THREE BEAR PORRIDGE

Oatmeal is more economical and nutritious than any of the pre-sweetened cold cereals on the market. If it is introduced as “porridge” and if the children get to make it themselves, it just might become a favorite. If you think oatmeal is yucky and that only pink marshmallows and lots of sugar can make a cereal good, then your child will probably copy your attitude. So buy some instant oatmeal, turn on the tea kettle when you get up. Then, while you’re getting ready, your children can be stirring up their own choice of hot cereal. If you buy the unflavored variety, sprinkle with cinnamon, brown sugar or stir in your favorite jelly or fruit.

Dear Parents,

As we come to the end of our first month back I can honestly say it could not have gone any better and in many ways went better than we could have hoped for.  All of our parents, kids, and teachers have done a fantastic job of adapting to all of the new rules and regulations with a positive attitude and cheerfully went along as things changed week by week.

Going into our second month we have seen a slowdown in rule changes being handed down by the State of Illinois.  The month of June felt a little like a whole new ballgame each day but now for July, we feel like we are really going to be able to start creating our “new normal” for the duration of this health crisis.

You will still see a few changes as we streamline the rules and procedures that we need to continue and eliminate things that no longer apply to us now that we have proven we can safely reopen to provide care and education to our TTLC children.

Although we will continue to do drop off and pick up outside we will move back to our normal sign-in sheets for parents and the staff will conduct and fill out the health screening each day.  We have already moved to sanitize shoes on arrival rather than changing shoes each day.

Masks will continue to be required of all adults and children during drop off and pick up.  In addition, staff will continue to wear a mask or a shield at all times inside the building and children will wear a mask or a shield whenever they are in a common area but not in the classrooms.  No one will wear any face covering when eating, drinking, napping, or outside.

The State of Illinois has issued new DCFS licenses for childcare centers with reduced capacities allowed.  These reduced capacities reflect how many children we can care for each day while following the rules for reduced class sizes and not using rooms for more than one group.  Our Alton center will be operating at 52% of their former capacity and our East Alton center will be operating at 60% or their former capacity.

In addition to decreased capacity, we also have to deal with increased staffing requirements.  So we have to have more teachers to care for fewer children, because of this we have to be extremely rigid about scheduled days and times of attendance.

We used to allow parents to drop off and pick up whenever they liked but that is no longer the case and won’t be for the foreseeable future.  All parents will be required to schedule specific days and times and will be required to stick to them and not allowed to come early or stay later.

We are also required by the Illinois Department of Public Health to verify the reason for every single absence so if you child is not going to attend a scheduled day we need to know at the soonest possible time so that we can adjust staffing and if we do not hear from you we will have to call until we reach someone to verify the reason for the absence

Since parents are still not coming inside the building we will continue to post daily pictures and videos so you can see what we’re up to each day.   We hope you are enjoying seeing them as much as we enjoy taking them for you.

Susan Berry

Executive Director

Hello Everyone,

I don’t have all of the details yet but I wanted to share some exciting news with you as soon as possible.  In the Governor’s press briefing today he announced that regularly licensed child care centers in the state of Illinois will be reinstated with significant restrictions starting in Phase 3!

This means that we will be back open providing care starting on Monday, June 1^st,, however, our capacity will be severely limited which means that we will not be able to provide care to all of our children yet.  After four weeks of successfully operating under the new rules, we will be allowed to increase our capacity and provide care for more of our families. We are hoping that the number of families that are not ready to return yet will match the number of spots lost to the new restrictions and then we will be ready to welcome them back after our initial four weeks.

On Monday we will start calling each of you to find out what your needs are and get some idea of how many of our families need immediate care and how many can wait until after the initial four weeks.  Please feel free to send an email to us and let us know your circumstance if that is more convenient than waiting for us to call.  We would need to know what days and times you need care for and what date you would hope to start.  Unfortunately, we may not be able to accommodate everyone right away.  The email for the Alton center is msjulie@toddletowne.com and for East Alton is mspam@toddletowne.com

Some of the severe restrictions we will be dealing with are a limit in the number of children we can care for in our facility and in each room, dramatically increased staffing requirements, the inability to combine groups, the requirement that we keep stable groups each day, the requirement that the children stay in the same room all day and many others.

You will likely see some new policies and procedures that may include front door drop off, daily health & temperature screenings, changing into “school only” shoes each day upon arrival, assigned classrooms, and strictly enforced drop off and pick up times.

In addition to these things, every child over the age of 2, and every adult will be required to have a face covering.  They must wear them when arriving and departing the building when going in common areas and possibly other times throughout the day.  This rule is being dictated by DCFS, IDPH & the CDC and is not optional.

As I get more information and guidance from DCFS I will pass it along to you.  I hope you are as excited as I am to see everyone and get back to learning while we play and playing while we learn!

Sincerely,

Susan Berry

Executive Director

I don’t have all of the details yet but I wanted to share some exciting news with you as soon as possible.  In the Governor’s press briefing today he announced that regularly licensed child care centers in the state of Illinois will be reinstated with significant restrictions starting in Phase 3!

This means that we will be back open providing care starting on Monday, June 1^st, however, our capacity will be severely limited which means that we will not be able to provide care to all of our children yet.  After four weeks of successfully operating under the new rules we will be allowed to increase our capacity and provide care for more of our families. We are hoping that the number of families that are not ready to return yet will match the number of spots lost to the new restrictions and then we will be ready to welcome them back after our initial four weeks.

On Monday we will start calling each of you to find out what your needs are and get some idea of how many of our families need immediate care and how many can wait until after the initial four weeks.  Please feel free to send an email to us and let us know your circumstance if that is more convenient than waiting for us to call.  We would need to know what days and times you need care for and what date you would hope to start.  Unfortunately we may not be able to accommodate everyone right away.  The email for the Alton center is msjulie@toddletowne.com and for East Alton is mspam@toddletowne.com

Some of the severe restrictions we will be dealing with are a limit in the number of children we can care for in our facility and in each room, dramatically increased staffing requirements, the inability to combine groups, the requirement that we keep stable groups each day, the requirement that the children stay in the same room all day and many others.

You will likely see some new policies and procedures that may include front door drop off, daily health & temperature screenings, changing into “school only” shoes each day upon arrival, assigned classrooms, and strictly enforced drop off and pick up times.

In addition to these things every child over the age of 2 and every adult will be required to have a face covering.  They must wear them when arriving and departing the building when going in common areas and possibly other times throughout the day.  This rule is being dictated by DCFS, IDPH & the CDC and is not optional.

As I get more information and guidance from DCFS I will pass it along to you.  I hope you are as excited as I am to see everyone and get back to learning while we play and playing while we learn!

Sincerely,

Susan Berry

Executive Director