By Teri Banas

ISHPEMING – In this northern corner of the state, home to the National Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame and Museum, winters can feel desperately long and time spent playing outdoors can be limited.

That can be tough for young children – and for relative and aide child care providers.

To the rescue: “Learning Through Play,” a training class offered by the local Great Start Regional Child Care Resource Center (GSRCCRC).

Kitty Perry, 51, an “aide” who cares for a friend’s children, was among providers who recently took the course in Marquette.

She picked up tips on creating “finger plays” with pipe cleaners. She also learned to make kid-friendly picture art using a Pringle’s chip can, marbles, paper for an inner lining and a few drops of paint. (Shake it up and it’s art!)

“In the summer I like to take (her friend’s children - Maria, 7, Hunter, 2, and Josie, 1) to the beach and the park,” says Perry. “But in the winter, you can’t stay outside as long as you can in the summer. You have to find other things to do.”

“Learning Through Play” is an optional Tier 2 offering of the GSRCCRC. By completing Tier 2 courses, providers can earn up to $585 more per year.

Before that training, Perry completed a health and safety course newly required by Michigan.

Providers who receive child care subsidies – including aides like Perry who receive $1.60 an hour via low-income parents enrolled in the Department of Human Services Child Development and Care Program and “relative” providers who are paid directly - are required to complete the training by Sept. 17 in order to remain qualified.

The free, six-hour course – called “Great Start to Quality Orientation” – is offered across the state by the Early Childhood Investment Corporation’s (ECIC) Great Start Regional Child Care Resource Centers.

The course includes training in CPR, American Heart Association first aid, nutrition, health and safety, “Shaken Baby Syndrome” and “Safe Sleep” practices.

Perry, a former nursing home aide, said the course was a valuable refresher.

“We learned about Shaken Baby Syndrome,” she added. “It just doesn’t take much to shake a baby (with injuries resulting). You have to be very, very careful.”

Valuable as it is, getting providers to fulfill that training has been difficult. Michigan has   22,353 relative and aide providers. Thirty one percent as of June 30 had completed training, according to the ECIC.

The new training requirement ensures that all children in Michigan have a child care provider with critical knowledge of basic health and safety, said Lisa Brewer Walraven, director of DHS’ Office of Early Education and Care.

“By taking this first step to create a professional development pathway for providers, we are making sure that every child in Michigan is exposed to opportunities that ensure their success in the future."

Research shows that children who have quality child care as preschoolers are better prepared for school, ultimately leading to fewer drop-outs, fewer students held back a grade and better overall academic success, Walraven said.

“To know better is to do better,” says Sue Ellison, a community child care specialist based in Gladstone. Ellison serves as an instructor of the health and safety training as well as Tier 2 classes.

Providers, she says, frequently enter the classes apprehensive about what will be expected.

“When the participants come in, I know what I have to do is help dismiss anxieties first. (Some question) ‘Why am I here? I’ve been watching children for 20 years.’ Maybe they’ve never taken a (child care) a class before.”

Her strategy is to put people at ease. “What I tell them is, I’ll make this class as fun and as inviting as possible. And I think you’ll find it worthwhile.”

Among components of the safety class is a home safety check-list. Because guns are a part of U.P. culture, there’s a lot of conversation in the class about gun safety.

“We’re just trying to make sure children are safe and that the adult caring for them is as trained and as knowledgeable as they can be,” Ellis says.

In the Upper Peninsula Region, 43 percent of the region’s 281 providers had completed training as of June 30. The region includes 12 of the Upper Peninsula’s 15 counties.

The Great Start to Quality Orientation is available free of charge. To sign up, call toll free at (877) 614-7328 or visit  http://www.greatstartforkids.org/content/great-start-connect

The ECIC, founded in 2005, is the state's focal point for information and investment in early childhood in Michigan. As part of ECIC’s efforts to implement a comprehensive early childhood system for Michigan, it also aims to improve the quality of child care in Michigan through the Great Start Child Care Quality Program.