BY Sarah smith
ssmith@parkrapidsenterprise.com
A weekend conference for daycare providers and teachers was the educational equivalent of a group hug.
United For Children Conference, at the Park Rapids High School, attracted 107 educators and families swapping ideas and tips on educating young children.
They were upbeat and positive. Coordinator Missy Weaver said it doesn’t do the profession well to talk about the challenges and the bad things kids sometimes do.
Instead the focus was on “Making Lemonade,” turning potentially sour experiences into good ones.
Weaver was joined by Kari Smith, coordinator of the Early Childhood Initiative. The conference was sponsored by the Northwest Minnesota Foundation.
The two woman work frequently together. Both are full-time daycare providers who love their work and want to see positive changes through the annual event they help plan.
They both believe working with young children “was their calling” and they wanted to assure parents that it’s all OK.
“There are challenging behaviors, stresses and people have busy lifestyles,” the woman said, finishing each other’s sentences. It’s clear they’ve been preaching to the converted as a team.
“It’s like teaching our own and then sending them home,” Weaver smiled.
“Adults want to be super people,” she said. “They’re trying to balance” a lot of balls.
“It’s where I get my baby fix,” Smith said. She moved to California in 1989 to be a nanny.
“It’s what I was meant to do,” Weaver said.
Licensed daycare providers are by law required to attain 16 hours of training annually.
“The two of us have over 100 hours of approved training,” Weaver said proudly.
“This is quality training close to home,” said Vicky Grove of the Northwest Minnesota Foundation. Often daycare providers have to travel around the state or region to obtain their training, which adds to the cost.
They had nothing but praise for parents. “They’re doing the best they can, trying to juggle everything every day,” Smith said.
The seminar focused on decreasing stress, positive discipline tactics, taming toddlers and working with challenging behaviors.
They learned how to defuse power struggles and negative outcomes, using positive reinforcement as a tool.
They traded tips on problem solving common challenges and “fostering joy” in the profession.
Most of all, they led by example. The cheerful women are powerful advocates for parents, youngsters and their profession.
The lunch tables were brightly decorated with simple flower bouquets Weaver’s daycare children had made with construction paper and straws.
They were eloquent reminders of the preciousness of the lives the providers oversee. The flowers were cutouts of children’s hands.
