December 2016

What’s New?

As has been the trend, Kimberly's Child Care has continued change for the better. For the month of December we have decorated for the holiday season inside and out - pictures to come. I have to say the holidays are one of the things I enjoy celebrating very much at home and with our child care families. It is exciting, invigorating, and pure joy to work with the children on decorations, gifts, and learning new songs/gross motor activities. Christmas is my favorite by far.

I have purchased a few new items to improve the quality of care and learning experiences for our infants/young toddlers. The first being a bottle warmer for safer and better feeding times. The second is a new boppy-seat to support older infants who are learning to sit on their own. Along with the new toys attached to the boppy-seat, I have continued to sort through, inspect, clean, and introduce many of the toys donated over the summer. One of the items which my child care will be getting soon will also be a humidifier.

The next great improvement is in regards to our flooring in three of our rooms, including the available child care space. My husband and I have purchased new laminate flooring. Since our home was purchased two years ago, many new improvements and repairs have occurred to bring our home up to acceptable standards. We are proud to announce that as of this holiday season the only room which will require reconstruction and updating now is our kitchen (the reason I do not yet offer lunch for Kimberly's Child Care children). Honestly, we consider this a really wonderful accomplishment. But of course, this doesn't exclude the yearly maintenance, or the many small projects we would like to undertake to beautify our outdoor spaces.

The last, fantastic, and arguably the most important news is in regards to my provisional licensing. On December 23rd I had my annual daycare inspections for my yearly certification. Lynn informed me upon leaving that everything was in perfect order. She will be putting my application approval through the state system after the holiday. Naturally, this means that anything state wide will take the full 30 days to complete, but I will be receiving my official daycare license before my provisional expires on February 2nd. The best part of this process is that I am now eligible to participate in the Pennsylvania Keystone STARS program. This specific program is for child care facilities to make yearly improvements for the benefit of it's child care children and families. I have already begun the application process and necessary training classes. I promised a quality child care program, and I am out to deliver the absolute best which I am able to give for our community. I always look forward to new adventures that benefit our children and the families I work with, and the families I hope to work with in the future.

Shout-outs!

Shout out one goes to my husband, Joe, for his fantastic hard work helping me to prepare for my STARS interview, my provisional and official state inspections, and the flooring work he completed while I was in my first 6 hour training session.

Shout out number two is for our family, the Deakins, who gave us support and advice while we worked through the construction over the holiday season, and who also lent us some necessary tools for completing the flooring project.

Thank you all who constantly support Kimberly's Child Care and my efforts to provide the best care possible.

Important Information

January, 2017

1/2/17 No School at SCSD

1/12/17 Early (12pm) Dismissal from school at SCSD

1/16/17 No School (MLKJ day) at SCSD

1/21/17 STARS Training in Scranton for Kimberly Rogers, myself (this is a Saturday with a rain date of 1/28/17)

1/26/17 Parent-Teacher Conferences at SCSD

Happy Birthday’s

None this month

Expectations

I expect to be kept busy working on new trainings to comply with the Keystone STARS policies. The ultimate goal is to promote Kimberly's Child Care from the beginning STARS level of 1 to at least a 4 (the highest level awarded by STARS) in as reasonable a pace as possible. This includes applying for the STARS yearly grant which I intend to use for STARS approved toys, and for a much improved playground area. Specifically I want to improve the safety route from the house to our backyard play area.

Reflections

December was a stressful month in the week before Christmas. I don't know about you, but I always get a bit worked up when knowing that I am being looked at critically and evaluated for my performance. I know, and have great faith in what I offer, but it doesn't ever really make it any easier. And I don't think that it ever should. If I'm that comfortable with myself, then I'm not working to make improvements. I hope I never get to that point. With that said, I also never want to reach the point where I've stressed myself to the point I am getting physically sick. I've done that a time or two before also, and I've learned that it's always much better to use the approach "slow and steady wins the race." Let's be the best we can - healthy, happy, and setting attainable goals together!