This quote was shared during the opening Keynote at the 2018 National Association of Childcare Providers conference on June 29, 2018.
Children need to have caring, stable relationships with their caregivers and childcare providers will be more successful if they also have strong relationships with the child’s parents/guardians. Dr. Junlei Li of the Fred Rogers Center called these human relationships the “Active Ingredient,” like fluoride in a tube of toothpaste. Everything else supports it but is useless without it. It is the little important moments or interactions that make a difference in relationship building rather than the grand gestures or fancy buildings. One resource recommended by Dr. Li is Simple Interactions which supports child- and youth-serving professionals in developing skills that will encourage more developmental interactions with the children and youth in their care.
The ECCS Director, Joanne Kelleher, is attending this event and gathering lots of great information to bring back to Southington. She is also sharing the ECCS’s successes as a presenter at the NAFCC conference on June 3oth.
Here is a copy of her presentation: Creating a Community Family Child Care Network, Lessons from the Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington.
This article to be continued…