ECC Participates in the MO-SECA Program

Taking ECC from Good to Great!

Leslie Shaw at the Missouri State Capital in Jefferson, MO.

Last summer, I applied to a training program called MO-SECA (Missouri Supporting Early Childhood Administrators). It is part of the UMKC Institute for Human Development in their Early Childhood Innovation Center. This program focuses on building the knowledge, skills and connections for Early Childhood Administrators they need to lead and operate sustainable .

As part of the program, I participated in 36 hours of training in the Leadership Academy and Business Academy. The trainings took place throughout the state of Missouri as well as at the Bloch Center at UMKC. I attended a series of classes focused on the book Building on Whole Leadership: Energizing and Strengthening Your Early Childhood Program.  Other classes focused on developing my personal leadership style and organizational strengths. I studied topics like:

• Supervision and HR

• From Surviving to Thriving: Building a Sustainable EC Program 

• Understanding Financial Statements

• Strategic Financial Management.

Every course offered insights and clear ways make improvements that benefited Red Bridge ECC.

In addition to the trainings, the program also included coaching sessions. I met my coach, Katie Diemler in August 2023. She came to the school for our sessions and saw the preschool and meet our teachers.

I participated in the “Program Administration Scale (PAS)” to measure Whole Leadership in an Early Childhood Center. This is an extensive survey of what our program is currently doing and areas that could be improved. It included things like:

• Family and Community Partnerships,

• Fiscal Management,

• Staff Qualifications and

• Relational Leadership

• …and more.

We were assessed on a scale of 1-7. After the initial assessment, Katie and I looked for ways to improve the program and to increase the score. We revised our staff evaluation sheet I was currently using to include a self-assessment and to broaden the expectations for review. We created a “Getting to Know You” page for our parents and made plans for a “Back to School” Zoom call to improve communication and relationships with our families. We made many changes that allowed us to increase our PAS score in a number of categories. I was amazed at the impact these training sessions had on our program.

After completing the program, attendees were invited to a special recognition ceremony at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.  There were over 150 administrators from across the state who completed the MO-SECA training program. To present our plaques, they had Dr. Michael Abel, Director of the Early Childhood Innovation Center, and Dr. Karla Eslinger, Commissioner of Education at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The ceremony took place in the rotunda of the Capitol and included the MO-SECA trainers, coaches, staff along with friends and families of the administrators who completed the course. I feel honored to have participated in the MO-SECA training program. It was a great investment of my time and energy, and I can already see where this experience will benefit me, my staff and our families at Red Bridge Early Childhood Center. Let’s take ECC from good to GREAT!

Week 6 Camp ECC goes to the Olympics!

Camp ECC raced through week 6 with exciting Olympic-themed crafts and activities!

We started the week discussing the sports that are a part of the summer Olympics. The students shared their favorite events they would like to participate in if they were to attend the Olympics.

Campers made gold medals and paper plate laurel wreaths with leaves glued on top. They also made their own torch out of paper hand-prints to carry in the opening ceremonies. Some classes made a Team USA windsock to hang in their rooms at home!

The students also decorated picture frames with red, white and blue stickers and dot markers. They took a picture on an Olympic podium with a USA flag in the background. They wore their medals, held up their torches and wore their laurel wreaths.

We set up obstacle courses to create our own track and field events. We even made our own hurdles with solo cups and paper tubes.

In music class, the kids paraded around the gym to the Olympic theme song. We also danced to the song “Party in the USA.” Our sensory bins were full of red and blue bracelets, stars, and rings that they could wear during the day. We celebrated the end of the week with Red, White and Blue bomb pops!

As camp ECC 2024 ends, we hope the kids had an exciting, positive, experience! We look forward to the 2025 camp! Enrollment is currently open for the 2024/2025 school year. Click here to learn more about fall 2024 enrollment!

Child paints USA themed Olympic Rings

ECC Summer Camp Recap Week 5: Surfs Up!

Beach vibes were felt throughout the week at our Surfin’ USA camp! This week was full of beachy fun like sand tables, surf boards, and seashells.

In music class, we had fun dancing to “Surfin’ USA”, marching to the song “Red, White and Blue”, jumping up and down for the song “Firework” and singing to “Mr. Sun” and “Baby Shark.” Miss Jennifer makes our music program so lively and fun.

Many campers got to make their own surfboards out of paper plates or foam board. They decorated the surfboards using a combination of paint and shaving cream. You swirl the paint and shaving cream together, press the surfboard on top and then scrape off the excess paint to reveal the patterns. They turned out so bright and colorful! The teachers took pictures of them pretending to surf and then cut those out and glued them to the boards.

For an activity, students studied various seashells using magnifying glasses. There are so many features that make each shell unique. We also put the shells in water to see if they would sink or float.

We ended the week with some delicious red, white and blue Bomb Pop popsicles!

Bluey visits ECC Summer camp!

We had so much fun with our Bluey and Bingo camp this week! Campers know and love the show and we brought it to life at ECC with all of the games, activities, projects and songs that went with the Bluey theme!

Students could choose to be Bluey or Bingo when they made headbands out of construction paper. They even had the cute bushy eyebrows just like the characters. We played a bunch of games including “Keepy Uppy” using blue and yellow balloons and paddles. We played “Pass the Parsel” and “Bluey/Bingo Cornhole.”  We also did a scavenger hunt throughout the building finding clues which eventually lead us back to the classroom for Bluey fruit snacks.

In music class, we danced and sang songs like “B-I-N-G-O”, “The Wheels on the Taxi”, “Little Blue Wagon” and the theme song to Bluey. We had lots of Bluey books that Miss Tina picked up from the Red Bridge Library including Baby Race, Barky Boats, Queens, and Sleepytime.

Our best surprise was a special visit from Bluey herself! She came before camp so parents could take pictures with her in front of the school. Then, she walked around to each classroom to take a class picture with the students. A HUGE THANK YOU to Tiffany Kim from My Play Cafe for being our Bluey guest of honor this week. The students loved it! 

ECC Summer Camp Recap Week 3: Diggin' Dinos

 Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! ECC campers had a roaring good time learning about dinosaurs this week.

We pretended to be Paleontologists and “discovered” fossils. Campers made their own fossils out of air clay or salt dough that was dried and baked in the oven. They used miniature dinosaurs and leaves to create the impression in the dough. They loved making their own fossils.

Campers were busy in the classrooms with all sorts of Dino activities! Some made Dinosaur hats, and others made Dinosaur feet which were good for stomping.  Some students built Triceratops out of paper plates using brads to attach the head, tail and legs.  The kinetic sand with the plastic dinosaurs was lots of fun for sensory play in the classrooms.

Miss Kate set up a dinosaur obstacle course where students could stomp like a T-Rex, stand tall like a Brontosaurus, crawl like a Brachiosaurus and play Tricera-Toss. The children loved the challenges and took several turns through the course. We set it up in the hallway so campers could be inside and get a break from the heat.

In music class, we sang “The Dino-Pokey”, “Three Dinosaurs Go Out to Play”, and “We are the Dinosaurs.” Miss Jennifer adapted one of our favorite songs to “I’m Bringing Home a Baby Dinosaur.”  And we always love to sing the “S’Mores Song!”

Teachers read books about Dinosaurs including How do Dinosaurs Learn to be Kind, Dinosaurs Fun Facts, and Dazzle the Dinosaur.

Happiness is a week at Camp ECC with lots of learning, play and fun!

ECC Summer Camp Recap Week 2 - June 11-13

It was a beautiful week to be outside and exploring nature! The ECC campers put on their “looking glasses” and discovered so many things in the great outdoors. We went on a nature themed scavenger hunt and searched for caterpillars, birds, spider webs, small leaves and more.

They made nature bracelets out of packing tape, collected sticks, dandelions, blades of grass, and more. Some classes made nature suncatchers filled with petals, leaves, seeds, stems, and other things the teachers collected. They were proud of their new creations.  

Other classes made butterflies using watercolors, markers and coffee filters. The teachers added a picture of each student as a beautiful butterfly, while other classes painted pots and planted flowers. We also did leaf rubbings to see the delicate veins that go throughout the leaves.   

The students read books about nature like Secrets of the Forest and Does Earth Feel? We learned about different animals who live in the forest, including what they eat and/or what makes them unique.

In music class, we sang the songs “Going on a Bear Hunt”, “Ants in my Pants”, “Five Green and Speckled Frogs”, and “I’m Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee.” “The S’More Song” is always a favorite the students love too!

There is so much to learn when you take time to explore the world around you!

ECC Summer Camp Recap Week 1

3-2-1 BLAST OFF! The first week of camp was out of this world! There is so much to learn about our solar system, the stars, the sun, and the planets. The students loved it!

When walking into a classroom, children had a variety of activities to participate in.

In Green Squares, the students played a game of “Moon rock, moon rock, where did you go?”, making rocket ships that could be launched with a straw. Some were made of cardboard and aluminum foil.

In Gold Stars, they used moon sand at a sensory table and made stars.

In music class, we sang songs like “Mr. Golden Sun”, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and “5 Little Astronauts.” In the song, “Bop Until You Drop” the children moved in slow motion pretending we were walking on the moon with no gravity.

We read books about outer space like “Billie’s Outer Space Adventure”, “Little Kids First Word Book of Space” and “Fly Guy Presents Space.”  We took pictures of ourselves wearing space suits and imagined what it would be like to travel on a rocket ship and visit the moon.  Students learned about different planets and what characteristics make them unique. They also created their own planets using watercolors, shaving cream, paint, glitter, and coffee filters. We even invented names for our new planets!

We ended the week with a sweet Bomb Pop Popsicle treat!

Strengthening Communication with Parent-Teacher Partnerships

At Red Bridge Early Childhood Center, we know the importance of fostering a relationship between parents and teachers. Having a good relationship helps teachers empathize with the parents and children. It helps teachers understand things that are happening at home that may impact your child’s performance in school.

For example, let’s say there was a rough drop off in the morning. Your child doesn’t sleep well, a parent is out of town, or a grandparent visits. These could impact your child’s routine and their behavior, mood, and more.

There could also be more serious things going on at home impacting your child. Having a relationship built on trust could help inform how the teacher should care for the child; it can also help the teacher share resources and other information that could help the parents through a difficult time.

We strive to communicate openly and clearly to parents about their children. It could be something like your child being chosen to be the line leader or performing a task independently, we love to share these wins with the parents to help build that trust.

Make it stand out

We strive to communicate openly and clearly to parents about their children. It could be something like your child being chosen to be the line leader or performing a task independently, we love to share these wins with the parents to help build that trust. - Leslie Shaw

We love to share things that happen at school that help a parent to gain insight into their child’s day. It could be something small like being chosen to be the line leader or independently unpacking their backpack. It could be one of those moments a teacher notices where your child was a good friend to another child who was having a hard day. Or it could be significant information about your child’s behavior or concerns a teacher may have about your child’s development. Regardless, we know that when teachers and parents work together as a team and share open communication, your child will benefit from this partnership.

 What are some other ways that parents and teachers can build trust with one another? Comment below!

The Power of Obstacle Courses for Children

In GymJam, we start each class with a welcome song, a quick stretch, and an obstacle course. Every activity on the course is tied in with our weekly theme. Pirate week? We “walked the plank” on balance beams, “swam” through a tunnel, dodged crocodiles in a swamp, and climbed over a treasure chest. While the children are laughing and playing their way through the course, they are also learning and building their kinesthetic sense. Forming a line and waiting for the teacher to explain each step of the course is an exercise in impulse control. Walking on a balance beam develops their vestibular and proprioceptive systems as well as building core muscle strength. With each challenge, the children are learning while having fun.

While the children are laughing and playing their way through the course, they are also learning and building their kinesthetic sense.

Want to try this with your child? You can easily construct an obstacle course at home or on the go using whatever materials and supplies you have available. No balance beams? Walk on a curb or draw a line on a sidewalk and have them “walk the plank.” No tunnel at home? Build ones using chairs and a bed sheet for children to crawl through. Create a zig/zag pattern outside using painters’ tape or sidewalk chalk to have children race through. Climbing stairs, balancing on one foot, rolling on a towel are obstacles you can set up in your home or out at a park. When you give young children opportunities to move in new and creative ways, you are helping them build a sense of their body and head in space. This will help them grow healthy brains and bodies to serve them for the rest of their lives. 

Contact us today to learn more about the great things Red Bridge Early Childhood Center has to offer.

When you give young children opportunities to move in new and creative ways, you are helping them build a sense of their body and head in space.