Our Current Programs

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Dolly Parton Imagination Library

ECCLPS is so honored to be a part of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library! In 2022 we became the affiliate for Logan County. To date, Dolly's program has gifted almost 200,000,000 free books to children, from birth until their fifth birthday! We presently have over 400 children signed up in Logan County alone, and that number keeps rising with each event we host. We have done events at our local library, preschools and early learning facilities, Family Resource Center's parenting classes, and more. Parents can sign up their kiddos by going to www.imaginationlibrary.com and click Check Availability. If the program is active in your community, you can sign them up by answering just a few questions, and your child can start receiving free books too. It can take up to 10 weeks before they receive their first book, but after that, they will get one per month until their fifth birthday.

Each child receives the same first "welcome" book, The Little Engine That Could. After that, they receive an age appropriate book each month. It makes our hearts full when parents tell us how much they appreciate the books, how much they and their child enjoy reading the books together, and how it's helping their child develop a love for reading. It's amazing how a little window of 10 minutes of reading a day, can help literacy skills for parents and children alike.

Learn more about the Imagination Library here:
https://imaginationlibrary.com

EQIT

Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler Care Initiative
The Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler Care (EQ) Initiative works with the Early Childhood Councils, Infant and Toddler Specialists and Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler Care (EQIT) trainers to work toward its primary goal of increasing the quality and availability of responsive care for infants and toddlers throughout Colorado by:

  • Strengthening the skills and knowledge base of Early Childhood professionals working with infants and toddlers
  • Building capacity and promoting systemic change to foster increased quality and availability of care and services
  • Supporting leadership and collaboration at the community level
  • Facilitating professional development for infant toddler professionals, particularly those who are teaching or coaching infant toddler teachers


  • As part of the EQ Initiative, EQ Instructors and Early Childhood Council Coordinators are encouraged to attend a Touchpoints Individual Level Training (ILT) to strengthen their skills in establishing healthy positive relationships with parents and providers in their communities.

    Based on the work of renowned pediatrician, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, the Brazelton Touchpoints Approach is a cross-disciplinary approach focused on supporting the development of children through relationships with those who care for them.

    In many communities Touchpoints teams offer the Individual Level Trainings to local community partners. Contact us or Lisa Matter at [email protected] to find a touchpoints training near you.

    There currently are 9 active Touchpoints teams across Colorado. This includes the EQ Specialty Team, which provides training to EQ Instructors, Early Childhood Council Coordinators, and other statewide groups.

    The Colorado Touchpoints Network provides networking, technical assistance and support to the Touchpoints teams across the state.

NJC Scholarships

ECCLPS's educational scholarships are available for higher education classes to individuals working in the field of early childhood and who reside in Logan, Phillips, or Sedgwick Counties.

Early childhood professionals who have higher education have been shown to have a better understanding of child development and to be more responsive to the educational and academic needs of young children.

Our Scholarship Program through ECCLA offers early childhood education program directors and teachers a pathway to pursue higher education. Access to scholarships for early childhood education is a critical piece to a successful professional development pathway.

The Early Childhood Council Leadership Alliance (ECCLA) is an equal opportunity scholarship provider. They do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, gender, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, military status, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in any of its activities or operations. Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow (ASSET) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students are welcome to apply!

For more information, please contact:
Shannon Hall, Director of Workforce Supports at (720) 899-3047
To fax your application send it to (720) 669-1544.

LENA Grow

LENA Grow focuses on a single, straightforward, proven solution to accelerating brain growth, boosting social-emotional development, and increasing kindergarten readiness. That solution: Giving early childhood educators the tools they need to improve language environments equitably and to truly connect with each and every child in their care. LENA Grow motivates early childhood educators to become active participants in their own professional development — both for their own future and that of the children in their care.

By incorporating the LENA Grow program, Early Childhood Educators are able to develop communication skills with even the youngest children in their care. The coaching and feedback loop leads to an increase in interaction and a heightened sense of connectedness with the children. In turn, the children gain all the short- and long-term benefits associated with increased conversational turns.

The Pyramid Model

The Pyramid Model is a collaborative professional development system that fosters and sustains evidenced-based practices to support the social-emotional development and inclusion of children. The Pyramid Model builds upon a tiered public health approach to providing universal support to all children to promote wellness, targeted services to those who need more support, and intensive services to those who need them.

Coaching

ECCLPS provides coaching opportunities for Early Childhood Educators that are customized to the goals of the child care program and the needs of the providers. Coaching, paired with the trainings is an invaluable tool that helps providers and the children they care for.

Through the Coaching system, Early Childhood Educators better learn to understand the needs of their program, the children in their care, and how to best provide them with the education that will give them an upper hand in Kindergarten, by already having the tools they need to interact with other children in a positive way, a jump start in learning skills, and the ability to cope with a new learning environment.

Colorado Shines PDIS

The Colorado Shines Professional Development Information System (PDIS) is a one-stop online resource for training related to early care and learning. PDIS offers a broad array of e-learning courses addressing all aspects of child development, health and safety, and quality instruction. PDIS is designed to support a variety of early childhood professionals at all levels of experience and education.

Through PDIS, children are able to develop critical brain function and learning skills that help them to be prepared for kindergarten and beyond. By teaching caregivers the principles of early learning techniques, they are able to provide early learners with the tools they need to become socially and mentally capable for success in school. The relationships and experiences a child has in the first years of life impacts how the brain develops. That’s why it’s so important that we make sure that our children spend time with people and in situations that support their healthy development – whether they are at home with parents or in child care.

For more information on these programs, please contact:
Stephanie Swenson – Early Childhood Coach – at 970-526-2440

Professional Development

ECCLPS embraces the opportunity to increase the number of quality professional licensed childcare providers and their capacity through our professional development efforts. Quality, consistent and affordable childcare is essential to allowing parents to work to support their families and preparing our children for the future. In our area, maintaining quality childcare options can be challenging and we are excited to move new programs and ideas in to the work of our community. Licensing requires that home childcare providers, staff of childcare centers and preschool complete 15 clock hours of training each year. Three (3) of the fifteen (15) hours must be in social emotional development and the balance of hours needs to demonstrate a direct connection to one or more the following core knowledge areas. We provide scholarships for providers to take college classes to meet licensing needs and increase their knowledge and skills.

We also partner with Northeastern Junior College (NJC) to plan and pay for trainers who present at the Early Childhood Education Conference which is held each January at NJC. Early Childhood Educators from all over Northeastern Colorado attend this one-day conference.

For more information, please contact:
Stacey Zink – Program Coordinator, at 970-526-2440

Universal Preschool - Local Coordinating Organization (UPK LCO)

Beginning in the 23-24 school year, the Department of Early Childhood will fund at least ten hours of high-quality, voluntary preschool for every Colorado child in their year before entering kindergarten. Payments will be made from the state to providers on a per-child basis, based on a formula that will be developed in the coming months. All licensed school-based, community-based, and home-based preschool settings are eligible and encouraged to participate in the delivery of this groundbreaking program and to be a part of building a better future for children, families, and the State of Colorado. Unlicensed or license-exempt child care providers are not eligible to participate in Universal Preschool, but we encourage these providers to consider getting licensed, which would allow them to participate.

Local Coordinating Organizations (LCOs) will be responsible for the coordination of Universal Preschool at the local level - this includes supporting families in navigating enrollment, tracking and reporting on seat availability in preschools, communicating with and supporting providers, and ensuring the smooth rollout of at least ten hours of free voluntary preschool for every child in the year before they are eligible to enter kindergarten. In time, CDEC will work with LCOs to broaden their areas of coordination, building a cohesive system among all early childhood service providers in their catchment area.

The LCO model was developed through an extensive stakeholder process that took place in 2021, which identified local entities as those best suited to serve their communities in this capacity, acknowledging that communities and the entities that support them will have varying levels of readiness to take on this role. Accordingly, the Department is committed to working with local communities and providing training and resources to help LCOs reach their full potential.

We are proud to be the LCO for Logan, Phillips, and Sedgwick counties.

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood ensures the delivery of a comprehensive, community-informed, data-driven, high-quality and equitable early childhood system that supports the care, education and well-being of all Colorado’s young children, their families and early childhood professionals in all settings.

Learn more about the Colorado Department of Early Childhood at:
cdec.colorado.gov