AOK Updates: Latest Offerings, Child Care Funding Bills & More

Dear Jessica,

There are a lot of exciting opportunities on the table for family child care in Connecticut. Last week we hosted a webinar to discuss the five child care funding bills under consideration— and how they will impact family child care. The latest bill proposes to fund 13,000 additional slots for infants and toddlers, while paying providers increased rates.

Let’s continue to raise our voice by calling on legislators to ensure provider’s wages and child care expansion are supported in next year’s budget.

We continue to stand with you in solidarity.

The All Our Kin Team

Policy

ICYMI: What are the Five Child Care Funding Bills?

If you missed last week’s discussion on the five child care funding bills, you can learn more here, or watch the recorded session.

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OEC’s Quality Improvement System Survey

The Office of Early Childhood is working to develop a Quality Improvement System to support educators on their path to accreditation. If you attended the introductory webinar on March 24, the OEC invites you to complete a brief survey by April 15!

AOK Offerings

Spring Nature Walks

Spring is here and we’re excited to offer a new series of nature walks! Join us in fellowship over warm weather and beautiful nature. Our first walk will be held on April 9 at Lake Mohegan. Meetup will take place in the parking area at 9:45am.

See the flier attached for more info and a complete list of our upcoming spring walks.

In-person

Lake Mohegan, Fairfield CT

Saturday, April 9

10am

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Earth Day

Join us on April 23 in celebration of Earth Day with educational opportunities to empower children’s love for nature and our planet. This will be a hands-on learning experience, so prepare to explore the outdoors!

If you’re interested in signing up, contact Danny at danny@allourkin.org or call (203) 690-9726.

In person

Cranbury Park, Norwalk CT

Saturday, April 23

10am-12pm

LEARN MORE

Space Together: Stamford/Norwalk/Danbury

Space Together returns April 26 for an evening of sharing, learning and connecting!

Partner Offerings

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Marketing Webinar for Your Family Child Care Business

Tomorrow — join the Office of Child Care’s National Center on Early Childhood Quality and Tom Copeland for a webinar on how to market your family child care business.

The session will include:

Identifying the strengths of your program
Learning five key marketing strategies
Using the internet to promote your program (i.e FB, Craigslist, child care forums, online classified ads, etc)
Competing against child care centers and exempt providers!

Celebrate the Week of the Young Child

This week celebrates the Week of the Young Child — a time to honor the beauty and impact of your work in early education! Families, children and providers everywhere are participating in fun ways to recognize the importance of early learning through creative play.

Join in on the festivities and visit NAEYC's website to learn about activities and resources to help you celebrate all week long! Share across social media using the hashtag #WOYC.

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FREE NAFCC Membership Opportunity

The OEC is offering FREE National Association of Family Child Care (NAFCC) memberships to providers looking to sign up or renew! Deadline has been extended and memberships will be accepted until available funds run out. Check out the flier for details on how to apply.

Contact:

Bridgeport: Bridgeport@allourkin.org; 203-392-4574

Danbury: Danbury@allourkin.org; 203-690-9726

New Haven: NewHaven@allourkin.org; 203-301-8473

Stamford/Norwalk: StamfordNorwalk@allourkin.org; 203-690-9726