Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) Testimonials
Sending my staff to PITC has reaped benefits for our center in several ways:
First, by employing the aspects of PITC, it has become a major “selling point” in differentiating us from other programs. Our staff knows what they are talking about and are deeply committed to the beliefs in PITC — that this is seen as a positive for prospective clients.
Secondly, staff retention in our infant and toddler programs, I am convinced, is a direct result of the implementation of primary and continuity of care. Staff become so attached to their primary families, that they would not consider leaving until they have completed a full continuity of care cycle of nearly three years!
Lastly, we as a center and staff know that this is what is right for children and their families. Primary and continuity of care has helped establish long term relationships in the program which begin at these early ages and carry through for many years to come. We don’t simply “care for infants or care for toddlers," but we care for entire families. Primary and continuity of care allows us to create that culture right from the beginning.
The following essay, written by a teacher at Toddler’s Workshop Daycare, Inc. demonstrates how PITC training, presented by PITC-certified staff at Children’s Institute, can strengthen the quality of infant-toddler care.
-Virginia Nacy, Owner/Executive Director, Toddler’s Workshop Daycare, Inc.
From a teacher’s perspective: How PITC strengthened my strategies to deliver quality care
I just wanted to hold babies. I did not come into this profession looking for responsibility, maturity or growth. I didn’t envision cultivating young children, devoting myself to families of no relation, or becoming protective of co-workers. However, I achieved all of those things and so much more from my primary and continuity of care experiences as a child care provider.
I was given the opportunity to transition into our early childhood building and begin working with infants for whom I had such an affinity. I became a primary caregiver to a group of three boys and one girl. My children ranged in age from 3 to 7 months. None of them had been in child care before and two of them were first children. Not only had I not experienced primary care prior to working in that center, but I had never worked that intimately with parents or co-workers before.
I grew to know everything about the children in my care. I could tell which of their noises meant what, when they were becoming ill, even what foods they didn’t like. I was able to discover the best ways to engage them in activities, get them to sleep, and put a snowsuit on without tears from either of us. My children gave me purpose. They got me excited to go to work each day. I felt bad for caregivers who weren’t given the opportunity to connect to their children and families in the way that I had through primary care.
As my relationships with my primary care families grew, I felt like I became a part of their families as well. We would discuss weekend plans, brainstorm solutions for sleeping through the night, and celebrate their child’s first steps. It was exciting to know when a parent’s birthday was and surprise them with a card. I grew to know the siblings of my children and delighted in their successes in school and athletics. The turnover of our families greatly decreased because of these nurtured relationships.
The turnover of our staff decreased as well. Whenever I was given the opportunity to conduct a tour for a new family at the center, I would not only rave about my experience with primary care but I would also note the abnormally low turnover rate of our staff. Because our staff had become so committed to their primary care families and co-teachers, they were happy in their work, less likely to call in sick, and absolutely less likely to look for work elsewhere.
Aside from turnover, my opportunity to work so closely with co-teachers and their groups was indispensable. We would job share when all of our children needed something at once, talk through issues to make our day run more smoothly, and get excited about new curriculum. I knew almost as much about my co-worker’s primary care children as I knew about my own. Collectively, we were “raising” the best children we could. We knew it. It was validating and it made us proud to work there.
My primary care need was satiated but my desire for further continuity of care came as I relinquished my first group into the toddler department between the ages of 16 and 20 months. Letting them go was not easy, as I had grown to love them and their families. The transition proved to be difficult for all parties, regardless of the steps we took to pass along information and efforts to visit to the “new” room and teachers. As my children underwent their first month in the toddler room, I noticed a lot of behavioral changes. A reversion to clinginess and poor drop offs, sometimes even aggression. I was saddened that the teachers weren’t able to see my children as I had, and worried for the children’s ability to continue developing appropriately when their anxiety seemed so high. Disheartened, I kept visiting my children in toddlers, kept affording information to their new teachers and hoping that they’d soon settle in.
In the spring of 2007, we [myself (having been promoted to Infant Program Advisor), our Toddler Program Advisor, and our Director of Operations] began taking a Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) class at Children’s Institute. There, the PITC certified presenters affirmed the benefits of primary care to which our center was so committed. The women from our center were looked to and able to speak on these benefits from firsthand experience. But as that section came to an end, we were enlightened to the best practice of continuity of care through the age of three years old. Until then, our center’s primary and continuity of care worked in a way that the same teacher was with the same group of children from their entrance into our infant program until about 18 months of age when they moved into our toddler department, as my first group had. After hearing several benefits from our PITC trainers, my Director of Operations, Toddler Program Advisor, and I began brainstorming ways to take this concept back to the center and implement it as soon as we could.
In the end of 2007, our infant and toddler teachers sat down and discussed the possibility of enhancing our primary care practice to include a zero to three year continuity of care experience. We debated, weighed pros and cons and talked the concept to death. Finally we convinced one teacher, who was soon to send her children into the toddler department, to advance with her group and become a proverbial continuity of care guinea pig. She nervously accepted and began the days of potty training and “circle times”.
What a difference we saw in her children’s transition to toddlers! They were thriving. They were so excited to experience a new space and comfortable exploring, knowing their familiar caregiver was there. Most of the parent’s anxiety was waned due to the consistency of their child’s caregiver. Toddler caregivers new to the transitioning children were more at ease because there was a staff person accustomed to the children’s needs. Transition had become an anticipated experience instead of a dreaded one.
For me, increasing the continuity of care practice expanded my knowledge of child development and allowed me to become a more proficient teacher. My intense knowledge of my primary care group allowed for me to individualize curriculum and teaching experiences. I was able to further strengthen relationships with my families and children, celebrating even more birthdays and successes. My co-workers and their families found themselves just as pleased, and settled in to our new custom.
Primary and continuity of care is inexplicably important to me, my children, my families, and my co-workers. It is what has set our center apart from others in the area. It is what has drawn and retained families and staff. It is what has fostered a positive self image for the children in our care. I owe a majority of my early childhood knowledge and positive experiences to primary and continuity of care guided by the PITC curriculum. It has aided me in becoming the caregiver I’m proud to be and has given me the hope and confidence to become a wonderful mother someday. And to think I acquired all of that because I just wanted to hold babies.
-Paige Torrens, Teacher, Toddler’s Workshop Daycare, Inc.