Up Coming Meetings Our next SFCCA general meeting will be  Wednesday, February 10, 2010 from 7 - 9pm An Out of the Box Training ~  "But They're Only Playing:  Interpreting Play to Parents"   Explore the many ways to interpret children's play to family members in a culturally relevant way, be able to explain the importance of play, practice observing children at play and be able to describe what children are learning when they play.   The following offices will be up for election in April: Vice President, Historian and Membership.   We are also looking for providers who are interested in opening their home for our Parade of Homes in March.      If you are interested in running or have questions as to what each job entails or the Parade of Home please let Pam Reeder know as soon as possible!!!   General Meeting Minutes 1-13-2010 General Meeting   Called to order at 7:05   Pam presented an Out of the Box Training ~ "Reality Bites: Biting at the Center" Discussions about how to approach biting in the classroom by exploring different perspectives.   The majority of the meeting was spent in discussions about why children bite and some suggestions about ways of handling the biting.    Some ideas for solutions: Teething tablets, applying pressure to gums Know their triggers Shadowing the child Keep them busy Adapt the environment / Routine Give all attention to the child biten – biter helps Give children the words to use when they are angry such as “no”, “stop it”, “I don’t like it when…”, “I am so mad when..” Isolate the biter Maintain communication with the child’s parents share strategies Duplicate particular toys Avoid large groups Rearrange play partners and play choices Spread children and activities throughout the classroom Prepare children in advance for upcoming transitions: conduct transitions. Respond to the biter firmly without overreacting or reinforcing inappropriate behavior with undue attention Increase children’s sense of security and stability Use proximity and physical contact as prevention strategies Isolate the biter briefly using an appropriate containment strategy     After the meeting there were curriculum materials from Woodsmen of America for all who attended this meeting   Adjourned at 8:50 pm     November 2009 meeting was cancelled. Oct 20th SFCCA meeting was held at the Teacher Work Center 917 Oakdale rd from 6pm-8:30 pm.   09/09/09               General Meeting   Called to order at 7:05 pm   Jim Streatch from Aflac spoke about this supplemental insurance. Basically Aflac pays cash for. 1.   Medical expenses (co-pays) 2.   Non medical expenses (travel, food) 3.   Normal bills (rent, car payments) 4.   Loss of income     Pam spoke about policies and what they should contain.  Sheril shared her ideas for marketing. Donna  also brought in her many wonderful ideas for seasonal crafts.   The rest of the meeting was spent in general discussion, networking, and Q & A.   7/8/09               General Meeting   Called to order at 7:10pm   Phil and Cindy from Prepaid Legal Services spoke about the service.  For more information about the program please call Cindy Vian at (209) 602-1875 or (209) 571-1875 email her at cian@prepaidlegal.com or visit the website at www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/cvian   Donna shared ideas and presented examples for displays and bulletin boards.  She shared a board that she made out of garage door insulation instead of a bulletin board and pictures of some of her displays in her child care.    Pam shared some ideas for creating centers for children.  She brought in some examples of her playdough center.  She also brought in some books to use for more ideas.   Colleen shared some ideas she uses in her childcare for sorting activities with children.   Misty brought in an idea for mini sandboxes that uses a drawer system.   Sheril shared her Circle Time routine. The routine and some ideas for circle time activities are on the website at, http://www.cereschildcare.com/circletime.html   Adjourned at 8:44 pm June 2009 Teacher Resource Night May 2009 Installation Dinner 4/8/09               General Meeting   Discussion about membership payments and renewals.   Voting, Pam Reeder was re-elected as President, Donna Fletcher was re-elected as Treasurer.  Sheril Vinaja was re-elected as Secretary.    Sids discussion and new product from stopsidsnow.com designed to prevent SIDS.   Discussion about Conference.   Drawing for $100 gift card was held.  The winner was Tacia Davis. Gift card to be presented at May meeting.    June’s meeting will be held at the teachers work center on Oakdale rd.  Available for our use will be Ellison cutters and laminating.   They have paper, recycled paper, and misc craft supplies for sale.   Cost to use the cutters will be $2 per person, laminating is .25 per foot.     For more information about the Teacher Work Center please call 567-8145 Our May Installation Dinner will be at Fuzios in the banquet room.   Donna presented a spring theme with several art projects and creative ideas for crafts and activities for children.   The rest of the meeting was spent networking.    Adjourned at 8:44 pm March 2009 Parade of Homes.  Feb 11, 2009 This meeting topic was Boredom Busters - A few ideas shared at the meeting. Walk on the Moon – Make a moon walking area.  Place pillows all over the floor then cover with a large sheet.  Let children walk all over.  Play classical music for a dramatic effect. F For a fun filled trip into space, use Greg and Steve's An Adventure In Outer Space from their On The Move CD.  Doggie, Doggie, Where's Your Bone? Sit in a semicircle with one child sitting in a chair facing away from the group. Place a toy bone, or beanbag under the chair. One child is chosen to go "steal the bone". All of the children then sit with their hands behind their backs and say, "Doggie, doggie, where's your bone? Someone stole it from your home!" The "Doggie" then turns around and tries to guess who has the bone. Gluing Face Parts Cut eyes, noses, and mouths from magazine pictures of faces and have children select these and paste them onto paper plates. Add details such as hair and freckles with crayons. "Me" Drawing Trace child's outline on butcher paper and then have the child color it. Object Collages Give each child a styrofoam tray with a clump of playdough in it. Then let children use the playdough as a base for sticking in beans, straws, toothpicks, and other small items so that they stand upright.  Paper Fastener Activity Give children a quantity of paper fasteners and cardstock scraps in which you have made holes with a paper punch. Children love hooking pieces together and moving the parts. These can be colored. * Best for ages 3 and up.   Stickers Let children decorate a sheet of paper with stickers. Tray Play Fill two cups, one with several colored straws and one with several colored pipe cleaners, which have been cut in a variety of lengths. By combining the straws and pipe cleaners, kids can make all kinds of structures, creatures, and other creations. For instance, they can twist the pipe cleaners or push them through the straws to make flowers, arms, legs, antennae, and more. January 14th 2009   Meeting called to order at 7:05   Pam presented on keeping up to date on our shot records. Lots of great handouts.   Ride - Regional Immunization Data Exchange Members of the Stanislaus Family Child Care Association are eligible to be trained to use the Regional Immunization Data Exchange for access to the registry for the children in their care.  For more information about enrolling in RIDE please call Pam Reeder 544-9225.   Discussion about flu shots.   Discussed enrolling children without current vaccinations.    Green cleaning and disinfecting – Antibacterial soap, kills the good bacteria and the bad, dries out and cracks your skin, Vinegar cleaning tips   www.vinegartips.com/cleaning www.unhingeredliving.com/naturalclean.html   Donna shared her tips for keeping down illness.  She has many techniques to prevent the spread of germs such as separating playdough into individualized ziplock bags for each child.  Same idea for crayons, markers, etc, each child has their own.  Infants have color coordinated toys and items so they don’t share mouthed toys.  Children don’t share mats or blankets. Each child has their own and they are stored separately. They use lots and lots of sanitizing wipes. They run toys thru the dishwasher to sterilize. They use color coded hand towels. Lots of great tips.   Donna shared the Valentines day art projects that they made in her childcare.    Adjourned at 9pm