For Early Childhood Educators
Smart Start of New Hanover County provides assistance to early childhood educators and administrators through coaching, technical assistance, training, and access to resources. We are here to support the early childhood community in delivering quality early learning experiences that are positive and stimulating for young children.
Classroom Support
Quality Enhancement
Our consultants offer personalized coaching to early childhood educators to enhance and sustain the quality of care and education for young children. Services include assistance with room arrangement, daily schedule review, policy and procedure updates, preparation for Environment Rating Scale assessments, and other related areas.
Social Emotional Support and Inclusion
Meeting the needs of every child in the classroom can be challenging. Our consultants assist with child-specific or whole classroom social emotional development and behavior management to help prevent expulsion and promote inclusive practices within the classroom.
New Teacher Mentorship
Being a new teacher in a classroom can be overwhelming! Smart Start can help! With the support of a consultant, you’ll learn the ins and outs of being a new early educator. Our New Teacher Mentorship program partners a new teacher with an ECE consultant who provides one-on-one coaching and mentoring for up to 6 months.
Early Childhood Program & Family Child Care Administrators
Running a child care program can be difficult! How do you help your teachers learn about child development or how to write a lesson plan? How do you work with a child who may have a challenging behavior? Or what should a good Policy and Procedures or Parent Handbook look like? Smart Start Early Care & Education consultants can assist you with those challenges and more. Find requests for classroom support, private workshops and other forms here.
Job Board
Search early childhood educator job openings for FREE! Job information includes position, pay range, age group and more. For any questions, contact Rita Albrecht at Smart Start NHC.
LENA
Interaction plays a crucial role in brain development, especially for children ages 0-3. Whether you are preparing for ITERS assessment or just looking for an effective way to measure interactions, LENA Grow is an easy way to help without adding more stress to you or your amazing teachers. Through coaching and the use of talk pedometers, you will see exactly how much you talk to your children and how to improve in 5 short weeks! Best of all, this program is FREE to participate in! Contact Krista Smith to learn more! 910-815-3731 ext. 1023 or krista.smith@newhanoverkids.org.
Smart Start’s Early Learning Resource Center
The Smart Start Early Learning Resource Center is available for early childhood professionals and families providing access to curriculum guides, theme kits, activity ideas and services such as laminating, bulletin board paper, die cuts and book binding.
Workshops & Training
Smart Start Early Care and Education consultants provide specialized, DCDEE approved workshops on a variety topics such as ITS SIDS, Challenging Behaviors, Environment Rating Scales, Infant Toddler Development, and Family Child Care Home specific topics. Click here to visit our Workshop and Training calendar.
Educator & Community Resources
Find helpful information and links to professional resources for early educators and child care administrators. Knowledgeable counselors are also available to help you identify and access services to meet the needs of your students and classroom.
New Teacher Mentorship Program
Administrators – We recognize that new teachers to the field need a lot of support to help them be successful in your program and the classroom. It’s not easy to provide that type of support with so many other responsibilities you have.
Early Educators – You’re new to the early childhood field and want to do your best for the children in your classroom- but it can be overwhelming to learn the ropes. From your first day, you need to know how to provide age-appropriate activities, create a schedule, help children learn and play, as well as manage classroom behavior.
Our New Teacher Mentorship program partners a new teacher with an ECE consultant who provides one-on-one coaching and mentoring for up to 6 months.
Program Highlights
- Weekly visits with hands-on coaching
- Goal setting that aligns with ITERS-3 or ECERS-3
- Providing resources and tools to use in the classroom
- Monthly meetings to discuss progress
- 6 months of mentorship- with potential ongoing TA at the conclusion
For more information, contact Rita Albrecht at rita.albrecht@newhavoverkids.org or 910-815-3731 x1011
To sign up for New Teacher Mentoring:
Classroom Support: Quality Enhancement
Our consultants offer personalized coaching to early care professionals to enhance and sustain the quality of care and education for young children.
We frequently hear, “I didn’t know Smart Start could help me with that!”, from directors, teachers and family child care home providers. In addition to supporting you in preparation for Star-Rated Licensing Assessment, we can also assist you in other ways to improve the quality of your program. To request support, please fill out the form below.
Ways Smart Start consultants can offer technical assistance
- Help with Environment Rating Scale Assessment preparation
- Teaching workshops on infant/toddler development, interactions, working with co-teachers, outside play, FCC environments, literacy and more!
- Revising handbooks or Policies & Procedures
- Guiding you with meaningful child interactions with your children
- Observing routines and transitions to provide feedback
- Reviewing your schedule to see if you’re allotting enough time for free play or too much time in circle time and transitions
- Providing you with resources (articles, websites, books) to learn more about child development, family relationships, and other important topics
- Working with you to create appropriate lesson plans using the NC Foundations
- Observe routines and transitions to provide feedback
- Assist with room arrangement
- Provide techniques to help with classroom behavior management
- Help you implement ideas you learned at one of their workshops
- Make referrals to the Social Emotional Learning consultants
- Work with you to create appropriate lesson plans using the NC Foundations book
For additional supports and information, click here to access our Resource Directory for Early Childhood Educators.
For more information, please contact Mindy Davis via email at mindy.davis@newhanoverkids.org or by phone at (910) 815-3731 ext. 1010 to learn more about how we can support you!
To request coaching or technical assistance, please complete the appropriate form:
Early Childhood Program & Family Child Care Administrators
Our Social Emotional Learning consultants focus on social emotional development with individual children and whole classroom behavior management. Does one of your teachers struggle with transitions? Do you need more resources about appropriate social emotional development? Learn more
Our Quality Enhancement consultants can help you create or update Policy and Procedures, your Parent Handbook, or develop staff meeting agendas. We can help your new staff in providing support for working with young children from lesson planning to creating a schedule and health & safety procedures and outdoor play- and more! Learn more
Our New Teacher Mentorship program provides one-on-one support to new teachers in your program. New Teachers will receive hands-on coaching, goal setting, and monthly meetings to check progress. Learn more
Child Care Updates: Smart Start of NHC helps parents find suitable child care options by sharing current information on available openings and other related services. To update the information on your Child Care Center or Family Child Care Home’s openings, please fill out this form completely and submit.
- Child Care Updates
- Request for Classroom TA Support
- Request for Child Specific Support
- Request for New Teacher Support
- Request Private Training for Your Site
- Request CPR/First Aid Private Class
For additional supports and professional resources, click here to visit our Early Childhood Educators resource directory.
Contact Mindy Davis to learn more about how we can support you! (910) 815-3731 ext. 1010 or mindy.davis@newhanoverkids.org.
CPR/First Aid Private Class Request
Child Specific Referral Request – Program
Classroom Specific Referral Request
Commonly Asked Questions
What is Smart Start and how does it support early childhood development?
What resources are available through Smart Start to support children with special needs or disabilities?
What research or evidence-based practices inform the Smart Start approach?
How can I collaborate with Smart Start of NHC to enhance my child's growth?
Active participation and open communication with Smart Start can create a supportive environment for your child’s growth and development:
- Contact Smart Start of NHC to inquire about available resources and programs.
- Attend workshops, seminars, and events organized by Smart Start on child development, parenting, and community resources.
- Join parent support groups to connect with other parents, share experiences, and learn from experts.
- Consider participating in home visiting programs for guidance on parenting and child development.
- Engage in parent-child activities like playgroups, storytimes, and family outings organized by Smart Start.
- Stay informed through newsletters, social media, and the official website for tips, resources, and program updates.
- Advocate for policies and funding supporting early childhood development in our community.
- Utilize Smart Start resources, such as books, pamphlets, and online materials on child development and parenting.
- Collaborate with local service providers, including healthcare professionals, therapists, and specialists.
Classroom Support: Social Emotional Support and Inclusion
Meeting the needs of every child in the classroom can be challenging. Our consultants assist with child-specific or whole classroom social emotional development and behavior management to help prevent expulsion and promote inclusive practices within the classroom.
We provide hands-on support, proven strategies, and coaching to teachers and children who may be having some difficulty. Using a variety of research-based tools and tips, we can help you create an environment to ease the stress of those challenging behaviors!
Classroom Support
Child Specific Support
What should you expect?
How can I request support?
For more information, please contact Mindy Davis at mindy.davis@newhanoverkids.org or call (910) 815-3731 ext. 1010.