for person to person. National D.E.A.R Day Drop Everything And Read (12)D.E.A.R Day is a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority. The official event date, April 12th, is the birthday of author Beverly Cleary. Childrens Day/Book DayChildrens Day/Book Day is a celebration of children, families and reading, to emphasize the importance of advocating literacy for every child regardless of linguistic and cultural background. We continue to increase public awareness and of the event in libraries throughout the country. Childrens Day was designated as a day to bring attention to the importance and well -bring of children.

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Tip of the Day: Medication Safety

The Hard Facts
Medications are the leading cause of child poisoning. Every year, more than 67,000 children go to an emergency room for medicine poisoning. Thats one child every eight minutes. Almost all of these visits are because the child got into medicines while their parents or caregiver wasnt looking. Children are curious by nature, and it makes sense that they would be even more curious when it comes to medication. Many medications looks and taste like candy. While its important to encourage our kids to explore and discover new things, when it comes to medication, we want to be careful to keep them safe. Here are a few tips to show you how.
Top Tips

Put medicines up and away and out of sight. Make sure that all medicines, including vitamins and adult medicines, are stored out of reach and out of sight of children. (In 86% of emergency room visits for medicine poisoning, the child got into medicine belonging to an adult.) Consider places where kids get into medicine. Kids get into medication in all sorts of places, like in purses and nightstands. (In 67% of cases, the medicine was within reach of a child, such as in a purse, left on a counter or dresser or found on the ground.) Consider products you might not think about as medicines. Most parents know to store medicine up and awayor at least the products they consider to be medicine. But they dont always think about products such as diaper rash remedies or eye drops, which may not seem like medicine but can cause harm. Use the dosing device that comes with the medicine. Proper dosing is important, particularly for young children. Use the dosing device that comes with the medicine. Kitchen spoons arent all the same, and a teaspoon and tablespoon used for cooking wont measure the same amount as the dosing device. Put the toll-free number for the Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) into your home and cell phone.

For the medicine and Candy comparison chart use the link: http://www.pasafekids.org/Resources/
CompareChart_onesheet_eng.pdf

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Helping Children Understand Routines and Classroom Schedules

Schedules and routines are important because:

They influence a childs emotional, cognitive, and social development. They help children feel secure and comfortable. They help children understand the expectations of the environment. They help reduce the frequency of behavior problems (i.e. tantrums). They can result in higher rates of child engagement.

Remember:

A schedule that is followed consistently helps make settings more predictable or children and adults. When planning activity schedules, caregivers should consider the balance of activities (outside vs. inside, active vs. passive, teacher directed vs. child directed, the pace of activities, and the length of young childrens attention span.) Longer play periods can result in higher levels of play behaviors. Teachers and caregivers should include blocks of time where children have choices between different activities and materials. At the beginning of the school year, caregivers should discuss the classroom schedule using a picture or object chart to help children understand what will come next.

A routine is an event that is completed on a regular basis, frequently involving a series of responses (such as a bedtime routine involving having a snack, bathing, reading a book, and cuddling.)

During routines children learn about the sequences of activities, they begin to anticipate what will happen next, and they work on becoming more independent (i.e. learning to dress and undress.) Children are less likely to engage in challenging behavior when they are aware of an can anticipate changes in the routine.

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NAEYC Position Statement

In each newsletter, we will be discussing and thinking about a NAEYC Position Statement. This month, Heather Miller, president-elect of YAAEYC, discusses the NAEYC position statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice. You can read the position statement in its entirety here: http://www.naeyc.org/ positionstatements/dap. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) states the position statement to promote excellence in early childhood education is to provide a framework for best practice. Grounded both in the research on learning and child development and in the knowledge base regarding educational effectiveness, the framework outlines practice that promotes young childrens optimal development and learning. This framework has been known as developmentally appropriate practice. David Elkind points to the ease with which many people misinterpret the present emphasis on the importance of rich learning environments and experiences in early years and believe that learning associates to early academics or learning shapes colors, numbers, and letters. Early childhood teachers have many firsthand opportunities to recognize the mismatch between the young childs preference to learn through playful, hands -on experience, and academic programs that feature learning through direct teacher instruction, drill, flash cards, and other form of seatwork. Yet, it is not enough for teachers to know that children prefer play to structured academics. Early childhood teachers must undergo a self-education process that leads them to understand both the nature of the childs learning environment, the child learning through play, as well as the teachers role in supporting and enhancing learning environment and childrens play. One of the most significant and positive developments that have occurred in education is the focus on learning environments and learning standards to increase student achievement. Learning environments and developmentally appropriate practice are needed in early childhood education. Learning environments and developmentally appropriate practice are what children should know and be able to achieve throughout the years from birth to five years of age. Developmentally appropriate practice and appropriate learning environments are guides for teachers and they have one thing in common. These guides give information of what teachers should be teaching and what children should be learning for kindergarten readiness. Teachers need support in integrating standards and creating appropriate learning environments into their programs and also be trained properly to obtain the best learning outcomes for children. Early learning environments and learning standards is a framework for the future of education. However, the academic work of the growing child leads to the mastery of the adult world of symbolic systems that build abstract thought, written language, and mathematics. Teachers begin to prepare young children for this future accomplishment by providing the structured time and environment that best supports play. Before teachers ask children to manipulate the symbols of writing and math, they should encourage children to practice creating and manipulating their own personal symbols through play. Letters and numbers are useful only in that they convey meaningful ideas. When teachers support childrens play, they foster the creation of meaningful ideas and help children elaborate the representation of these ideas. Early childhood teachers need not discover the rich possibilities of representing ideas through play. The literature on the importance of play in the childs early development is clear. No matter how loud the voices of the academically minded educators cry for the early introduction of academics, early childhood teachers must tune out the noise and tune into to the rich narrative of the young childs play. We have difficulty when understanding the narrative; many rely on the interpretations of the early childhood theorists to guide us. The early childhood field needs to move forward and look into how early learning environments and learning standards can be an effective support system for improving child outcomes and instruction while still embracing the importance of play.

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York Area Association for the Education of Young Children

Check us out on the web at www.yaaeyc.org or on Facebook!

Our Mission
~ The York Area Association for the Education Of Young Children is committed to providing exceptional early education experiences for every child in our community.

Board and Committee Chair Members

President Debbie Riek debbie_riek@witf.org Past-President Sara Bradley bradleys@unitedway-york.org Treasurer sarabosley@yahoo.com
Lisa Young Accreditation vacant Conference Wendy Latshaw otterbeineec@aol.com Ashley Zurawski azurawski@ywcayork.org Membership vacant Nomination vacant Program ljyoung743@gmail.com Public Policy Sara Bradley Publicity Lindsay Zeglen zeglenl@unitedway-york.org Recognition Wendy Latshaw WOYC vacant

Sara Bosley

Erica Heller

Secretary eheller@childcareconsultants.org