I supervise a team of coaches that are working with classroom teachers and family child care providers. Most of the coaches have a variety of infant, toddler and preschool classrooms on their caseloads. Some even have a family child care provider. I purchased a dictionary and a set of strategy cards to see what they were like. When I showed them to the coaches they were excited about the dictionary option. Many of the coaches appreciated the layout of the dictionary as it is easier to read than the Dimension Guides. The dictionary is has smaller chunks of information that can be quickly read. We decided to buy the dictionary for classrooms so they could have this resource available within their classroom. Coaches are then able to reference the dictionary during a visit and the coach and teacher can discuss different aspects of the CLASS tool. While the teachers are in an infant, toddler or preschool room we found that this could be a valuable resource for the teacher.
The strategy cards were not as big of a hit for our team however, we discussed different options in using them and ordered a few sets of the strategy cards. Some of the coaches saw this as an opportunity to help teachers consider strategies in which they might implement different "skills" during the day with the children. For example, looking at ways to increase language modeling during meal times. We also offer professional development to child care providers and we plan to use the strategy cards as a way to incorporate activities into the training. They can be an easy way to get conversations started on topics around the CLASS.
Hopefully these thoughts help you decide if either of these reseources might fit with your program.
Our mission: Supporting the development and early education of children by improving access to resources for families, including high-quality child care options.
RENEE WOHLETZ
Provider Services Manager
ERC Resource & Referral, Inc., d/b/a
Child Care Aware® of Eastern Kansas
1100 SW Wanamaker Road, Suite 201
Topeka, KS 66604
PH 785-357-5171 (main line) or 785-440-4508 (direct line)
Toll Free PH 877-678-2548
FAX 785-357-1813
east.ks.childcareaware.org
renee@east.ks.childcareaware.org
