August 31, 2020 Virtual Community of Practice Meetings Are you interested in discussing topics of interest and current trends with fellow professionals in the early childhood field? Join ELRC Region 5 for their virtual Community of Practice sessions! About Community of Practice sessions provide early learning professionals with opportunities to discuss topics of interest, current trends in the early childhood field, and offer insight and inspiration to their fellow professionals. In October, these virtual sessions will focus on tips, how-tos, and tools for participants to navigate through Provider Self Service (PSS), where you can apply for or renew child care licensing, submit ELRC online attendance invoices, submit Keystone STARS requests, and update provider profiles; and STARS Management and Reliability Tracking (SMART), a document uploader for the Keystone STARS Designation process. Available Sessions Saturday, October 10: SMART Document Uploader, Provider Self Service & Keystone STARS Supporting Documents 10 a.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session Thursday, October 15: SMART Document Uploader, Provider Self Service & Keystone STARS Supporting Documents 10 a.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session 1 p.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session More Information For questions, contact ELRC Region 5 at elrc5@alleghenycounty.us or 412.350.3577. Share this flyer with your network.
Virtual Community of Practice Meetings Are you interested in discussing topics of interest and current trends with fellow professionals in the early childhood field? Join ELRC Region 5 for their virtual Community of Practice sessions! About Community of Practice sessions provide early learning professionals with opportunities to discuss topics of interest, current trends in the early childhood field, and offer insight and inspiration to their fellow professionals. In September, these virtual sessions will discuss the most current school-age care updates, information, trends, resources, and professional development opportunities. Participants will connect with out-of-school-time partners and professionals, and they will receive support as new or existing school-age care programs. The session will also focus on supporting virtual learning, daily schedules, and keeping the children engaged. Available Sessions Saturday, September 12: School-Age Care Updates 10 a.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session Thursday, September 17: School-Age Care Updates 10 a.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session 1 p.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session More Information For questions, contact ELRC Region 5 at elrc5@alleghenycounty.us or 412.350.3577. Share this flyer with your network.
October 30, 2019 OCDEL Announces New Community Survey About Every five years, states have the opportunity to learn about the well-being of families of young children in local communities. Pennsylvania is asking any individual living in the state to complete this short survey. Through the data collected, Pennsylvania’s Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) will better understand the resources for families living in your community. Survey responses will be used statewide and locally to inform Family Support Services, such as parenting classes and home visiting services. Hearing from everyone is important! Whether you’re a parent or a provider of family and early childhood services, please complete and share this survey. Take the OCDEL Community Survey In English Please take about five to ten minutes to complete the survey. Your input is critical to informing stakeholders about the factors that may affect the well-being of young children and families in communities across Pennsylvania. If you wish to complete the OCDEL Community Survey in English, enter the following link into your web browser: is.gd/surveypa En Español Le pedimos que pase entre 5 a 10 minutos para contestar la encuesta. Sus aportes son muy importantes para nosotros ya que nos ayudarán a identificar y comprender los factores que pueden afectar la salud dentro de su familia y su comunidad en Pennsylvania. Si desea completar la encuesta en español, meter el enlace siguiente en su navegador de internet: is.gd/encuestapa More Information To learn more, read the full announcement. *Information provided by OCDEL
April 26, 2019 Harnessing the ‘Power of Play’ to Build Equitable Cities When planners and community stakeholders are hashing out asset inventories and needs assessments to figure out the state of neighborhood amenities, a few things are sure to almost always make the list: more access to green space, safer crosswalks, more parking in business districts, gateways, and wayfinding signage. When planners design communities to be safer, healthier, more sustainable, and more walkable, how often do those efforts make a community more playful? The Power of Play Play is powerful. In the sphere of early childhood education, experts recognize the unparalleled importance of play in learning and development. In business, play is seen as a gateway to greater creativity, collaboration, and breakthrough innovation. In society, communities that play together stay together. Isn’t it time we embraced playfulness as a quality worth designing into our urban spaces? Perhaps the trouble is that the word itself seems just too playful to be taken seriously. We need more words for play. More Words for Play The Finnish language has no shortage of words for play. For Finns, playing a game is different from playing a sport, which is different from playing music. There are distinct Finnish words for children’s play and the play that adults engage in. There’s even a Finnish word that means both “work” and “play.” This rich vocabulary shows that in Finland, play is a valued part of life that isn’t confined just to kids’ stuff. Where else would we see play show up in our plans, if only we had the words for it? What would we call the kind of play that brings strangers together? What would we call playing around with ideas and possibilities? It’s questions like these that motivated a coalition of public and private sector partners to start the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative and organize a citywide movement to expand the presence of play in every community. As a mid-size, post-industrial city in the midst of dramatic changes spurred in large part by new development, we see a mandate to build greater public demand for play as an integral part of the city’s future. Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative Locally in southwestern Pennsylvania, the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative is working to make play a part of the urban infrastructure. Since 2013, members of the Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative have been working together to find and remove the barriers holding communities back from experiencing the social benefits of play. These efforts have brought together leaders and representatives from the city’s parks and museums, human services and municipal agencies, arts and sustainability nonprofits, and community development groups. Along the way, we’ve encountered distinct manifestations of play that we really wish had their own name. Learn more about the work of The Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative and read the full article from the urban planning magazine Planetizen. (shared via Planetizen)