Whether you’re a believer in fate, divine intervention, or hard work, Adams County Communities for Kids blends these elements. Find out how patience and faith created the perfect childcare center at the perfect time. Read more.
Blog Archives
Chasing Down and Living the Dream: Thanks to the Whole Community, Stick Creek Kids Opens its Doors!
Welcome to Wood River, Nebraska. Their Communities for Kids (C4K) core team is proud to announce the opening of their childcare center, Stick Creek Kids. But like most dreams, the team hasn’t always walked on a smooth path. But rather than backing down, they embarked on the challenging road. Together, with the help of their community, the center’s doors will open. Read more about how this community accomplished this remarkable feat.
Early Childhood Event Builds Bilingual Partnerships Between Providers and Families
On Saturday, April 24, from 9:00-10:00 a.m. the counties will hold back-to-back Zoom sessions, one in English and one in Spanish, to inspire conversations about the bi-lingual experience in childcare. The event, titled “Supporting Spanish Speakers in Early Childhood,” offers providers insight into Latinx cultures and invites Spanish-speaking families to better understand the requirements of the American educational system and to engage actively with the providers who care for their children. Read more about this event!
The New Nebraska: How Loup Valley Childhood Initiative Continues to Create Communities for Kids
Long before COVID, Ord has proven to be a place of reinvention. Most recently, one of the town’s most pressing projects has been to address the childcare scarcity. Some of the women behind this effort are Loup Valley Childhood Initiative core leaders and Ord residents, Melani Flynn, Katie Walmsley, and Kristina Foth. Read more about how these women and their community work to create quality childcare.
Compassion Fatigue: It Happens to Everyone, So How Can We Bounce Back?
Early childhood professionals are at risk for developing compassion fatigue due to the demanding nature of their everyday work which is now paired with the stress caused by the pandemic. Not only are early childhood professionals effected in their own lives by the threat of COVID, but they also must care for children and families experiencing a wide range of effects, such as lost jobs, unstable housing, or isolation from family and friends. If you or someone you know is suffering from compassion fatigue, here are some definitions and coping tips.
Tagged with: childcare, early childhood, mental health, Rooted in Relationships, self regulation
Posted in Early Childhood
Posted in Early Childhood
You Are Not Alone: Dawson County’s Early Childhood Professional Learning Series Provides Reassurance and Resolve for Motivated Staff
Many professionals, especially those who work in early childhood education and care, but also teachers of every age tend to shoulder a tremendous amount of responsibility. You walk into a classroom, make decisions, then hope that you did the right things. The truth is, no matter how skilled, every talented professional will occasionally feel alone or overwhelmed. These are the moments when the Early Childhood Professional Learning Series can help. Read more about early care providers Arlie Herrick and Dee Coble’s experiences in participating in the Series.
Rachel Pierce Attends Rooted in Relationships’ Training to Support the Next Generation of Thriving Children
Nebraska childcare providers are making headlines. Today, we bring you a success story from Buffalo County’s Rooted in Relationships initiative and a provider named Rachel Pierce, the owner of Creative Kids Child Care. Today, Rachel will share the benefits and perks of being part of Rooted in Relationships (Rooted), which is one of the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation’s Early Childhood initiatives.
Not a Bedtime Story: The Facts, Figures, and Data Behind Childcare
Although our lives are flooded with information, for many working parents, one worry looms large on a Sunday night: who can care for their children when they go to work? This concern is neither a lullaby nor a bedtime story but instead a keep-you-awake-at-night concern, particularly for rural Nebraskan parents.
Tagged with: childcare, Collective Impact, communities for kids, early childhood, early childhood education, early years, Nebraska Children
Posted in Early Childhood, News and Events
Posted in Early Childhood, News and Events
Child-Care: Becca Paulsen Shares Her Vision of a Quality Provider
“When can you have a baby?”
This is the question that Becca Paulsen will ask her childcare provider when Becca is thinking about having a second child.
This leads us to our next question:
How do young parents find childcare in homey, comfortable, close-knit small towns?
Read on.
Tagged with: child well being, childcare, communities for kids, early childhood, early childhood education
Posted in Early Childhood, News and Events
Posted in Early Childhood, News and Events
Out with Time-Out; In with Time-Ins: How the Grand Island YWCA Develops Healthy Social-Emotional Relationships
Any well-meaning parent or caregiver may think that when they put a child in time out, the child’s negative reaction and acknowledgment of her misbehavior means she is well-aware of what she did wrong, has accepted her punishment, and has taken back her behavior. When lacking an alternative, we generally enact disciplinary measures that we have been raised with and know best, but Time-Outs aren’t always effective. As part of the Rooted, Jana and her team have attended trainings that teach them evidence-based, Pyramid Model strategies that help build relationships between the children and their caregivers while at the same time decreasing challenging behavior.
Growing the Good Life 