For Directors 

Directors Alerts – EEC

• Updated Child Care Playbook - The updated COVID-19 Child Care Playbook is here (now available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese).
• The Strategic Action Plan Portal was launched on December 21st during the Conversation with the Commissioner. The Portal is a place to engage with the field regarding the work of implementing the strategic action plan. The portal includes schedules for live webinars and meetings, updated content on each of the four plan areas, and new surveys each month through June 2021. Please help EEC by contributing to the Subsidy Co-Pay (Parent Fees) Survey before the January Board Meeting!
• The Board of Early Education and Care will meet on January 12th at 1PM. You can view a live stream of the meeting here.
• Funding opportunity! The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative recently announced the Family Child Care Innovation Networks Award. The award is designed to spark, accelerate, and sustain community-based peer learning networks among family child care providers across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Award funds will help family child care providers engage in the kinds of reflective, collaborative practices that have been proven to increase educators’ job satisfaction, wellbeing, and the quality of their practice—regardless of if they accept subsidy. Applications are due February 19th, 2021.
• The Cambridge Directors Support Zoom meeting, led by B3 mentors, takes place every other week. Days and times will alternate between Tuesday and Wednesday for these meetings. You can access the schedule for October through May here.
• Using and Communicating Data to Advance Racial Equity in Early Childhood Policy, January 20 | 3PM
  To develop equity-focused, data-driven policies requires equity principles be applied to how we think about and use data. This includes what research and policy questions we ask, how we engage with stakeholders to interpret data, and how we communicate. Join Carlise King and Esther Gross of Child Trends, combining with a state perspective, for a critical look at how to incorporate racial equity principles into how you use and communicate data in your advocacy work. Click here to register.
  

For Directors, Providers, Home Visitors, Educators & Families

Health & Wellness

• Children’s Trust offering: Fathers and Family Network Virtual Meeting: Integrating Popular Media into Fathering Curricula. An Introduction for Facilitators, Teachers, and Therapists During this workshop, Dr. Unger will discuss how media representation, specifically television commercials and other mass media, impacts the fathers and families that we work with. He will walk through specific approaches to using popular media in the Nurturing Fathers Program and similar groups. By the end of the workshop, the group will be well-versed in how these approaches can be adapted to fit their specific programs better. January 29, 2021, 10AM-12PM. Click here to register.
• Minding the Baby® Home Visiting (MTB-HV) model Co-Founder Dr. Arietta Slade will be offering a free 2-hour on-line training for family service professionals on January 26, 2021, The Relational Foundations of Reflective Practice & Reflective Parenting. Click here to learn more, or here to register.
• Communities of Practice have begun for Home Visitors! In order to accommodate more participants, there will be 2 offerings: the first Monday of each month from 1-2:30PM, and the fourth Tuesday of each month, from 9:30-11AM. Watch for registration in your email.
• Dominique Jean, a school nurse, will answer your urgent COVID-19 symptom questions (Is this dry cough from COVID-19 or due to allergies?). She can be reached at: 781.803.0766. 
• For non-urgent COVID-19 related calls, please call 617.665.3648. One of two nurses will reply to all hotline phone calls and emails after they have checked the phone line or email account.
  
• For more complex medically related questions, Directors should contact MA Dept. of Public Health’s epidemiologist Dr. Katherine Hsu at 617.983.6948 or [email protected]. 
  
• EEC’s Reopening Plan requires programs to provide contact information for their local Board of Health.
  • This information should now be:
    Address: 119 Windsor St., Cambridge, MA 02139
    Phone: 617.665.3648
    Email: [email protected] 
    

Managing Stress and Anxiety

• The resources provided by The Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health continue to be a good place to start for your own mental health and for the mental health of those you are taking care of.
• EEC and the Pyramid Model Consortium are offering a series of ePyramid online trainings focused on strategies to support educator’s own social and emotional wellness as well as the children and families they serve.
• The Federation for Children with Special Needs has created Mindful Mondays, a weekly opportunity for educators to practice self-care through mindfulness. Come join other educators from across the state for yoga, meditation, journaling, and sharing of challenges and successes. No previous experience is necessary.

For Teachers

Curriculum Support & Professional Development

• Check your email for B3’s Online Training Resources for the Early Childhood Workforce List #20 – or view the resources here.
• Coming soon: Watch for a range of additional Communities of Practice (CoPs) run by B3 Coaches!
  
  

For Families

Resources for Families

• Baby U will be starting in February 2021 and will run parenting workshops, covering several topics, on Saturday mornings for 6 weeks. If you live in Cambridge and have a child 3 years old or younger, you are eligible to be a part of Baby U! Our focus is: building on parents’ strengths and expanding strategies that support young children’s growth and development. Baby U also offers parents an opportunity to connect with each other and access other community resources. This series will run on Zoom. For more information and to register, contact Angela at 617.349.6204 or [email protected].
• Center For Families Resource: The Fuel Assistance Program assists households in Cambridge and Somerville with winter heating costs between November 1st and April 30th. Renters and homeowners in both cities are eligible to apply if they meet federal income guidelines. If you are in a no-heat situation or facing immediate utility shutoff, fuel assistance can be provided within 24 hours to eligible applicants. Call 617.349.6252 for immediate assistance. Find out more here.
• It’s time for the Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten Lottery for the Cambridge Public Schools! The Lottery runs from January 4th through January 29th for the 2021-2022 school year. The lottery is for children born between September 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017. You can find more information here.
• Now enrolling: Riverside Early Head Start is a home-based early childhood program that provides comprehensive parenting and family support to low-income pregnant women and families with children zero to three years of age. They work with families residing in Cambridge, Medford and Somerville. They are currently providing virtual home visits using different platforms such as Phone, Zoom and WhatsApp. Learn more here. Apply here.
• Cambridge Public Schools Home Based Early Childhood Program is recruiting families! Children must be between the ages of 18 months and 3.5 years old. Home visits can occur on a porch, in a yard, at a park, or virtually. Each visit includes free books and materials, as well as fun and engaging activities. Contact Joy Harper 617.349.6724 [email protected] or Peggy Beucler 617.349.6849 [email protected].
  
• The Center for Families offers free programming and supports for all families living in Cambridge with children birth-8 years old. Center staff are available to support families in connecting with community resources, provide one-on-one support, and provide access to the Ages and Stages Questionnaire, which helps parents understand more about their child's development. You can find information on current programs in their monthly newsletter here. Want to learn more about the Center for Families and connect? You can also reach them via email or call at 617.349.6385.
• Parents and caregivers who are experiencing any kinds of problems related to their children can call the Parental Stress Line for support: 1.800.623.8188. The Parental Stress Line is staffed by volunteer counselors who are sympathetic and nonjudgmental and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

• Click here for WGBH’s Family Fun at Home that has activities for children ages 3 to 5. 
  
• Find It Cambridge is regularly updating its Virtual Activities at Home category with online and at-home activities for all ages of children and adults to enjoy. 
• Check out the Cambridge Public Library website for fun virtual events. 
• Center For Families always has activities for families, updated monthly, here! Examples of upcoming programming in the January Newsletter:
  Virtual Dads & Kids at Home Facilitated by Knucklebones!; Center for Families y Harvard Museum of Natural History Evento Virtual para Las Familias de Habla Hispana; Virtual Baby Time Infant Playgroup/Infant Support Group (New Time); Early Language and Literacy at Home Series: Dads and Moms Make a Difference! A 4-part virtual series for Cambridge parents with children birth to 4 years; Exercise and Stress Reduction Series: Virtual Zumba!; Winter Playgroups at Home Series with Weekly Virtual Live Sessions!; Virtual Creative Movement and Dancing for Families with Young Children: Two Part Series; Virtual Monthly Drop-In Dads Discussion Group; and more!

• Postpartum Support International (PSI)
• MCPAP for Moms
  
• JF & CS Postpartum Depression Support Group: “This Isn’t What I Expected”, Tuesdays, 1-2:30PM. For more information, please contact Debbie Whitehill via email or 781.647.JFCS (5327) x1925. Register for the video support group. (New participants should register at least 24 hours in advance.)