Report from Patricia Murray

I was privileged to attend this huge conference with over 1,200 delegates from almost every single American State in Anaheim, Los Angeles, in August. It is just an amazing experience to be in such a large, diverse group from Hawaii to Florida to Alaska to California - and almost all Childminders! They refer to Childminders as Family Child Care Providers in USA and the NAFCC is the "national" organisation, meaning all of United States of America.

The range of presentations was very wide, and of very high quality and of great interest to us, all having relevance to Childminding, rather than to the general "early years" or "pre-school" sectors.

I attended the following sessions and include websites for further information :

"Introductory Training on the Family Child Care Environment Rating Scale," presented by Mr. Thelma Harms, who developed the scale which goes into great detail as to what constitutes quality in the children's environment on a rating up to 7. It includes three components, (1) Protection (Health & Safety), (2) Building Relationships (with Parents & Children) and (3) Opportunities for Stimulation and Learning. 38 Items are examined to evaluate the physical environment, basic care, curriculum, interaction, schedule & programme structure and care-giver and parent education. (More information available on www.fpg.unc.edu/~ecers - family child care environment rating scale)

"Creative Curriculum for Infants, Toddlers & Twos" (www.teachingstrategies.com Handout available from Childminding Ireland. See also www.getreadytoread.org which has a tool for observing and planning activities to bring children to the next step. See also www.funshineexpress.com)

"Virtual Pre-K (pre-kindergarten, i.e. infants & toddlers) is an interactive resource for family child care providers and parents. (www.virtualpre-k.org)

Childminders Mentoring Tips - bringing useful information for our Distance Learning Programme in Childminding Ireland

Janet Gonzalez-Mena gave a keynote presentation which really rang true with the audience of Childminders and which was full of humour and a really warm connection with children. She has a book published called Dragon Mom: Confessions of a Child Development Expert (1995) ISBN 1883965292 ( Rattle OK Publications. Napa Calif. ) and started her talk by saying "Let's put the fun back into "Dysfunction!" I hope she will be able to come to Ireland to present at our IFDCO International conference in Cork, 20th - 25th July, 2009.

Jeff Johnson, who worked as Childminder along with his wife, Tasha, is another great speaker for Childminders to hear. He was very entertaining, as he addressed the serious issue of combating stress and burnout in Childcare. I hope we can get him to come to Ireland also. His website is www.explorations@cableone.net

"Make Early Learning Standards Come Alive - connecting your practice and curriculum to state guidelines" was very informative, as we move towards bringing Siolta Quality Standards into Childminding in Ireland. Gaye Gronlund ISBN-13: 978-1-929610-82-2 www.redleafpress.org

"CK Kids" offers an on-line Calendar-Keeper service which enables you to plan your meals and keep track of attendance, activity schedule, invoicing parents' fees and payments received, with ease!" (www.minutemenu.com/ckkids)