Understanding & Supporting Generation Y's Workplace Needs

Generation Y's 32 million U.S. workers will increase to approximately 21% of the workforce in the next 3 years.

More than 60% of employers say they are experiencing tension between employees from different generations and more than 70% of older employees are dismissive of younger workers' abilities.

Young workers move in and out of jobs faster and put more emphasis on individual satisfaction and development. Movement, change, and challenge become the motivating factors behind job selection and retention.

Strategies for working with Generation Y

• Provide access to technology. Generation Y-ers know how to use technology and they are good at it. They can use this ability to improve their (and your) work environment. 
• Establish mentoring as a means of providing supporting direct feedback. Generation Y-ers have grown up with more parental involvement and structured time from adults. Therefore a 'community if learners approach,' where workers are supported through activities such as mentoring, job shadowing, and shared product assignments may be viewed by Generation Y-ers as less intimidating. They want to participate in tasks and learning experiences that support their growth, are relevant, and can be applied immediately. 
• Support their values by inviting input in decision making. Generation Y-ers are used to being active participants in family and other decision-making matters from an early age. They bring a similar expectation of active participation and decision making into their work environment. 
• Individualize and customize career and growth opportunities. Generation Y-ers are innovative. They are used to change, personally and professionally, and have experienced change at home, school, in the community, and at work. 
• Provide training and skills development that can be connected with broader work applications. Generation Y-ers are goal oriented. They have high expectations for themselves and those around them: employers, family members, and peers.

Creating a supportive work environment

Above all else, involve your staff.

• Upgraded use of technology in the program
• Rethinking use of current technology to facilitate conference calls among staff, parents, and professionals to save time and travel, and technology-based games - to ass dimension to children's learning opportunities.
• Involve Generation Y-ers in policy-making processes. 
• Use 15 minutes of staff meetings for staff sharing of innovative ideas they would like to explore.
• Create a staff training plan that includes transferable skills such as customer relations, team development, public speaking, and critical thinking. 

Source: ccie.org

Tough Topic: Talking with parent's about their child's development

Talking to a parent about their child's development can sometimes be an uneasy topic. How the situation and communication style is approached can make the difference between a meaningful conversation intended to help a child be successful and alienating a parent.

Obstacles to Communication
Fear: It can be difficult for parents to hear unpleasant news about their child.
Defensiveness: Parents naturally want to protect and defend their children. When uncomfortable information is shared with parents about their child, their first response may be defensiveness.
Anger: Uncomfortable feelings can turn into anger. A parent's feelings of fear and/or defensiveness can manifest in angry outbursts.

Steps to Effective Communication

• Institute a parent Involvement plan: A well written plan...
• Helps to ensure communication occurs on a regular basis.
• Articulates the important role that the parent plays in the child's development.
• States the program's goals and philosophy in working with children.
• Puts into writing how communication will occur.
• States the times that the teaching staff will be scheduling conferences.
• Lists the volunteer opportunities and how parents can become involved in the program. 
• Validate the parent's role: When speaking with a parents, it is important to remind them of the positive effect they have on their child.
• Share some real life classroom stories that reflect this.
• Help parents recognize their attributes and that together a stronger team is formed. 
• Call on parents for their knowledge of their child.
• Provide proof: When there is a need to speak to a parent about a child's behavior or development, provide support for what you are saying. 
• Share information/observations gained during class time. 
• Have developmental screening and assessment data available.  (Remember, you should never make a diagnosis unless you are licensed to do so.)
• Be specific when describing the child's behavior and/or your concerns. 
• Show the parent work samples or observations. 
• Be positive
• Separate the child from the behavior
• Remind the parent that your goal is to help their child be successful
• Consider the child's strengths when developing an action plan
• Stay on task - describe the concerns or unwanted behavior, discuss appropriate expectations,  and then develop a plan on how to get there together. 
• Help the parent be successful
• Have ideas ready that parents can use at home to help their child. 
• Bring written information or handouts to the meeting. 
• Encourage parents to spend quality time with their children. 
• Invite the parent to volunteer in the classroom.
• Create a safe place
• Set an appointment time that is convenient for the parent, with a low chance of interruptions. 
• Provide a safe and respectful environment.
• Ensure that others cannot overhear your conversation. 
• Use open communication
• Maintain an open stance both physically and verbally.
• Show the parent that you are actively listening and understanding. 
• Repeat what you hear the parent say (active listening).
• Document what is said and any decisions made during the conversation. 
• Availability of resources
• Offer parent support groups
• Invite local specialists to come in and talk
• Offer a resource library
• Have staff regularly attend workshops and conferences to ensure that they have the necessary skills to work with families. 

By welcoming parents onto our team, we help eliminate barriers and gain allies who have valuable information about the child and the motivation to do what is necessary to help their child succeed. As parents grow to appreciate that your goal is to help their child be successful, they will become more open and willing to work with you on your focal point, the child. 

Source: www.ccie.org

Staff Management: Thriving on Feedback

When you open yourself up to receiving feedback from your staff, you're sending a clear message to them that their thoughts and input matter, allowing you to cultivate positive relationships with them.

In order to get consistent feedback that you can thrive on, it's important to have systems in place to help you collect, digest, and respond to feedback. Common tools that you can consider incorporating into your "feedback system" include suggestion boxes, feedback forms, regular one-on-one meetings, and, of course, regular direct and honest feedback when there are issues that need to be resolved.

Handling the feedback you receive:

• Refrain from defensive reactions
• Remember that the way people communicate often has more to do with them than it does with you
• Respect confidentiality
• Model the process from top down

Establish a feedback system:

• Educate your staff about the feedback tools you use
• Inform staff on what happens next
• Take action on the feedback you receive. 

Source: www.ccie.com

Keeping Food Safe to Eat

Use Safe Handling and Storage Techniques

• Be aware of the condition in which perishable foods are purchased and delivered. Inspect foods to make sure frozen foods are frozen solid and refrigerated foods are the appropriate temperatures.
• Improper temperature control before and after purchasing or delivery can shorten a food's shelf life. 
• Date incoming food items. Rotate stock properly. Placing oldest food out front will encourage the use of foods on a "first-in, first-out" (FIFO) basis. 
• Keep a daily log of temperature readings. Temperature logs should be maintained for cooking, cooling, holding, and reheating procedures and for refrigerators and freezers.

How quick do bacteria grow? The following numbers will give you an idea.

Bacteria Double...

At this temperature...    In this amount of time....

90 F                                every 30 minutes

70 F                                every hour

60 F                                every 2 hours

50 F                                every 3 hours

40 F                                every 6 hours

32 F                                every 20 hours

28 F                                every 60 hours

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Keeping Food Safe to Eat: Cook

Follow Directions

• Follow the directions on the food labels to ensure that proper cooking methods, time, and temperature are used. Also, refer to recipes for specific cooking instructions. 

Cook Thoroughly

• Cook poultry and meat to the doneness temperature and time recommended by the label or recipe.
• To make sure that meat and poultry are cooked all the way through, use a food thermometer.
• Calibrate thermometers on a regular basis.

Cook Completely

• DO NOT partially cook foods. Partial cooking may encourage bacteria to grow before cooking is completed.
• Cook foods to minimal required internal temperatures for safety.
• Minimal Internal Temperatures (Based on the 2005 FDA Food Code)
• 165 F for 15 seconds: Pourltry stuffing, stuffed fish, pork or beef, pasta stuffed with eggs, pork, casseroles, reheating leftovers.
• 155 F for 15 seconds: ground meats, beef, lamb, veal, pork, pasteurized eggs held on steam table, cubed or Salisbury steaks, fish nuggets or sticks
• 145 F for 15 seconds: Seafood, beef, pork, veal, steaks & roasts (medium rare), eggs cooked to order and serve immediately.
• 135 F for 15 seconds: Fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables and fruits that are going to be held on a steam table or in a hot box. 

Keep hot foods above 135 F

• Bacteria can grow rapidly between 41 F and 135 F, which includes room temperature. This is known as the danger zone. 
• Avoid holding foods in this temperature danger zone. If the serving of a hot food must be delayed, keep it at a holding temperature of 135 F or above. 
• In addition, limit the amount of holding time. Do not hold a food in the temperature danger zone for longer than 2 hours. After 2 hours, discard the food.

Source: USDA Recipes for Child Care

Keeping Food Safe to Eat

• Adequately restrain hair by using a hairnet or hat. 
• Wash hands frequently and properly, for at least 20 seconds with soap and hot water. Use a separate hand sink, not sinks used for food preparation or dish washing. Always wash hands after touching hair or face. 
• Use disposable towels when drying hands. Discard disposable towels after each use. 
• Cough or sneeze into disposable tissues only, and wash hands afterwards. If you sneeze on food or food production areas, discard the food and clean and sanitize the food production area. 
• Persons with colds or other communicable diseases should not be permitted to work in food preparation areas. 
• All superficial cuts should be covered with a bandage and a disposable glove. 
• Any person with an infected cut or skin infection should not be permitted to work with food. 
• Use disposable gloves properly and avoid touching skin, carts, refrigerator, freezer, or over doors or any unclean surfaces. Throw the gloves away after using or touching anything other than food. 

Keep equipment and facilities clean and sanitized

• Keep all equipment such as cutting boards, can openers, grinders, slicers, and work surfaces clean and sanitized. Sanitize equipment and work surfaces between use with raw and cooked foods. Check with local health department codes for a list of sanitizing agents.
• Use plastic cutting boards. Purchase an adequate number of cutting boards to prevent cross-contamination during food production. 
• Wash and sanitize cutting boards in a dishwasher whenever possible. Air dry. 
• Use a "three-compartment sink"to manually wash and sanitize dishes, pots, pans, and utensils. 

Commercial sanitizers can be used instead of bleach. Test the chemical sanitizer concentration by using an appropriate test kit. Check local health department codes for a list of sanitizing agents. 

• When using a mechanical dishwasher, follow manufacturer's directions for proper wash and rinse temperatures. 
• Air drying is recommended: drying with a towel swabs contaminants over the surface.

Source: Team Nutrition USDA

Find gloves, paper towels, tissues, and many other child care supplies at www.purefuninc.com!

Nation Wide Child Nutrition Programs

Click here to find a Child Nutrition Program in your state!

Teacher Tips - Infants

Infants need to move! Arrange your classroom so there are open spaces where the children can crawl without bumping into things.

Infants do not have a sense of height. They will crawl under furniture and sit up without regard to bumping their heads. They will also pull up on furniture without regard to what is above them. Choose and arrange furniture with this in mind.

Check the floors! Babies will put anything in their mouths, so pick up things that are not safe for chewing!

Infants do not understand “no.” Be sure unsafe things are out of their reach. As they get older, they will learn what they can and cannot touch.

Commercially-made soft play structures made of firm foam and covered with vinyl are very good for motor development. They come in different shapes and sizes and last a long time.

To help a child to sit up, put one or two “tubes” (the kind that are used in a swimming pool) around her.

Place your hands firmly against the soles of a baby’s feet so he can use them to push off for crawling.

To encourage crawling for a baby with a visual impairment, play a musical toy a short distance away. Encourage the baby to crawl to the sound.

To encourage crawling for a child with a hearing impairment, place a lighted toy a short distance away. Make gestures to encourage the baby to crawl to the light.

Roll a ball slowly for your infants to “chase” to practice crawling. Try this with a child who seems unsure about starting to crawl.

When your older infants are ready to walk with support, get some sturdy rolling toys for them to hold onto and push from a standing position. A sturdy child-sized shopping cart and a sturdy doll stroller are two examples.

When they are ready, infants will pull up on everything! Be sure the furniture in your classroom is sturdy enough to support the children. Check the furniture for sharp edges, too.

Have a place where your infants can play outside. Arrange outdoor time apart from the older children.

For babies who are not crawling yet, put them on a mat or blanket with toys to explore.

Talk to the children about everything they do. They learn language while they’re moving, too!

Source: Bright from the Start

Ammex breaks the price barrier with their latest introduction!

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New Product!

 

Disinfectant Deodorant Total Release

An excellent disinfectant, antimicrobial agent and two-way deodorizer. Phenomenal total release is a virucidal, tuberculocidal, fungicidal, bactericidal, Pseudomonacidal, Staphylocidal hospital use and broad spectrum disinfectant and antimicrobial agent. One can treats up to 6,000 cubic feet.

It is easy to use.... at the end of the day place the total release can (aka. fogger) on some paper towels or newspaper on a table in the middle of the room.  Open all cabinet doors and drawers for maximum coverage. Activate, leave the room, and close the door behind you. Make sure there is absolutely no one left in the room.  The fogger will sanitize everything! Every surface, crack, and crevice will be sanitized when the fogger is done. Easy cleaning! This product is great for preventing illness outbreaks in your school.

Features & Benefits

•  Bactericidal—Kills E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and more
• Virucidal against HIV-1 (AIDS virus), Herpes Simplex 1 and 2, Avian Influenza A virus (H5N1) and more
• Sanitizes fabric and leather, shoes, mats and equipment
• Controls microorganisms that create foul putrefactive odors

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Creating Loyal Customers

“Offer a superior product to my child, delivered to me as a parent in a way that makes me a partner in the process, and I will be your greatest advocate and tell the world."  This is how Dennis Vicars describes the expectations of parents for early childhood services in his Exchange article, "The Moment of Truth."  Vicars goes on to outline this straightforward formula for being successful at meeting these expectations:

1. Be committed to delivering a world-class early childhood educational experience to each and every child and let nothing stand in the way of that goal.

2. Hire teachers with the education, skills, abilities and, most importantly, talent (which cannot be taught), to deliver a world-class experience to the child in a personalized manner.

3. Create a culture where st aff has a burning desire to deliver absolute excellent service to children, families, and each other.

This is the formula to deliver the moment of truth in early childhood education.  Everything else is collateral noise and distraction that... does nothing to deliver success at the moment of truth.  The unbridled goal of creating that magic moment of truth for a child will create a path to your door filled by parents and teachers who want to share in that success.

Source: www.ccie.com

Resource: How to Motivate Staff

This volume of Exchange Essentials includes the following selected Exchange articles, in pdf format, focusing on ideas and strategies for motivating staff members:

• Self-Motivation: Motivation at Its Best by Roger Neugebauer
• Why Do They Stay? Teachers Make a Career in the Classroom by Susan Catapano
• Working with Generation Y by Alan Ekblad and Timothy Hathaway
• Motivating Entry-level Employees by Silvana Clark
• 9 + 1 = Fun! by Dennis Vicars
• The Director's Role in Creating Community by Michael Koetje and Peter Blair
• Motivating Staff by Sue Baldwin
• Celebrating Teachers and Their Work by Margie Carter
• Helping Teachers Love Their Work by Lynn T. Hill
• You Say Staff Deserve Respect? Energize Your Words with Action! by Karen Stephens
• Twenty Small Acts of Kindness
• 28 Fun Ideas to Motivate Your Staff — Taking a Fresh Look at Routines and Interactions by Sandy Roberts

Click here to find "How to Motivate Staff"

Serve More Dry Beans & Peas for Healthier Schools

Dry beans and peas are an inexpensive way to boost the nutritional content of school meals!

Key Issues:

• Dietary fiber from dry beans and peas (legumes) are part of a healthy diet and help to lower the risk of heart disease
• Dry beans & peas:
• Are excellent sources of plant protein
• Provide other nutrients such as iron, potassium, folate, and zinc.
• Are naturally low in fat and sodium.
• Have no saturated fat or cholesterol.
• The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend eating three cups of beans a week, based on a 2,000 calorie meal plan.

Recipe for Success:

• Choose the easiest form! Use canned, pre-cooked beans to simplify recipes and reduce cooking times.
• Power up recipes with more beans! Add dry-packed or canned beans and peas when preparing casseroles, stews, and side dishes. Make chili more interesting by combining kidney and pinto beans.
• Serve satisfying soups. Attract students and teachers with low-sodium split pea, lentil, minestrone, or white bean soup, Use pureed beans to thicken soups and sauces.
• Spice up your menus with Southwest flair! Offer black bean enchiladas, low-far refried beans, or tacos with whole pinto beans.
• Have a bean taste test! Let students sample dishes that use dry beans and peas as a main ingredient. Some ideas include: Veggie burgers, Taco Pizza with refried beans, Cowboy Beans, Hummus, or Lentil Pilaf.
• Spruce up the salad bar! Offer canned garbanzo beans, red kidney beans, black beans, or a mixture of all three!
• Use colorful garnishes like dices fresh green pepper or red pepper rings to ad eye appeal and showcase your favorite bean dishes.
• Bring back a classic! Pair baked beans as a side dish with oven-baked chicken to bring back memories of a summer cookout!

Did You Know?

• MyPyramid includes dry beans and peas in both the Vegetable Group and the Meat and Beans Group. Beans and other legumes count as either a vegetable or as a meat alternate, but not as both in the same meal.
• Rinsing and draining pre-cooked canned beans reduces the sodium content. Or, soak and cook bagged dry beans without adding salt.
• Dry beans and peas provide an excellent source of plant protein and fiber, magnesium, folate, iron, and zinc. Americans, especially children, often do not get enough of these nutrients.

Source: teamnutrition.usda.gov

Web Resource - SmartSearch

Kraft foods SmartSearch is an interactive nutrition and ingredient search tool designed to allow users to filter products based on a specific criteria.

To get started with this great resource - click here!

Creative Questions

When you are stuck in solving a problem, here are some questions, suggested by Michael LeBoeuf in Imagineering (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980) that you might ask your team to spark ideas... 

• What can be added? 
• What if this were exaggerated? 
• What else can this be used for? 
• What is being wasted that can be put to use? 
• What else is like this?  What else can be adapted? 
• Is there something I can duplicate? 
• How can this be done better and more cheaply? 
• How can this be made more appealing? 
• What can be substituted? 
• What should be subtracted? 
• Can it be done faster? 
• What ideas can be combined? 
• How can this be condensed? 
• How else can this be arranged? 
• What is the opposite of this? 
• What if nothing is done?

Source: www.ccie.com

Early Literacy: Tips for Teachers

Tips for Teachers

Child Interest

• Use child interest as the basis of language and literacy learning
• Interest in an activity will keep a child engaged longer
• Use a child’s personal interests to promote language and literacy learning
• Create learning situations that attract a child’s curiosity
• Child interest + Engagement + Competence = Mastery

Literacy-Rich Environments

• Use literacy-rich environments as the context for stimulating learning
• Provide a variety of materials related to writing and reading
• Create interesting, age-appropriate, easily accessible environments
• Create literacy-rich environments inside and outside the classroom
• Use community environments that are literacy rich when possible

Everyday Literacy Activities

• Be sure literacy activities are interest-based
• Provide activities that enhance language learning
• Provide activities that enhance early literacy learning
• Be sure language and early literacy activities happen frequently
• Increase the number of language and literacy opportunities within an activity

Responsive Teaching

• Notice children’s interests and participation in everyday literacy activities
• Pay attention to children’s attempts to interact with others or literacy materials
• Respond promptly when children want to interact with you or use literacy materials
• Introduce new information to expand language and literacy learning
• Support and encourage children to try new skills and behaviors

Adaptations

• Adaptations can help ALL children fully participate in activities
• Use the least intrusive adaptation possible
• Make any environmental adaptations that make access easier 
• Adapt materials to make them easier to handle and use 
• Make adaptations to the activity to allow more participation
• Use instructional adaptations to give children more time, more cues, or less steps
• Use direct assistance when other adaptations fail
  
  
  Source: Early Literacy Learning
  
  

Spring Cleaning Tips & Tricks!

March 20^th marks the first day of spring in 2011. Start out the season by giving your child care center a spring cleaning makeover! Start at the entrance and work your way inward. Making a few small, inexpensive changes can drastically change the appearance of your child care center for the better and keep parents happy.

1.     Make the entrance spotless

The front door is the first thing parents see when they walk into your center. Make sure the door is free of fingerprints during peak times of the day. Just before parents arrive to drop off their children and again before they return to pick them up, wipe down glass areas of the door with a streak-free window cleaner.

2.     Refresh the lobby with a pleasant scent

The lobby should smell fresh and clean at all times. Install an air freshener and make sure to refill it or change it every thirty days, or as otherwise recommended. Time-released air fresheners are a popular option and fill the room with a fresh aroma every fifteen minutes. Make sure to choose a subtle scent, as powerful smells are offensive to many individuals. If you always work around an air freshener, you may not realize how strong it is to a person walking through the front door.

3.     Keep all classroom floors clean

Toddlers and infants are constantly crawling and playing on the floor. Adding shoe covers will help your nursery floors stay sanitary. Place a box of shoe covers by the entrance to each room. Before staff or parents enter, have each person place a pair of shoe covers over their shoes. This will prevent dirt from being tracked into the room.  Shoe covers typically come in two sizes-- “unisize” fits men’s shoe sizes up to 10.5 (US), whereas “extra large” covers are made for sizes 10.5 (US) and greater.

To purchase window cleaners, air fresheners, and shoe covers visit www.purefuninc.com.

Atlanta Area Help in Achieving National Accreditation

Child care programs wanting to earn or renew national accreditation can receive services funded by Bright from the Start to help them prepare for and complete the application or renewal process. Through a competitive grant process, Bright from the Start funds technical assistance organizations to help child care programs meet national standards of quality including National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) for child care centers; National Association of Family Child Care (NAFCC) for family child care providers; the Council on Accreditation (COA) for after school programs; and other comparable national accrediting organizations.

Accreditation facilitation services, provided free of charge to child care programs, include site visits to assess the program's readiness to participate; assistance to help each program develop an improvement plan; on-site technical assistance; and coaching to help program staff develop skills to achieve and sustain program improvement goals.

Bright from the Start has funded the following organizations to provide accreditation facilitation services.

Child care programs interested in learning more about achieving or renewing national accreditation should click here to contact one of the organizations, depending on your district.

Encouraging Good Behavior in Students

Here are a few ideas for encouraging and rewarding good behavior for an entire class or particular students:

• Write an encouraging statement about each student. Make the statements unique to their individual skills and accomplishments. Use colored Post-its or festive paper to add to the excitement and anticipation.
• Surprise your students one morning by writing all of their names on the white board with a positive adjective that describes them. Make sure the words that are used reinforce the types of behaviors that should be seen in the classroom. For example: “Joyful Jan,” “Kind Kaylee,” “Helpful Hannah," etc.
• Another great way to recognize students is by having a student of the week or month! This particular student can have special responsibilities or receive special treats. Some schools recognize their students by providing them with a “Student of the Week” T-shirt. This is a great way to incent and reward your students for good behavior.