Author: RWS Developer

Listen up! Setting the Stage for Reading and Writing

The Literacy Knowledge and Skills Domain of the Head Start Early Learning Framework sets the stage for reading and writing development in school. As early childhood teachers, we must provide activities that lend themselves to not only developing these critical skills, but that also fully engage children in their learning.

Did you know that Phonological Awareness is a continuum of skills that leads directly to emergent reading and writing? Phonological Awareness calls children to listen to the sounds of our language from a whole word or sentence, down to the individual letter sounds in a word. Later, these skills will help children develop strategies for decoding words when they are learning how to read.

If you want to implement phonological awareness activities in the classroom, but you don’t know where to begin, here are some great activities to get started.

  • Focus on a nursery rhyme or poem every week. Write it on chart paper or poster board and, each day, read it together, making sure that you point to the words as you read it and plan different ways that you can play with the words (for example, hum the rhyme or poem or have the children listen for specific sounds).
  • Use counting, tapping, clapping and jumping to segment a word into syllables.
    For example: cupcake = cup – cake = 2 syllables
  • Play fun word games that manipulate phonemes by removing, adding or substituting sounds in a word or sentence.
    For example: “Let’s play the MISSING game!”
    Can you say “smile” without the /m/; or say “bat” without the /b/“)?

Interested in early literacy, phonological awareness and how to effectively implement it in your classrooms? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Creating Highly Engaging Training for Your Staff

Having a comprehensive training plan for your staff is essential, but it’s not everything.  The training must also be highly engaging so that learning occurs.  We recommend utilizing a “learning by doing” training methodology.  Make your training highly interactive so that the participants experience the information that is being presented.  This results in high impact learning, in which the training participants take back the information that they learned and implement it immediately.  When planning training for your staff, consider the following:

Have regular professional development opportunities throughout the year.  People take in new information a little at a time.  While Pre-service is a good time to provide staff with training, it’s just a few days of the year.  Instead of presenting a lot of information at once, create multiple training opportunities for staff.  Create a layered plan to provide training to staff throughout the year – once a month if you can.  Lay a foundation of learning and then build on it – a little at a time.  This allows for effective learning.

Use a combination of training techniques to engage all types of learners.  Since everyone absorbs information differently, it’s important to present information in a variety of learning styles.  We find that the most successful technique is a combination – presenting the new information followed by interactive experiences.  Begin by sharing the information via lecture using a powerpoint presentation.  Follow it up with a high level of interaction – lively discussion and hands-on activities for participants to “experience” the new information and put it into practice.  Small group activities, pair and share, role plays as well as question and answer sessions are a few good ways to engage the participants.

Offer opportunities for staff to learn from each other.  Provide occasions for small groups of Teachers, small groups of Family Service Workers or small groups of other like staff to spend time together.  Offer them time to get together and talk, share ideas and brainstorm.  Give them a challenging topic to explore.  They can share successes and challenges with each other – as well as strategies to address those challenges.  Whether it’s bouncing ideas off of each other, sharing strategies, or just helping each other work through an issue – peers can learn a lot from each other.  Connecting with a community of like staff builds a supportive work environment.

Interested in highly engaging training for your staff?  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Essential Tips: Engagement + Intention + Learning Success!

We know that the most effective learning is achieved when children are engaged. Engagement occurs when children are involved and energized by what is being presented and when they are active with others as they solve problems together. Equally important is intention on the part of the teacher. Together, these strategies hold the key to positive outcomes in the Approaches to Learning domain. How can we create the best environment for learning success? Invite your staff to follow these three tips:

Tip #1:  Use stories, songs and conversation.

These interactions build language, connections and confidence in young learners.  One-on-one with peers, sharing with the group and having special teacher-child moments all promote learning.  From the repetition of traditional nursery rhymes to higher order questions that require reasoning…language development is an important skill.

Tip #2:  Create focused classroom activities.

Thematic learning can be child-centered in order to foster independence and problem-solving skills.  While following the curriculum is critical, adding imaginative experiences in centers around the room builds innovation and initiative.

Tip #3:  Design opportunities for fun.

Use poetry, cooking and movement to encourage curiosity and infuse every day with joy!  Participating together and contributing to the group can reduce behavior challenges, develop persistence and cultivate community in the classroom.

Would you like to strengthen classroom practice?  Is your staff intentional in their planning and implementation? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com to schedule custom designed training on “Engaging Learners through Intentional Teaching” at your program.

Increasing Your Instructional Support Scores

In most Head Start programs, it is the instructional support domain that produces the lowest CLASS scores. As you know, high CLASS scores are important to ensure best practices in the classroom as well as to prepare for a successful CLASS Review event. Consider providing training to your teaching staff specifically on strategies to increase instructional support scores.

We’ve found that successful teacher training in this area includes the following 3 points:

  • Share examples of the dimensions, indicators and behavioral markers.  Review what each part of the instructional support domain is all about.  Describe each dimension, indicator and behavior marker – in terms of the Head Start classroom.  Provide teachers with examples that that they can use every day with children.  Examples can include what to say to children to help them think critically, activities to encourage their creativity and lessons to expand their language.
  • View and discuss videos of “rich” classroom interactions.  Show video clips that demonstrate the interactions and teaching strategies your teachers should display. Take each dimension within the instructional support domain and view videos of what each dimension should look like and shouldn’t look like.  Take time to discuss the video clips.  “What did you see?” and “How can you do that in your classroom?” are good questions to explore.  Seeing videos and discussing them are effective, hands-on learning strategies.
  • Play to all learning styles.  Use a “learning by doing” training methodology.  Be sure that the teaching staff can truly experience each facet of the instructional support domain.  In addition to showing videos and facilitating large group discussions, include other types of learning such as pair and share, make and take, small group activities, role plays and other highly interactive exercises.  This interaction results in high impact learning, in which the teaching staff can take back the information that they learned and implement it immediately.

Looking for highly interactive training for your teaching staff on increasing instructional support scores?  Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Starting Out Strong: Training for New Content Area Coordinators

Content Area Coordinators are responsible for ensuring that children and families are linked to all needed services in their content area. They are responsible for ensuring that their content area is and stays in full compliance. It’s also critical that they provide great leadership skills and work in collaboration with the other Content Area Coordinators. What should training for New Content Area Coordinators include?

Begin with the basics.  For new Content Area Coordinators, it’s important to begin with the Head Start Program Performance Standards.  Discuss each of the Performance Standards and Reauthorization regulations that the Coordinator is responsible for meeting.  It’s vital that the Coordinator has this information before they begin to create systems in their content area.  Having a working knowledge of the rules and regulations that the Coordinator must meet and adhere to is the foundation of a successful content area.

Establish effective and efficient systems.  Content Area Coordinators are responsible for setting up and maintaining high quality systems in their content area.  Examples of systems include policies and procedures, written plans and an ongoing monitoring system.  Provide the Coordinator with a template and a sample of these items.  This will provide the Coordinator with guidance as they write policies and procedures and create a written plan.  Encourage your Content Area Coordinators to work together on developing these systems to ensure that they are integrated across content areas.

Put support systems in place.    It’s essential for new Content Area Coordinators to have a multitude of support systems at their disposal.  Share the resources that are available to Head Start staff.  There are websites with helpful information that will assist new Coordinators as they navigate their way through the world of Head Start.  It’s important for new Content Area Coordinators to establish good working relationships with the other Content Area Coordinators.  It’s also important to find Content Area Coordinators (in the same content area) in nearby Head Start programs to have as a resource.

Looking for 1-on-1, on-site training for new Content Area Coordinators? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Essential Tips: Creating a Full Community Assessment

Tip #1:  Collect a wide variety of data.

There is a tremendous amount of data available.  Check sources such as the Census Bureau, State Data Centers, County Health Departments as well as local school districts and early intervention programs.  Surfing the Net, making phone calls and conducting surveys will yield a great deal of essential data.  Also remember that you have valuable internal programmatic information – your PIR, wait list and annual report, just to name a few.

Tip #2:  Look for trends.

When you are collecting current data, also gather information from recent years.  This will give you an opportunity to compare data.  By aggregating and analyzing the information, you will be able to identify trends.  These trends will provide you with key information to make critical programmatic decisions. Having current and complete information allows leaders to make strategic decisions regarding the direction of their program.

Tip #3:  Create a user-friendly format.

Be sure that your community assessment is a document that is easy to read.  It should also be user-friendly so that you can find needed information quickly.  Include a combination of graphs and charts as well as text.  With each graph, add a “Key Finding” that describes the data.  After each major section, include a “Highlights and Considerations” section that summarizes the key information.

If you need help creating a Community Assessment, give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com to discuss your needs.

Championing the Staff Who Serve Our Youngest

It’s essential to provide specialized professional development for the teaching staff who serve our infants and toddlers.  Whether you were recently awarded an Early Head Start/Child Care Partnerships grant or have had an Early Head Start program for years, providing effective training for your Early Head Start Teachers and Home Visitors is critical.

We’ve found that successful training in this area includes the following 3 points:

Offer a multitude of training topics.  Best practices in serving infants and toddlers includes providing professional development opportunities for your teaching and home visiting staff on all aspects of infant and toddler development.  These topics include:

  • Developing language in infants and toddlers
  • Supporting the individual needs of infants and toddlers
  • Managing challenging behaviors in infants and toddlers
  • Fostering the social/emotional development in infants and toddlers
  • Facilitating learning in infants and toddlers

Consider your child care partners when planning trainings.  If you have new child care partners, think about providing training such as “The ABCs of Head Start: Learning the Rules and Regulations of Head Start.”  It’s important that your child care partners know what is expected of them.  Provide training to your staff on program monitoring. Conducting ongoing monitoring activities to child care partners is a key piece to the success of your program.

Utilize a “learning by doing” training model.  Provide training that is highly interactive and engaging.  Include a lot of small group activities, role plays, question and answer sessions and interactive exercises.  Design training that is based on the principles of adult learning.  This will result in high impact learning in which training participants can take back the information that they learned and implement it immediately.

Looking for highly interactive training for your Early Head Start teaching and home visiting staff? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

The Parent, Family and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework

Creating Your Program’s Family Engagement Plan

Family participation is a powerful predictor of positive child outcomes and it directly impacts children’s school readiness.  The PFCE framework is a road map to create a comprehensive family engagement plan that will lead to positive outcomes for children and families.

Consider these items when creating your program’s family engagement plan:

1. Use the PFCE framework as the foundation of your family engagement plan.  It’s important to take a systemic and integrated approach to family engagement.  This is organized in the PFCE framework through:

  • Program foundations
    • Program leadership
    • Continuous program improvement
    • Professional development
  • Program impact areas
    • Program environment
    • Family partnerships
    • Teaching & learning
    • Community partnerships
  • Family engagement outcomes
    • Family well-being
    • Positive parent/child relationships
    • Families as lifelong educators
    • Families as learners
    • Family Engagement in transitions
    • Family connections to peers and communities
    • Families as advocates & leaders

2. Do a family engagement self-assessment.  Review and assess the family engagement that currently exists in your program.  What do you do well?  What can be improved?  Also consider these questions:

  • How do we partner with parents?
  • How do we offer parents opportunities to share observations of their child with us?
  • How do we empower parents as their child’s first and most important teacher?

3. Include a plan to measure family engagement.  When creating your family engagement plan, establish how each family engagement strategy will be measured.  In addition to strategies, expected results, timelines, persons responsible and needed resources, a plan to measure progress is essential.  In order to document progress, it’s critical to establish a measurement tool for each family engagement outcome.  This will be valuable information when reviewing and revising your family engagement plan – as well as for data-driven decision making.

Looking for training on the PFCE framework and family engagement? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Essential Tips: Strategic Planning

Tip #1:  Achieve buy-in before you begin.

Include all stakeholders in strategic planning to establish buy-in. Staff from a variety of positions (teachers, family service workers, center directors, home visitors, management staff, etc.) will bring a different point of view. Also invite members from your Policy Council and Board of Directors as well as community partners. Ask everyone to complete a survey prior to strategic planning. Be sure the survey includes questions about what they want the program to accomplish for children, families, staff and community.

Tip #2:  Create a list of your program’s strengths and challenges.

This list should contain valuable information to establish your program’s goals and objectives. The challenges represent potential goals and the strengths represent potential strategies to achieve the goals. Also take time to review your program’s mission, vision and guiding principles. Ensure they accurately reflect what you are working to achieve. Finally, for each goal and objective, in addition to timelines and persons responsible, include a “success indicator” column.  This will specifically describe how it will look when each goal is achieved.

Tip #3:  Review and utilize your programmatic data.

Strategic planning is a great time to collect and review key programmatic documents as a group. Critical data includes items such as your self-assessment, community assessment, child assessment data, CLASS data, ongoing monitoring data and family engagement data, just to name a few. Review this important data when creating your goals and objectives.

Looking for someone to facilitate your program’s Strategic Planning and end up with a written strategic plan? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.

Preparing for a Successful Health & Safety Federal Monitoring Review Event

Have you begun to prepare for your Environmental Health & Safety Review Event? For many programs, Environmental Health & Safety is the first Review Event that you will receive in the newly aligned monitoring system. The new Environmental Health & Safety protocol details the items that will be a part of this Review Event.

Below are several important items to focus on when preparing for a successful Health & Safety Review Event:

  • Observe the health and safety-related items in your facilities. Observe the same things that the Reviewers will be observing. These include: 1) the safety and cleanliness of your inside and outdoor spaces, 2) staff/child ratios, 3) emergency procedures, 4) supervision and 5) medication management. These are just a few of the areas that the Reviewers will be observing. Create a plan to quickly resolve any areas that are out of compliance.
  • Review your tracking systems.  Ensure that your tracking systems are current and complete. The Reviewers will spend time reviewing the system that you use to ensure that all of your staff receive a criminal record check prior to being hired. They will also review documents related to inspections (fire, building, USDA) and Licensing.
  • Articulate the systems that are in place.  Reviewers want to see systems in place throughout your program. When interviewing your staff, the Reviewers want to hear about the systems that you have in place as it pertains to health and safety. Answer their questions by describing the systems, (i.e. First we do this, then we do this, etc…), demonstrating that the same process is followed for all children and families in each of your centers.

Looking for a Mock Review to prepare for a successful Health & Safety Federal Monitoring Review Event? Give us a call at (704) 451-3255 or email us at kristinecortina@hsessentials.com.