MARCH 2013

Welcome to the March 2013 Camden Macarthur Local Child Care & Services Directory. 

This month we welcome Edspecially 4U to our Resources for Parents Directory. Dayspare and Inspire Education to our resources for care providers directory. Read all about these services below.

Our parent resource this month is about biting, I'm sure if you are a mum your child has at some stage bitten or been bitten...it's terrible for everyone involved. We hope our information can give you some tips on how to manage this stage.

WIN...WIN.... ....This month you have the chance to win a 50 minute First Aid for Families presentation from First Aid For You. This course is an informative, fun and practical training session that covers all the 'must know' topics relating to baby and child first aid valued at $250.00.

For your chance to win simply email us to go into the draw and tell us if you have used our newsletter or site to find or look for care or other child related information.

Edspecially 4U

Is your child Ready 4 School? EDSpecially4U offers you the chance to prepare your child for BIG school. In a small group environment, only 1 hour per week we develop CONFIDENT learners.

Learning with Confidence. Our School Readiness Classes introduce:

• letters - using phonic instruction
• numbers
• shapes
• colours
• fine motor activities (writing)
• phonemic awareness (the sounds of language), as well as
• an introduction to sight words.

Sensory Tools Australia

Dayspare is a web based solution enabling child care centre's to notify their existing customers of ad-hoc vacancies. The solution was developed specifically for child care centre's to address the management of continual customer contact regarding vacant days. The solution consists of a customer facing calendar and the child centre administration pages. Communicating ad-hoc vacancies allows existing parents with less than 5 days care increased access to child care.

Inspire Education is a leading provider of vocational training and education across Australia. We deliver a wide variety of online courses as well as classroom based or blended (classroom & online) programs.

As many of you know, every child care worker in Australia will be required to hold, or else be working towards, a Cert III or Diploma in Children's Services qualification by the 1st January 2014. Get started now in one of our great childcare courses, including the Certificate 3 in Children's Services and Diploma of Children's Services, and you'll be ready when the changes come into force!

Already experienced in childcare? Talk to our helpful staff about receiving recognition of prior learning for the skills and expertise you already possess! To get started, all you need to do is visit www.inspireeducation.net.au and request a free information pack for the course of your choice. Check out our great specials while you're there!

Our enrolment coordinators are also standing by to take your free call on 1800 506 509 or email them at enquiries@inspireeducation.net.au

Are you pregnant? or do you know someone who is, here is a great opportunity to win a voucher for $200 of maternity clothes that you can select from maternitywear.com .au

Begin Bright School Readiness & Primary Tutoring Centres
Chatabout Speech Pathology
Frontrunner Learning Centres
Health & Wellness Australia 
Learning-Hats Ready for school & K-6 Tuition centre
Literacy & Learning Centre  In March, the focus of at the Literacy and Learning Centre is on assessment. Parents are often keen to launch into tutoring or remedial work, and often question the benefit or need of putting their child through a lengthy and sometimes costly assessment process. In our latest blog post, we identify five reasons why comprehensive assessment is important when you are concerned about your child's reading, spelling, or learning and in planning the best way to help them improve their skills --
On Monday 25th of March, 2013 at 12.30 pm, we will be holding a one hour information session titled "Why is my child struggling to learn to read." The information session will be run by Clinical Psychologist, Sandra Graudins and will take place at the Literacy and Learning Centre in Five Dock. Parents will be able to ask questions about their child, and tea and coffee will be provided. Bookings are essential as there are only a limited number of places available. Please call Sandra on 9712 8777.

Biting

It can be a shock to find that your beautiful baby, raised in a loving and non-violent home, is biting playmates. But rest assured - many children go through a biting phase, and they do outgrow it.
Common reasons for biting include:

• Teething - usually in babies or younger toddlers;
• Curiosity - babies have no concept that their actions can hurt others, and may just be wondering what something tastes like;
• Frustration, anger, or feeling hurt - usually in children who do not have the language skills to express themselves verbally, or do not have the physical ability to get away from another child who has hurt them.

Biting can happen more often when a child is going through a major change, such as weaning, a new baby arriving in the family, or moving to a new house. Children also find it more difficult to control impulsive behaviour when they are tired or hungry.

Empathy is a difficult concept to grasp, and can take some time to learn. While biting will be outgrown with time, there are things you can do to help:

• In a younger baby who may be biting to soothe their gums or out of curiosity, a gentle "no" and offering a teething ring or toy will redirect the biting.
• For toddlers and preschoolers, it can help to identify triggers. Keep a note of the time the incident occurred, what happened immediately before the bite, how it was dealt with, and what happened after the incident.
• Look for patterns: is the child more likely to bite at the end of the day when they are tired? Do they bite most often in disputes over toys? These notes can also be useful in identifying the most effective way to react to the biting.
• Avoid situations where biting is most likely to occur. This may mean separating two children who tend to bite each other.
• Help your child learn appropriate ways to resolve disagreements or cope with frustration. Teach your child to say "stop!" while putting their hand up, and to ask for help from adults if they need to.
• Watch carefully when the child is playing with others. There is no need to intervene in every disagreement. But if a child looks as though they are about to bite rather than resolve the disagreement in an appropriate way, it is important to step in.