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A leader is someone who inspires passion and motivation in followers. In a childcare setting, there are many types of leaders. Teachers are leaders of the children. Administrators are leaders for the teachers. Regardless of what type of leader you are or who you are leading, one of a leader's most powerful tools is communication and conversation. Effective communication is vital to gain trust, align efforts in the pursuit of goals, and inspire positive change. When communication is lacking, important information can be misinterpreted, causing relationships to suffer and, ultimately, creating barriers that hinder progress. Remember, one of the most important motivators for people is that they feel they are being listened to, that they feel valued, and that their ideas are heard and appreciated. This type of leadership requires being out of your office and in your environment. In childcare, this can be challenging. Schedule times out of your office during crucial drop-off and pick-up times so you are easily accessible to your parents for conversations. Be involved with your staff by being accessible and demonstrating your interest in knowing how they are doing, their goals, their opinions, their families, and their interests. During your daily walkarounds, greet your staff and ask questions about events that are important to them. Important steps to great communication are: Be genuine Be in the conversation and nowhere else Ask open-ended questions to continue the conversation Listen more than you talk Let silence do the heavy lifting Thank the person for their time, suggestions, or ideas. Some individuals are naturals at effective communication. For those of us who are not, we must commit to it to know its importance, to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and accept ideas and help, and to seek continuous improvement. Continuing to improve your communication will lead to continuing to significantly improve your leadership!

Finding quality child care is going to take a little homework. The following is a checklist of important information to consider when visiting several centers. We hope this will be helpful in making the decision that is right for you and your child. FREE - Download your Checklist for Quality Child Care here. Recent studies prove the long-term benefits of a Quality Early Childhood program: Increased IQ scores Greater achievement levels on proficiency tests Higher SAT scores More likely to attend college Over 14% increase in lifetime earnings Some of the highlights include: Convenient Locations. Experienced and Educated Teachers. Age-Appropriate Program. Extracurricular Activities. Competitive Tuition Rates. Well-maintained, Child-oriented Environment. We hope that after visiting several centers, you will choose to provide your child with a warm, caring, educational and fun experience. Thank you!!!! Download this FREE Checklist for Quality Child Care:

Water play does not have to be limited to the water table, take it outside! Grab a few small pails of water, large paint brushes, and have the kids help paint the playground! Got some chalk? Let’s kick it up a notch and turn this into a lesson about letters! This is a great activity to do on a hot summer day to push back against that summer knowledge slide… Beforehand, write some letters on the fence, wall, or floor. Assign each of the students a letter and instruct them to find their letter and “paint” over it. (It doesn’t have to be letters, you can switch it up and use colors, shapes, numbers, or words). Small amount of prep, minimal mess that will dry in the sun, and tons of fun! Additional Outdoor Activities: Tracing Shadows: trace the outline of your partner’s shadow and then color it in to create an alternate identity. Bird Watching: Set up a bird feeder (or make your own) and journal about what birds you see visiting the feeder each day. Create your own stationary to send to friends and family. Try crayon rubbings over tree leaves or pressing flowers. Try some catchy rhyming songs while skipping rope. Go on an ABC Outdoor Scavenger hunt! A-Ant, B-Bird, C-Cloud. Act out a familiar story. There are tons of adventure books to choose from: “We’re going on a Bear Hunt”, “We’re going on a lion hunt”, “The Listening Walk”, “Where the Wild Things Are”, and so much more!

Today's blog post highlights Vogel Alcove, a unique concept center that is helping homeless families in Dallas, Texas. Dallas has the 6th largest GDP of any American city and more than 20 Fortune 500 company headquarters. Yet, approximately 4,500 children in Dallas will go to sleep tonight without a home. Families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, and 88% of those families are led by single mothers with multiple children under age five, often with no support system. They are fighting to survive. Homelessness is more than just a man standing on a street corner, it’s entire families. Housing is essential to ending homelessness. Still, families also need food, employment, childcare, education, transportation, mental and health care, and supportive relationships in order to thrive. Homelessness robs parents of the ability to give children the safety and security they need to grow. Without intervention, the trauma of homelessness can cause life-long mental, physical, and emotional damage. Vogel Alcove’s services and programs are helping families heal their trauma, empowering parents to build stability, and letting kids just be kids. Vogel Alcove is a nonprofit, non-religious 501(c)(3) organization that serves homeless children and families regardless of race, religion or gender. Vogel Alcove’s strategic initiative helps break the cycle of poverty by using a Two-Generational Approach to solving family homelessness. Vogel Alcove offers therapeutic educational programs that are specifically designed to support children (ages six weeks to 12 years) who are experiencing the trauma of homelessness. These programs include Early Childhood Services, School-Age services, Mental Health Services, Health Services & Family Support. Therapeutic Early Childhood Programming is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). A research-based curriculum designed to help children living in traumatic circumstances like homelessness is utilized. This approach helps to improve developmental outcomes, foster social/emotional skills and creates a pathway for success in school. Therapeutic School-Age Services include summer camps for children in Kindergarten through 8th grade. These services “fill in the gap,” providing children with a safe place to learn, play and gain new skills outside of school hours. Mental Health Program is a critical component of Vogel Alcove’s programming. Being homeless creates a host of challenges for young children. Vogel Alcove’s approach is to understand these issues and offer a mental health curriculum focused on social/emotional skill building and creating community. On-site mental health therapy for children and adults is available. Health Services address the physical well-being of homeless children. Weekly, onsite access to medical care, two meals and a snack each day, and daily nap time for kids who may not be able to get peaceful, uninterrupted sleep at night is provided. A full-time School Nurse is available for the basic health needs of our children, perform vision and hearing screenings, and educate parents about children’s health. Family Support Program is an essential program for Vogel Alcove. To make the greatest impact on a child's life, the family must be included. Family support staff provide 1:1 case management, resources such as diapers and clothes, assistance procuring housing, education resources, employment assistance, career-ready training, partnerships with outside groups, parenting training, and more. With generous community support, Vogel Alcove has served more than 17,000 children and their families since 1987. A few key statistics for 2020-2022: 63% of parents were unemployed when their child/children enrolled at Vogel Alcove; 26% were employed in temporary jobs with limited hours and no benefits. 56% of parents were employed or in school when their child/children left Vogel Alcove. 85% of preschool children showed gains in the areas of social/emotional, physical, language and cognitive development and were on track for their age and stage of development. 68% of the children we served during the 2021-2022 school year had decreased or eliminated mental health risk factors. 93 children and parents received one-on-one therapy in 2021. After 8 months at Vogel Alcove, 80% of infant and toddler children are able to function at appropriate stages of development. Our impact shows that in 2020, 70% of families experienced decreased housing vulnerability. During the pandemic, NOT ONE FAMILY SLID BACK INTO HOMELESSNESS. The success of Vogel Alcove’s mission and the exponential growth of their programs and services over the last 35 years is not possible without the support of donors. Vogel Alcove receives funding from foundations, corporations, community organizations, government grants, private individual donations and through proceeds from special events, such as the annual Arts Performance Event and the Day 1 Dallas family fair. If you would like to donate to or be a part of Vogel Alcove, please contact them at https://vogelalcove.org or https://vogelalcove.org/donate/#

Our environment affects us all. Our physical surroundings affect how we feel, how comfortable we are, how we relate to others and how successfully we accomplish what we set out to do. For young children, the environment is particularly important. The size of the classroom and the outdoor play areas, the color of the walls, the size and type of furniture and flooring, the amount of light, the number of windows all influence how children learn. The physical environment is the setting on which everything takes place. An orderly environment creates orderly values and behavior in children. Everyone feels more relaxed and at ease in a neat, clean and orderly environment. Classrooms that are brightly decorated or decorated in natural tones, may affect children in different ways. To benefit children, classrooms should be child oriented and well stocked with a multitude of age appropriate learning materials and resources. Classrooms must be clean, safe and well planned to create an atmosphere for a variety of learning experiences for children. Child sized furniture, equipment, toilets and sinks help children to be self-reliant in taking care of their personal needs. Children should be encouraged to respect and take care of the environment as they clean up toys and materials, wipe tables and put away chairs. Teachers play an important role as they support, facilitate, and encourage children in the environment of the classroom and school. A room that is attractive, cheerful, orderly and filled with interesting objects conveys the message “This is a comfortable place where children can explore, feel safe and learn.” Good classroom set up means thinking about traffic flow. It accommodates both noisy and quiet areas and allows children to move from space to space easily and in practical ways.It allows children to find and put away materials independently. Children want to be in a welcoming, organized classroom. Additional things that make a classroom welcoming: Plants and natural materials help children connect to the environment. Children’s Artwork displayed at child's eye level helps children know this is their classroom. Add neutrals and earth tones as background so children see and respond to what you want to highlight. Use music to create a soothing calm atmosphere. Learning materials should be accessible throughout the day everyday. Pillows and other soft materials help promote an atmosphere of relaxation and comfort. Reflect the culture and community through home items. Books should also reflect the culture and family background. Print rich classroom materials showing family and community. Wall displays and print rich instructional tools. Learning centers that allow children to explore independently or in a small group. A well thought out planned engaging environment for children will prevent discipline issues and create a natural learning environment for children.

In the very busy world of child care, there is nothing more important than child retention and keeping families that are enrolled in your school happy, so they continue to come back day after day and year after year. Successful child care centers are successful because of their attention to the detail of customer satisfaction. When parents believe in, and feel a part of your school, they buy into the culture, the program and curriculum. They become invested in the people and relationships and are less likely to take their child somewhere else. C.A.R.E. stands for Customer Attention Retains Enrollment. C.A.R.E. reminds all center staff to take the extra step to provide exceptional customer service to both the child and the parent. C.A.R.E is not hard to do, it can be as simple as greeting every parent and child, every day, with a warm genuine smile and an enthusiastic “Good Morning!” C.A.R.E. is the process of getting to know the parent and child. What motivates them? What are they interested in? What are their expectations of the child care environment? Then, applying that knowledge to how YOU can help make the parent and child’s life easier, better, and the experience richer. When C.A.R.E. is provided on a consistent basis by all staff, parents can “feel” the difference and they remain enrolled at your center longer. C.A.R.E. ensures that the child and parent are getting the specialized attention that retains enrollment. The goal is to reduce parent anxiety and help parents enjoy and celebrate the quality of the program that their child is experiencing. The following are some C.A.R.E. steps you can take to make sure children love your child care center and parents continue to support your school. Create strong and sustainable relationships. With Families Share what you know about their child in a respectful way. Develop strong family relationships with all members of the child's family. Have honest, authentic conversations that build trusting relationships with adults and parents. Listen to the families’ ideas and concerns without preconceived judgment. Give parents a phone call just to check in. Let parents know how their child helped in the classroom today. Let parents know how their child helped a friend today. Check in with families at drop-off and pick-up times. Greet every adult enthusiastically. Keep parents informed about upcoming events. Thank the parents for enrolling in the program. With Children One of the most important aspects of adult-child interactions is engaging children. Talking to children about what you are doing, and describing what you are seeing and experiencing helps young children make sense of the world they live in and builds a trusting relationship. Have fun. Creating an outstanding C.A.R.E. environment in your center is not only about retention, but also about building enrollment. Use software like IntelliKid Systems to keep parents informed with the happenings of the center as well as give them the opportunity to easily refer new parents. IKS is a leading CRM in the child care industry and can automate the process from a happy parent referral all the way to a newly enrolled happy family! IntelliKid Systems helps centers across the globe modernize their enrollment by: Keeping parents engaged throughout the decision-making process: from a first impression all the way to enrollment. Communicating with parents all in one place via SMS, Email, Facebook Messenger, and Zoom Using easy, embeddable landing pages to collect information from prospective parents on your website including allowing tours to be booked with IKS’s self-scheduling tour tools including calendar sync! Recording and managing your inquiry calls all within one system with no hardware needed! Communicating with enrolled parents via newsletters with IntelliKid Systems best-in-class drag and drop email editor and campaigns feature. Book a demo with IntelliKid Systems today! www.intellikidsystems.com/demo

Teacher appreciation is not something to be done only once a year during Teacher Appreciation Week! Showing how much we value and appreciate our teachers should be an everyday occurrence. Helping teachers reduce stress and feel valued for their hard work is something you can do year-round everyday! Let’s look at several tips you can do daily to help your staff feel valued, reduce stress, feel appreciated and prevent teacher burnout. 1: Bring Treats: Everyone appreciates treats and goodies, especially teachers. Little snacks give teachers the energy they need to execute engaging, enriching lessons throughout the day. Find out their favorite treat and sneak it into their mailboxes. 2: Provide Breakfast or Lunch: During the school day, teachers are often so focused on their students and the tasks at hand that they do not have time for a well-balanced breakfast or lunch. Treat them to a meal of their choice. 3. Wash their Car: Working long hours at school means that teachers rarely prioritize taking care of their own “life tasks.” A washed car seems like a simple thing, but will really help a teacher out. 4. Craft a “Thank You” Banner: Collect notes or messages from students in the teacher’s class and compile them onto a banner or poster. Hang it in the hallway so everyone passing by knows how much the teacher is appreciated. 5. Send an e-mail: A quick, but meaningful way to appreciate a teacher is just to write it in a note or email. Include personal stories of what you saw or heard the teachers do that made a difference and impacted you. 6. Give a Break: Make a date to read a book aloud to the class, supervise lunch or give the teacher a break during outdoor recess time. This can make a huge difference on a frustrating day. 7. “Tell On” a Teacher: Create a board where teachers are publicly recognized for excellence and a job well done. Parents, administrators and other teachers can share comments and brag about the excellent teaching they witness by “Telling on“ the teacher. 8. Create Candy Puns: There’s no shortage of clever candy puns and wonderful snack food wordplay. Leave a mason jar full of Mike-and-Ike’s, Skittles, or M&M’s labeled “chill pills.” Or place individual portions of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers in a baggie with the phrase, “We need s’more teachers like YOU!”, a Three Musketeers bar with a note that says, “To someone who does the work of three people – THANK YOU!”, “Have I told you “Reese”- ently you are wonderful to work with.” The creative and yummy teacher appreciation ideas for staff are endless! 9: Create an Individual Award for Each Teacher: Create an award for each teacher that highlights that teacher's strengths. Post the award in the teacher’s classroom. 10: Create a positive school culture: For any teacher appreciation effort to deliver lasting change, it must be grounded in positive culture: an environment where teachers feel valued every day, are given a voice and are set up for success in their classrooms. Every action you take as an administrator should forge and foster this positive culture. The most important asset we have in our schools are our teachers!

At IntelliKid Systems, we know the frustration that can sometimes surround lost possessions in the childcare environment. The following is a cute and funny way to remind parents about the importance of labeling everything a child brings to a group care environment. Feel free to modify, edit or use in your early childhood environment. If You Liked It, You Should Put A Label On It! Whether it’s your infant's change of clothes, preschooler’s jacket, kindergartner's backpack, or your lunch in the office fridge: “If you liked it, you shoulda put a label on it.” Cool weather is coming and new jackets are arriving at Target (or your favorite store to buy children’s clothes). An adorable Dinosaur jacket is on display and it’s on sale! Of course, you nab it! But so does every other parent. Teachers always know what’s trending, because soon multiple students will be wearing the same things. Including that adorable dinosaur jacket that was priced too perfectly to pass up (so much so that you bought a larger size up for next year). The child you sent to school with their new jacket now comes home with one that is slightly smaller, maybe it’s a bit more worn, or, worse, it has melted gummies (or at least you hope it’s gummies) in the pockets. How was the teacher supposed to know which child’s jacket was which? If you liked it, you shoulda put a label on it! Everyone wins when we know what belongs to each child. Thank you for labeling all your child's possessions! We really appreciate it!

1. Urgency vs. Importance (Steven Covey) Consider the importance (or “weight”) of the items on your list, and the urgency “when is it due?” ​ ​Urgent Not Urgent Important ​Quadrant 1: Examples: Things due today or tomorrow, dealing with emergencies or crises. Quadrant 2: Examples: Long-term projects planning ahead, studying in advance, getting started early. Not Important ​Quadrant 3: Examples: Interruptions, distractions, fun events that come up, social invitations. ​Quadrant 4: Examples: Time wasters, busy work, procrastination activities, aimless internet browsing. 2. The ABC Method (Alan Lakein) The ABC Method was originally developed by Alan Lakein and consists of assigning a priority status of “A”, “B”, or “C” to each of the items of your to-do list or task list. “A” Status Items - “Must Do”High priority, very important, critical items, with close deadlines or high level of importance to them.“B” Status Items - “Should Do”Medium priority, quite important over time, not as critical as “A” items, but still important to spend time doing.“C” Status Items - “Nice to Do”Low priority at this time, low consequences if left undone at this moment. 3. Other Considerations... (adapted from David Allen) What can I do where I'm? (Think about location. What can you do where you are now? Sometimes we have unexpected pockets of time. How can you use them to your advantage?) How much time do I have and when do I have to do something else? (Be realistic about what can' be done. Your to do list might shift based on how much time you have available) How much energy & focus do I have? (What can you realistically take on right now?) What has the highest payoff for me if I do it? (Yet another way to think about importance, weight, or priorities) Sources: Allen, D. Getting Things Done Website & Newsletter: http://www.davidco.com/newsletters/archive/0512.html Covey, S.R (1987). “Principles of Personal Management”, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. NY: Fireside. Haynes. M.E. (2009). Time Management: Get an extra day a week. 4th Ed. Axzo Press.

In the early childhood world, we all know that word-of-mouth is the best marketing tool. But the question is, how do we get that ball rolling? One great way to encourage this is through a referral program. Word-of-mouth referrals remain the most important influencer for parents of young children. Parents trust recommendations from their family and friends, over any other type of advertising. For early childhood programs, developing and promoting your parent referral program is one way for your early childhood program to gain enrollment. A child care referral program is when you encourage your current families to share your program with their friends and family. When they share your program and someone signs up, you then reward them with a discount as a ‘thank you’. Now, how do you get started? When developing your referral program, you will want to think about a few things. First, the discount percentage you’d like to offer. To really get parents talking, you should make it worth their while. Offer a free week of tuition for the person who referred their friend and a $100.00 off of the first week's tuition or a free registration fee for the person that was referred. Next, you will want to think about how the families can apply for the referral program and how you will track the referrals. There is nothing worse than a parent who’s referred someone saying they didn’t get their referral credit. Using your website as a place where referring parents can submit their referral forms keeps you organized and provides a record of who referred who and when the referral occurred. Creating a referral form on your website saves paper, time and is an easy systematic way for parents to be able to make referrals without a lot of effort on their part. Lastly, think about whether or not you want to offer it per child or per family. Most schools offer the discount per family sign-up, however, it’s completely up to you! Let your Families Know Once you have developed your referral program, you’ll want to let your families know all about it. Notify families of the new referral program through all communication avenues: Parent communication app Mass email Mass text message Social media posts Website Banner/sign at the front desk Referral flyer Add to your brochure and enrollment forms A mix of these options works the best. Also, letting families know that you are a referral-based program on a tour is a great way to promote it as well. Families love hearing about ways they can save on tuition!

We are here to save you time! Our rule of thumb is that your IKS portal should be checked 2-3 times a day (in the Morning, during Nap Time and during Closing). It only takes an average of 10-15 minutes at each check-in, but, in turn, saves you hours in lead follow-up! We have created a daily user guide to help you navigate the system: feel free to check it out, print it and keep it as a handy enrollment tool!

"What if I was to tell you that a game of peek-a-boo could change the world?" asks seven-year-old Molly Wright, one of the youngest-ever TED speakers. Breaking down the research-backed ways parents and caregivers can support children's healthy brain development. Wright highlights the benefits of play on lifelong learning, behavior and well-being, sharing effective strategies to help all kids thrive by the age of five. She's joined onstage by one-year-old Ari and his dad, Amarjot, who help illustrate her big ideas about brain science. (This TED Talk was produced in collaboration with Minderoo Foundation as an educational tool for parents and caregivers around the world and is supported by UNICEF.)

Knowing who your competitors are, and what they are offering, can help you to make your school and marketing stand out. It will enable you to set your prices competitively and help you to respond to rival marketing campaigns with your own initiatives. Growing your business requires you to be constantly learning about it and making necessary adjustments. However, you can only grow and improve so much when you are learning in relation to yourself. You only know what you know. This is why it's important to get to know your competition. Knowing about your business in relation to the competition will broaden your knowledge about your target audience, so you can refine your business strategy. Staying up to date on current trends in curriculum offered, extracurricular services, how childcare is using technology etc. will help you stay competitive. Knowing about your competitors will help you stay current. You will be able to determine what parents are looking for and navigate challenges in your market. Here are five things to know about your competitors that will help your business in these areas. What Kind of Competitor Are They? Your competitors include any business that might deter a potential customer from choosing you, but this can take different forms. Direct Competitors Direct competitors are other childcare centers or businesses that offer the same things that you do. Indirect Competitors Indirect competitors are those who don’t offer the same service but meet the same need in an alternative way. These could include after-school safekey programs, tutoring services etc. Information about your indirect competitors will help you to find effective ways of getting in front of your target audience. Knowing what kinds of competitors you have, and why they are competitors, can help you to identify which marketing activities and messaging are the most effective for your business. Know your Competition Many childcare centers offer the same kind of services or cater to the same age group of children. That’s ok. There is room for everyone. If you have similar positioning to your competitors, pay attention to the details. If you both serve lunch, knowing that you offer lunch developed by a certified nutritionist whereas your competition does not, can give you a talking point. Knowing that the children in the competitors' program leave their classroom and go to a cafeteria can help you talk about the benefits of eating in their own classroom. Knowing how your competitors are operating within this context can help you develop talking and selling points for your program. Knowing more about your competition will give you a better understanding of their program and how yours compares. This will help you to compare and contrast those differences. Both schools offer an after-school program, but you offer the use of technology for your students to complete their homework online. The more you know about your competition, the more you can differentiate your program from the competition. Talk about what makes your school unique and different from the competition. What do you do better than your competition? What things do they do better? Being able to contrast the similarities is also important. You may want to create a comparison checklist, which will help your parents choose between two centers. Making it easier for customers to quickly compare businesses and understand how those differences apply to them will help them to make a decision about enrollment. Understand Your Competitors’ Pricing You should know about your competitors’ pricing for many reasons. The first is so that you can keep your pricing in line with what people in your target market are willing to pay. In addition, you might learn about new pricing models that are more appealing to customers. Knowing your competitors’ pricing isn’t always so that your pricing can match or beat theirs. The point is to understand where your pricing falls in relation to your competitors in the greater market. If your pricing is lower than theirs, this is an advantage. However, you may need to convince prospective buyers that the value of your product or service is as good as those with higher prices. On the other hand, if your pricing is higher than that of your competitors, you will need to be able to convey the added value that comes at this price. Even loyal customers may turn to a competitor if the price is low enough, so you need to give people a reason to pay more. Knowing about your competitors’ pricing will help you determine the pricing that is right for your business, and also to obtain and retain customers with those prices. What Are Your Competitors’ Strengths? Yes, you want to beat your competition, but ultimately you want to best serve your customers. Therefore you should know what your competitors' strengths are. What do their customers like about them? For some things that customers really like, you may want to offer those too, or something similar or better. You have your own offerings, but the addition of something else that customers really like may be enough to win them over. However, there may be some things that your competitors offer that you won’t be able to match or exceed. In this case, it won’t be worth your time or effort to try and win customers over in this area. Your business can’t meet every need, and that’s perfectly okay. Now you know where your time and energy will be best spent. What Are Your Competitors’ Weaknesses? In addition to knowing where your own business can improve, you should also know the weaknesses of your competitors. First, because many of your own strengths come naturally to you, so you don’t always realize you have them. Knowing your competitors’ weaknesses may help you identify your strengths. At other times, your competitors will have weaknesses that are strengths you know you have. Knowing the weaknesses that stick out to people can help you determine which strengths to highlight in your marketing and messaging. Sometimes, your competitors’ weaknesses will reveal an area of importance that you hadn’t thought of, which you can incorporate as a new strength into your business. Knowing the gaps in your industry created by your competitors provides opportunities for you to fill them. Yet in other cases, your competitors will have a weakness because of a significant or common problem in your industry, community, or target market. In this case, seeing how your competitors face those challenges can help you learn how to handle them better or know what to avoid. It is extremely important for you to know about the positioning, pricing, strengths, and weaknesses of your competitors. The insights you gather will help you to improve your marketing strategies and truly stand out to your target audience.

The safety culture at a childcare center can be described as administrators, teachers, parents and children working together to provide a safe environment for all. A safety culture is a group attitude that inspires individual action. It is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior. In a strong safety culture, teachers take action and observe children’s behavior to prevent injury. Training Helps Prevent Injuries Where do you start when developing training and education? Start by identifying what hazards are currently in your environment. Slips, Trips And Falls The most common types of injuries are slips, trips and falls. Identify places or incidents where slips, trips and falls might happen. Determine Risk Of Injury Is it unlikely, likely or highly likely? If someone is mopping the floor, what is the risk of someone slipping on the floor? Control Systems Control systems either: Eliminate the hazard. Take it away completely so it is no longer a hazard. Reduce the exposure to the hazard. If it is not possible to fully eliminate the hazard, then exposure should be reduced to limit the risk as far as reasonably practicable. Change the working habits of employees. Train employees in new behaviors. Apply Control Systems To Mopping The Floor Eliminate the hazard completely by never mopping? This is not a practical or sanitary solution. Reduce the exposure to the hazard by only mopping when no one is around. This can be done in ECE environments but children's messes are unpredictable. Change the working habits of the employees, prompting them to take action by training and educating. For example, while mopping: Secure the area with wet floor signs. Teach children about a wet floor sign. What does this symbol mean? How does the behavior of the child need to change around a wet floor sign? Take action and verbally warn others that the floor is wet and to wait until it is dry before walking on it. Get Buy-In Get buy-in to continuously improve safety procedures. Communication and transparency are an important part of the safety culture. Share your safety concerns and procedures so that they become a natural part of behavior. A path to continuous improvement involves developing a safety culture, getting everyone’s buy-in, and taking action to prevent injury.

One of the biggest issues owners and managers face is lead generation - actually getting parents to inquire at your service. While some companies may have big marketing budgets and paid staff to manage ad campaigns, the truth is that most centers don’t have this luxury! So how can you generate leads organically, or with a small budget? Add your business to Google My Business. It’s free and it’s a great way to get your business noticed on Google when people search for childcare in your area. Keep your Facebook Business Page up-to-date and make sure all your contact info is correct (phone number, website, address). Remember that many parents will search your service and Facebook may be their first point of contact. So it’s important to have a cover photo, profile picture, all the contact info, and relevant posts. Consistently post on social media. Choose a platform and post consistently. Post to both Facebook and Instagram simultaneously using the latest integration. When parents check out your social media, it’s important for them to see that you have been active. Share photos of your center, your play equipment, and fun activities with the children. Post in local groups and become an active part of the community. Participating in community events and posting in local social media groups can help your center be noticed! The more people see your face and your brand, the more likely they will be to think of you first when it comes to early education for their children! Once you have inquiries coming in, it’s really important that you know what to do with them. What is the best way to help a lead become an enrolled family? Ask questions and take the time to listen. Parents are usually happy to share their criteria and concerns if you ask the right questions. Get them to book a tour as soon as possible. Make it easy for families to book a tour on your website, or ask them on the first phone call to come in for a tour. When a face-to-face tour is not possible, help them book a virtual tour. Parents need to see your center to get a feel for what makes you different and they are more likely to make a decision on the spot based on their impressions from the tour. Communicate. Keep the lines of communication open and allow parents to communicate with you using a channel that best suits them: phone, SMS, email and FB Messenger are the most effective. Automate emails and text messages when you can to save time. Follow-up. Have a detailed follow-up process and encourage your staff to play an active role in communicating with families. Picking up the phone is an effective way to build relationships and trust with potential families. Of course, having a Lead Management Tool (such as IntelliKid Systems!) can help with capturing all of your inquiries to ensure that no lead is left behind and that staff follows up properly. Having more inquiries leads to more enrolled families when you have all of the tools in place!

In the beginning of 2021, enrollment and recovering from the pandemic’s effects were the biggest issues in childcare. As the year progressed, the staffing shortage became the overwhelming issue in 2021. The biggest surprise was how the staffing shortage would affect hiring and enrollment. Without teachers, many schools had to either turn children away or have directors and managers work in the classrooms. The “Catch-2022” regarding staffing today is finding the time to hire quality staff when you are struggling to keep classrooms open and, perhaps even, are in the classrooms yourselves? The answer lies in finding ways to do things easier and faster while creating a better experience for the people involved. How can you simplify your applicant process? Are there any steps that you can eliminate in the process? What would make it easier for the applicant? What would make it easier for you? Evaluate your current process to find ways to simplify and make the process more efficient. Embrace Technologies. We, of course, have been talking about embracing technologies in childcare for some time now. How can you make it easier for an applicant to find you? What technologies do you need? What technologies are you currently using? How can you do things easier and faster while creating a better experience for the candidate and yourself? If you’ve been putting off doing virtual interviews, would doing them make it an easier, more efficient process for you or the candidate? Make sure you have a Careers page on your website. Use social media and embrace technologies. Use automation to save time. Do you have automatic replies set up to go out immediately after an applicant contacts you? What automation is sent out to continue engaging the applicant? And how are you notified when an applicant contacts you? Getting back to someone at least within 24 hours increases your likelihood of hiring the applicant. And in this case, the sooner the better. You want to be one of the first to respond back to applicants. What are applicants looking for in employment? Flexibility in days and hours worked. What can you do to provide more flexibility for the applicant? Is there any part of the job that can be done remotely? Would that make things easier and more efficient? Would that appeal to more applicants in your area if you advertised a flexible working environment? Diversity is also important. Diversity, inclusion and belonging should be core values of your organization and can impact your ability to attract and retain an entire generation of talent. What can you do to improve diversity within your staff? Communication through SMS is the preferred method for most applicants. The ability to communicate quickly and effectively increases your ability to hire an applicant. Once an applicant is hired, you must have a clear onboarding process. It all starts with onboarding. So think about technology here again. How can I make it easier and more efficient for the newly hired employee and myself? Can you do virtual onboarding? If not, how can you have employment documentation filled out electronically? Your Mentor program is an important part of your onboarding process. Make sure your team reaches out to new employees to make them feel welcome. Starting on a positive note will keep your new employee’s expectations and work habits at their highest. In-person communication from the mentor to the newly hired employee is about: “How can I help you? Just checking in on you. Are you ok? Is there anything I can do for you right now?” And most importantly: Don't rush the onboarding process. Make sure the new employee feels they are ready to go into a classroom or take on the responsibilities before you throw them into the job too soon. Continuous Training is so important to retaining your employees. Provide continuous feedback, mentorship, and training. Employees want to know where they stand. What are they doing well in? What can they improve upon? Help them polish their skills with continuous training. Be sure to communicate clear expectations with consistent communication and constructive feedback and praise. Organizational culture is one of the most talked-about topics among new employees. And constantly improving upon organizational culture can do wonders for maintaining work satisfaction. Find out what values your team members share. How do these values match with your organization’s short-term and long-term goals? Organizational culture should be visible and practiced in your everyday life, on your social media, and even in stressful situations. Communicate roles in the context of a team while establishing workplace values. Evaluate your culture for improvements. A culture is formed by the people involved in it and how they interact with each other. Building respect for shared ideas and improvements helps employees know that they are valued and they can make a difference. Ask the employee: “How was your onboarding and training process? What would make it easier and more efficient? What would you change? What went well?” Feeling happy at work matters. Celebrate successes. Everyone likes to be told they are doing something right. Celebrate the small success. Find creative ways to acknowledge and celebrate the things that have gone well and the things that you want to have repeated. Develop a formal time to reward, such as at a staff meeting, but don't forget about motivating everyday by being thankful for a job well done.

People are quitting their jobs in record numbers. Since April 2021, 15 million people have left their jobs. Experts are forecasting that the quit rate will continue or accelerate in 2022. The Great Resignation is not a pay problem. It takes a 20% pay increase to move an engaged employee from one organization to another. An employee who is not feeling engaged with their work will move for little or no pay increase. So how do we start to solve this problem? Creating a culture of promotion is a critical retention strategy. You may be asking yourself: "Not everyone wants a promotion, and even when you do ask teachers to level up or become the director, they have a flat out NO." Here's why: No one wants more responsibility! No one wants more jobs, or more tasks, or more decisions to make. Do you? Even for more money - would you accept more responsibility than what is currently on your plate? We are fighting for survival and anything "extra” may be the thing that breaks us. (If we don't already feel at the breaking point). You have gold sitting right in front of you. That gold is your current team. Why do most school leaders miss out on the opportunities that their team can contribute and bring forward? They keep telling themselves the same lies: “One day when it gets quiet, I’ll figure this all out.” “Real soon, when this happens…. I’ll make time to do this.” However, it’s always a busy time, so you need to intentionally make time for this. How you present the project and work to your team really matters! Many people are ready to level up, but are waiting for the invitation. Many people know they can contribute, but they are terrified of failing. Many people know they have more to give, but their self-esteem and their confidence needs some coaching. Building a culture of promotion and a career lattice is about creating opportunities for everyone on the team to bring their best foot forward and contribute. There isn’t only one way to grow. You can create growth horizontally, vertically and diagonally. People stay in a workplace where they are contributing and feel connected to the mission and vision. Not every promotion is about growth: Some people are looking for a reinvention. Some people are seeking better lifestyles due to season of life changes. Some people are seeking growth and are ready to do the work and time it takes to get there! This type of culture is intentionally designed and refined. Here are some questions you can reflect on as you start this journey: Who are my staff, both teachers and admin, that have been with me for 6 months or more? What are the short and long term goals of the business in each department? Have I met with each team member 1-1 and asked them what their personal goals and dreams are, what their talents and skills are, what they are passionate about? If you know this about your team, then you can sit down and start matching, eg. what this teacher loves to do aligns with this goal we have for the company. This is a starting point. It starts to get your mind focused on where you want to go instead of staying stuck in a never-ending loop of survival. So what is your next step, if you want to go deeper and really build this career lattice with opportunities and learn the skills and scripts to actually have these conversations with your team? And HOW do you learn to coach and guide them to level up? Then I’d love to invite you to join me and other school leaders at the Summit of Excellence in Florida on March 1-2. This is a premium experience for 100 owners and directors who want to learn the skills and create their strategy to build a culture of contribution, promotion and kindness. This is NOT a place for quick tips, ideas and hacks. Those are for free on Google. This is for school leaders who believe that the power of transformation comes from being in the room with the right people. For leaders who understand that learning new strategies and skills like Conflict resolution Retention Boundaries Discernment Emotional regulation And much more These are the foundations for what you, your team and your staff need to succeed in this era. Join Chanie Wilschanski for the Summit of Excellence in Florida on March 1st and 2nd, 2022. This is an event for leaders who want a break from the day-to-day grind and want someone else to take care of them. Pour into their mind and soul and walk away rejuvenated and inspired. If you are interested in finding out more, then email: cw@chanie.me OR If you would like to reserve your spot and learn more, along with all the details, click here: www.schoolsofexcellence.com/summit.

In today’s world, it’s just a fact - you HAVE to be on social media to run a successful early learning service. It’s where your parents are hanging out, it’s where your staff (and potential staff) are spending time, and it’s important for you to have a strong presence to show parents what makes your center different (and better!) than the competition in your area. Here are 4 simple steps you can implement today to start showing up in more parents’ news feeds: Make sure your Facebook Business Page has updated contact information. The “About” Section is particularly important, as this is where parents will look for your contact information. Make sure your email address, phone number, location address, and website are up-to-date. This will help you show up in more searches when parents search for childcare near them. The more complete your information is, the higher the chances are that you will be found and searchable! Use recent photos of your center, including your facilities and your friendly staff. Be sure that you have a Facebook cover photo as well as a profile picture- your logo or branding will look great here! Your Facebook page is the first point of contact for many families, so you want it looking nice and full of life, with beautiful photos. If you are using photos of staff, children, or families, ensure that you have their permission to post on social media. Post regularly on your Facebook page. 2-3 times per week is enough to keep active on your page. Showcase fun activities, new equipment, or share a fun parenting tip. The more engagement you get on your page, the more it will show up in parents’ (and potential parents’) Facebook news feeds! Get more likes!! Invite your families to like your Facebook page to help them keep up with what’s happening in your center. Invite friends and family to like your page, and share your Facebook page to local community Facebook groups! Have links to your social media on your website and email signatures. The more likes and engagement, the better for your exposure. It’s easy to implement these Facebook marketing tips and it will help you to enroll more families and bring more awareness for your business!

A family contacts your center. They tour, they love it, and they sign up. Don’t you wish that it was that easy all the time? While some parents are ready to enroll now, others may need a little more convincing before ultimately making their decision. Reasons behind parents' decisions can vary when choosing care for their children, but there is one thing that will help you stand out and build trust quickly: FOLLOW UP Here are 3 ways to simplify follow-up within your early learning service: Use marketing automation. To save time, use a software platform that automatically sends follow-up emails and text messages. (IntelliKid Systems is great for this!) Emails and texts should be personalized to fit each family’s needs through every step of the enrollment journey. By using automation, it saves you and your staff time in taking these steps manually. Pick up the phone. While emails, texts, and social media are helpful in connecting with parents, a phone call is a personal touch point that opens the door for conversation, resolving concerns, and sharing information about the benefits of your center. Schedule reminders. We are all human and there is no way we can remember every person that needs to be followed up with, so schedule follow-up reminders in your calendar (Google, Outlook). You can, also, use a tool that sends reminders automatically when a family needs to be followed up with. The better your follow-up process, the more families will fill your center!

These days, many parents are looking for more than the convenience of the nearest childcare service or the one with the lowest price. Parents are informed about their childcare choices and are able to get immediate answers to parenting questions or information about childcare centers, through the internet. The curriculum, activities and philosophies of what their child will be learning in childcare are important to them. But for many parents nowadays, their main priority is teaching their child to be a better human being rather than just a smarter human. They are looking for programs that emphasize diversity and inclusion, kindness and compassion. They are looking for childcare centers that emphasize character development and how to get along with others. For today's parents It's more than just social interaction. They tend to have closer relationships to their children than their parents had with them and they prioritize developing lifelong friendships for their children. At the same time they are also looking for services that have something special to offer that will enhance their child's life. Dance programs, yoga, music or soccer that highlight skills that will help their child develop confidence while energizing their minds and bodies. Social events where children can observe others, listen, explore, talk and ask questions while having fun are important to parents for their children. For good reason, children’s health has become a top priority for parents, especially during the pandemic. Parents are looking for a center which will foster a healthy body and mind through a mix of exercise, play-based learning, and healthy nutritional options. This is why there is a big push towards “organic”, “outdoor preschools” and “creative movement” within early childhood education. Competition is greater than ever before. Childcare organizations need to find a way to make themselves stand out from the competition by thinking about what the parents in their community are looking for and how they can meet those needs. Ask yourself, “What are the parents in this community looking for?” Then ask yourself, “What is my competition not offering that parents in the community want?”. Overcoming the competition comes down to understanding what's important to today's parents and finding ways your childcare can meet those needs. #standout #childcare