Early Childhood Education Staff Development & Program (2023-2024)
This grant will fund the professional development of 50 early childhood educators on the Creative Curriculum to fidelity. The 3-year plan is comprehensive, intensive, and individualized to meet the needs of both novice and experienced teaching teams. Our full-day, year- round program provided 246 days of service to working families in three desert cities calls for an innovative approach to supporting staff development that is research -based and proven to result in better developmental outcomes for children including children with disabilities. The Creative Curriculum has a proven track record of delivering on both improved outcomes for children over the past 25 years and continues to evolve to meet the needs of early educators at various stages of their career in the field of early education.
La Quinta Outdoor Enriched Learning Environment for Preschoolers (2021-2022)
In the Coachella Valley there are very few infant care centers that can accommodate the growth in our local population. The Family YMCA of the Desert will help solve this dilemma by having one of the few "licensed" infant care centers. We enroll children from age 3 months to 24 months and cater to low-income families throughout the valley. Our La Quinta Infant Care Center is a state funded program providing the curriculum set forth from the state and will provide a low-cost enrollment plan for those that qualify.
Our infant/toddler curriculum is structured around three essential policies. First, "Primary Care Giving"; here we build close, caring relationships with children. Each child has a primary caregiver who responds to basic needs such as feeding, toileting, napping and comfort. Second, we have "Small Groups"; here the group size in our infant program is 12 infants with a ratio of one staff person for every three children. This ensures that each child has the care they need and deserve. Third, is our "Individualized Curriculum" which involves each child having an individualized plan for eating, toileting, sleeping and developmental progress. Each child's daily activities will be documented in order to see progress, evaluate this progress, or lack which will then help us partner with parents in the education of their children.
Contact: Paula Simonds, CEO paulasimonds@desertymca.org
Infant Care Center Play Structure (2019-2020)
In the Coachella Valley there are very few infant care centers that can accommodate the growth in our local population. The Family YMCA of the Desert will help solve this dilemma by having one of the few "licensed" infant care centers. We will enroll children from age 3 months to 24 months and cater to low income families throughout the valley. Our La Quinta Infant Care Center will be a state funded program providing the curriculum set forth from the state and will provide a low cost enrollment plan for those that qualify.
Our infant/toddler curriculum is structured around three essential policies. First, "Primary Care Giving"; here we build close, caring relationships with children. Each child has a primary caregiver who responds to basic needs such as feeding, toileting, napping and comfort. Second, we have "Small Groups"; here the group size in our infant program is 12 infants with a ratio of one staff person for every three children. This ensures that each child has the care they need and deserve. Third, is our "Individualized Curriculum" which involves each child having an individualized plan for eating, toileting, sleeping and developmental progress. Each child's daily activities will be documented in order to see progress, evaluate this progress or lack which will then help us partner with parents in the education of their children.
