The Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) is providing the second Quality Provider Training for child care providers from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at Riverland Community College, East Building-Room C107. All child care providers are welcome to attend and will receive a certificate for training hours.

This training is important for all of those who provide child care, either in their home or at a center. Mower County is scheduled to become Parent Aware eligible in 2014, and when child care providers receive quality training, they are able to make educational gains with children and their families. This training will bring quality learning to children to move them up for kindergarten readiness.

“Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation believes investing in early childhood pays big dividends for communities and businesses, which is why we are so pleased to be able to provide this training in our region,” said Tim Penny, SMIF president/CEO, in a press release. “We know that high-quality early learning programs help children arrive at kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life.”

This training is made available by SMIF with a grant from the Mardag Foundation.

This session will provide the chance to commit to a variety of additional opportunities to improve a program’s quality, including business support, mentoring opportunities, and the “building quality” training. In addition:

•Family child care providers will learn more about Marketing and Money Management with Tom Copeland

•Katy Smith, 2011 MN Teacher of the Year and Parent Educator from Winona will inspire participants

•All participants will receive a certificate for four training hours.

Please RSVP for this valuable training through Child Care Aware of Minnesota Southern Child Care Resource and Referral, Inc. Call Stephanie at 800-462-1660 ext. 1521 or email stephanied@c2r2.org,  or contact Teri Steckelberg at SMIF at 507-455-3215.