Curriculum and resource library available for teachers in Batesville
BATESVILLE — Parents want their children to be taught well when at day care and school, and teachers often go above and beyond to bring the best lessons possible to their students. Unfortunately, time and the cost of resources often get in the way. That is where the Child Care Aware Resource Center comes into play.
Child Care Aware of Northcentral Arkansas, which began in 1997, is based in Batesville. The program is designed to empower parents, enhance
the quality of child care through training, recruit providers to meet community needs, provide technical assistance, spot trends through data collection, and promote advocacy and partnerships.
Child Care Aware of Northcentral Arkansas serves communities in Marion, Baxter, Fulton, Sharp, Izard, Stone, Searcy, Van Buren, Cleburne, Independence, Jackson, White, Faulkner and Conway counties.
Resource center manager Amy Pinkston said the center plays right into the Child Care Aware mission by enabling day cares and teachers to provide quality education with little to no additional cost.
Through research several years ago, the need for a library of curriculums and other resources became apparent.
“Teachers are already teaching a class. Day care providers are already providing care out of their own homes,” she said. “Additional resources can get very costly. I can only imagine for new providers, it’s a lot to have to come up with.”
For example, Pinkston said, the state offers a free curriculum for teachers and day care providers. “Free” sounds wonderful until you factor in the cost of printing worksheets and purchasing the needed companion books, which can reach into the thousands of dollars.
Now, the Child Care Aware Resource Center has sets of those companion books, and teachers across the center’s coverage area can take advantage of the free system. The Child Care Aware Resource
Additional resources can get very costly. I can only imagine for new providers, it’s a lot to have to come up with.”
Amy Pinkston
CHILD CARE AWARE RESOURCE CENTER MANAGER
Center is at 1652 White Drive in Batesville. Additionally, a second resource center recently opened in Conway.
“We have over 18,000 items available to check out,” Pinkston said. “We have a wide range of educational resources.”
Pinkston said teachers and day care providers easily get excited about the educational possibilities when they discover the resource center.
“When people come up for the first time, they say they didn’t realize we had all of this,” she said. “Mainly, they are relieved because it takes a lot of the time and effort of preparing items off of their shoulders.”
Some of the resources come packaged together by themes, Pinkston said. These thematic bags have books, worksheets, cutouts, ideas, games and more that teachers can use for several lessons.
“It’s pretty much a little theme in a bag,” she said. “Then they’re able to use those resources for a whole week’s worth of lessons.”
One service the resource center provides for local school districts and day care facilities is a pickup and delivery program by which resources are brought to the schools on a biweekly basis. This eliminates the hassle of going to the resource center to pick up whatever is needed.
Currently, the Batesville, Cedar Ridge and Southside school districts pay for the pickup and delivery program.
The resource center in Batesville was the first in the state, and Pinkston said other Child Care Aware divisions have established similar centers after seeing the success in Batesville.
The center is funded by grants and private donations, and Pinkston said the staff regularly dedicates donated books in memory or in honor of loved ones. Materials and monetary donations can be brought to the center or mailed to P.O. Box 2396, Batesville, AR, 72503. All donations are tax deductible.
Child Care Aware of Northcentral Arkansas also hosts pre-licensing training for people interested in starting a registered family child care home, a licensed family child care home or a licensed child care center. The last pre-licensing orientation for 2014 will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Dec. 9 at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, 1600 S. College Street.
For more information about the organization, visit
www.ccana.org.