IMPACT (Improve and Maximize so all Programs can Thrive) and QIG (Quality Improvement Grant) peer coaches have had a busy year supporting grant participants. Three out of four of them are Family Childcare Providers themselves, so the lived experiences they can share add depth to their coaching activities. Although grant parameters and requirements continue to shift, and we are always asked to do more with less, coaches have gone above and beyond to help providers meet program and personal goals, navigate technology and access resources.
From going to childcare provider’s homes after hours to provide technical assistance, to offering PLC’s (Professional Learning Communities) on evenings and weekends, to providing services in providers’ home languages to travel to outlying communities to meet with folks, the coaches have consistently shown flexibility and dedication to support providers where they are. We have seen many valuable conversations between providers including between men who have been in childcare for many years but never had a chance to sit and talk about work, between center based and family childcare providers who shared curriculum and ideas, between newly licensed and longtime providers, between Spanish and English-speaking folks and between floor staff and administrators. The connections made will be long-term sources of support for early childhood educators even if grant funding runs out or they don’t participate in future years.