Infant Toddler Care

Community Playthings, manufacturer of many of the beautiful wooden fixtures you'll find at Gretchen's House centers, recently posted an article on what parents should look for as you research care Infant and Toddler center-based care. (We suggest aspiring and current teachers should look for these qualities at centers, too: a classroom and program that takes children's development into account makes it easier to meet children's needs.) The article sums up five key criteria for high-quality care: People, Place, Philosophy, Program, and Parent Involvement. Not to toot our horn, but it's reassuring to find that our program is on board with this esteemed institution's definition of good care.

Read more about it: Choosing a Child Care Facility that Fits: Like Peas in a Pod

CPR & First Aid Classes

State of Michigan child care licensing rules require that at least one staff member at a facility be certified in CPR and First Aid. At Gretchen's House, all our teaching staff have both certifications.

GH offers regular CPR & First Aid certification/renewal classes for staff. Parents or other community members are welcome to sign up. Here's the upcoming class schedule:

• Tuesday, June 3 (Initial)
• Wednesday, June 4 (CPR Renewal only)
• Wednesday, July 9 (Initial)
• Thursday, July 10 (CPR Renewal only)
• Tuesday, Aug. 12 (Initial)
• Wednesday, Aug. 13 (CPR Renewal only)

CPR certification must be renewed every year, while First Aid Certification is good for three years. If you'd like to sign up, please contact Heike Hampel.

--Admin

Top Ten Ways to Get a Teaching Job in a Tough Market

10. Show up on time for your interview, appropriately dressed. (This sounds obvious, I know, but it doesn't always happen).
9. Follow the school’s application instructions precisely.
8. Arrive prepared to answer easy questions: What are you good at? What makes you highly qualified for this job? What do you like about teaching?
7. Arrive prepared to answer tough questions: What is challenging for you? What are your weaknesses?
6. Bring a portfolio with photos or examples of your work with students.
5. Come prepared with a list of questions you have about the company or the job for which you are applying.
4. Be prepared to visit a classroom and interact with children.
3. Network. Do you know someone whose child attends the school? Someone who teaches there? Ask them to put in a good word.
2. Learn as much as you can about the school where you're applying to teach before the interview.

and our number 1 way to get a teaching job in a tough market:

1. Be willing to work as a substitute for several months. While you work, let your positive attitude and good work ethic make you indispensable to the other staff. Subbing isn’t glamorous, but if you’re good at it, you will be first in line for the next open position.

--M.D.

Top Ten Ways to Tank a Teaching Job Interview

10. Show up on the wrong day, late for your appointment time.
9. Have your mom fill out the application.
8. Bring family members or friends to the interview, and ask if they can sit in.
7. Show up coughing, sneezing, and miserably sick.
6. Wear clothing that reveals your sexy tattoos, midriff, underwear, cleavage, or all of the above.
5. Answer your cell phone during the interview, say you have to take the call outside, and never come back.
4. Mention that your top career goal is dolphin training, but since that didn’t work out, you thought teaching would be fun.
3. Discuss your desire for full time employment, but mention the fact that you are only available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays after 4:00.
2. Repeatedly and cheerfully slap or smack the interviewer and her desk to emphasize your point. Hard.

And the number one strangest way we've seen an interview go south...

1. Tell the interviewer that the reason you quit your last job was because you had to pull your dog from his doggy day care program. The floor was too hard and it hurt his paws!

Up next: A kinder, gentler Top Ten list: Ways to Land A Teaching Job

-- M.D.

Summer Camp Tuition Discount Deadline

The deadline for discounted tuition for our Summer Camp (SCamp) programs is rapidly approaching...May 2nd! Take a few minutes to start mapping out your summer plans and take advantage of this $5 per day or $25 per week savings...a considerable amount of money whether your child plans to attend two weeks or all ten!

Program information and registration paperwork is here.

-- Admin

M.O.Y.C.

We celebrate the Month of the Young Child every April with special events for children, parents, and staff. Activities include serving parents breakfast, displaying children's art at local businesses, and creating crafts and special snacks. Parents often ask how they can participate--we've listed a few options on this printable flyer.

--Admin

Let them eat cake -- at home

An article about a New Zealand school district that banned birthday cake caught my eye for a couple of reasons.

1. It was filed under "Odd News." What's so odd about school districts taking steps to encourage healthful habits?
2. The article doesn't mention another important health-related reason to ban birthday cakes and other outside foods: life-threatening food allergies. Policing food from home is a burden on both parents and teachers in allergy-aware programs. Parents must find and make recipes that fit the specific criteria (i.e., no peanut products, wheat, gluten, eggs, etc.) and document this fact to teachers. Teachers must remind parents of the policies and try to ensure that nothing slips through; if a child has an allergic reaction to food from home, the teachers must sleuth out the source and deal with that crisis.
3. Birthday parties (at home and school) can quickly become a contest of parenting prowess, with families increasingly upping the ante with more extravagant treats or other celebrations at school in addition to whatever they do at home. What about the kids whose parents can't or don't buy into that rigamarole?

The Gretchen's House Foo0d From Home Policy was developed with input from physicians, teachers, and parents with all of the above concerns in mind. You can read all about it here.

--H.V.