Deborah Curtis and Kathy (also known as Chuck) Bayles possess over 20 years' experience in the early childhood field and both hold Masters Degrees. Their past experience includes directors in child care centers, employed in community child care support agencies, resource development specialist for child care providers and child care referral services to families seeking child care. Both are experienced in handling issues of behavior problems and positive discipline, children who have experienced trauma or have special needs and negotiating daily life. Other experiences include instructing Child Development and other college level courses.

Deb and Chuck created Learning Partners, Inc. to dedicate work towards making lives better for children. Using the knowledge gained from experience, they are able to bring a broad array of information to child care providers, parents and agencies who support them. They specialize in consultation, facilitation and training in early childhood issues as well as community collaboration, technical assistance for child care, feasibility studies, outcome studies and other research.

Professional Development Sessions:

Training sessions, workshops, coursework and additional professional development opportunities; each session length is by agreement and can vary from 1 1/2 hours to several days.

All sessions:

• Are highly interactive
• Follow principles of Popular Education
• Are respectful of adult learners
• Are adapted to meet the needs of participants
• Have introductory to advanced content available

General Topics:

• Children in group care - creating stimulating and nurturing environment that can be successful for all children
• Understanding children's behavior - creating a strong foundation in development and application to normal as well as problematic behavior
• Child care business practices - tools and techniques for establishing and maintaining licensed or registered child care programs
• Professionalism - engaging and growing in the profession of early childhood
• Changes and challenges - supporting children and families in stressful situations
• Working with adults - developing skills needed for successful connections with other adults from clients to coworkers

Sessions are appropriate for and can be tailored to all those invested in early childhood, including registered, licensed and other child care providers, parents, school personnel, employers and for profit, nonprofit and government agency staff.

Testimonials

Rutland 2001 - Caring Spaces "I liked the interaction with people. I tend to sit back and listen - I was encouraged to participate - gently" New England AEYC ­ Understanding Biting "This class really made me feel better about my self as a provider - knowing that I do some of these things"

Newport 2002 - Understanding Children's Behavior "You made things very comfortable to learn and give everyone a sense of feeling good" "The interaction through Deb & Chuck was wonderful. They were very clear in the presentation"

Meeting and Group Facilitation

Assisting groups in working towards identified goals in meetings, one- or two-day retreats, and ongoing committees.

• Leadership and mentoring; encouraging and planning the growth of leaders
• Staff retreats, team building and staff development through common goals
• Identifying visions, missions, goals and plans for collaborating groups
  

Projects and Research:

Administrative body for Vermont STARS (STep Ahead Recognition System) for child care programs, a voluntary system to recognize the accomplishments of licensed and registered child care programs (2003).

Research and development to create and implement a graduated system of child care recognition, including comprehensive investigation of existing systems nationwide and conducting public forums and focus groups statewide (2001, 2002).

Child Care Programs: A Survey of Market Rates and Capacity: - Identifies by county and statewide the 2002 market rates for each category of care, as well as additional information on key market factors, such as capacity, amount of time care is needed, and the affordability of care for low-income families. (2003)

Feasibility studies for establishing child care programs for before and after school care (2001) and a near-site, employer supported infant and toddler center (2000).

Consultive project to improve the visibility and accessibility of service programs in a not-for-profit agency (2003).