Planning is in high gear for the Parent's Choice Conference 2015, and I wanted to give you a look inside what we have in store for you...

Many staff members you already know will be on hand to present workshops this year. Family Advocates ​Norma (from Red Bluff Center) and Maria C. (from Tehama Center) will be leading a conversation about Time Management for Parents. This workshop will discuss prioritizing things, give some good tips to avoid time wasting activities, and ways to make time for yourself within your hectic schedule. It Came from the Junk Drawer--Turning Junk into Learning Opportunities is a hands-on opportunity to look at junk a whole new way. We all have those empty boxes, drawers full of ketchup packets and random items and bits and pieces. Why not use that junk to create learning opportunities for you kids?

There will be a hands-on Cooking with Kids workshop to help you come up with new ways to get healthy food into your picky little one's belly. The English version of this workshop will be hosted by our partners from the UC Davis extension, while our staff will be teaming up with the Community Action Agency staff for the Spanish presentation.

Preparing for Kindergarten and Beyond will give some insight to strategies you can use to make sure your child is fully prepared for the next step in their education. Back to College--Financial Aid Edition will be hosted by Head Start Mom Martha Dixon and experts from Shasta College and is sure to be informative for those parents looking to get back to school.

We have three workshops geared to helping you make your dollar stretch further every month. Family Budgeting is an opportunity to think about how you spend your money and where your priorities are. Family Finances helps you set long term financial goals for your family. And, back by popular request, Couponing will teach you the art of using coupons to get more bang for your buck at the store!

Join NCCDI and Child Abuse Prevention Council staff for Coping with the Crying, a workshop to deal with what may seem like the constant screaming and crying of your infant or toddler. Learn strategies to cope, and ways to deal with this part of parenting that no one seems to talk about.

Experts from Corning Family Resource Center will be on hand to discuss Immigration Services in Tehama County. This workshop is only offered in Spanish, so if you would like it translated in English, please let us know!

Our lunch program will be extremely informative as well. We have Judge Matt McGlynn coming to talk about family court, and Mike Baldwin from Community Action Agency will talk about VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance).

Whew!! That is a full schedule! If you haven't registered yet, there is still time...go to www.tinyurl.com/qywcphx

Tehama county has so many family friendly events to offer through the fall season. Just this past weekend was both the Manton Apple Festival and Julia's Fruit Stand's Great Pumpkin Festival. Both are amazing, fun and free events with lots to offer all ages. We have many more amazing events coming up to note.

On October 17th is the Dairyville Orchard Festival. This event, held at Lassen View School, is free and offers live music, games and food to purchase. There are old-time tractors, firetrucks, face painters and all sorts of things preschoolers love.

Also that day, the Binational Health Fair will take place at Rolling Hills Casino. This event is focused more on adults, with health screenings and information.

The Western Open Fiddle Championships is the 22nd to 24th of October. Watch young competitors play amazing music. There's food for sale as well.

Of course, the most exciting event of the month is the NCCDI Parents Choice Conference. This event, on October 30th is an amazing opportunity to parents of all-age children. There will be workshops on parenting skills, budgeting, cooking with kids, couponing and more. Check back to next weeks' blog for a sneak peek at our workshops.

More events will be available for families in November. Check into more on the Red Bluff and Corning Chamber websites; redbluffchamber.com or corningcachamber.org

Sorry about the late post. I spent last week at the National Head Start Association Fall Leadership Conference in Washington DC. I was proud and honored to be representing NCCDI in our nation's capital. It was an amazing experience.

I had the opportunity the first day to hear about the appropriations process and how our funding is allocated. There have been proposals to increase Head Start funding made in both the house and the senate budget talks. We discussed the New Proposed Rule-Making document that came out over the summer and they noted the same thing we did locally about it--that if many of the rules were made that Head Start would need lots more money to make it happen--especially the recommendation to change all classes to full day/full year. They also said that they are going over all of the thousands of comments that were made and it would not be until probably this time next year that we would get a final set of rules.

The second day was very exciting, with an opportunity to discuss Head Start history and success stories and to continue building a legacy of high quality programming that will lead us through the next 50 years. We got to hear from Lucinda Robb, the granddaughter of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson. President Johnson was the commander in chief who signed Head Start into existence and the first lady was deeply involved in the process, visiting Head Start centers, talking with the families involved and keeping the program in the forefront of the country's consciousness. Ms. Robb talked about President Johnson's beginnings as a teacher in a very poor area of Texas, seeing children who had no food, no warm clothes, living in such poverty. It made a real impression on him. She spoke of her grandmother, Lady Bird, and how she didn't just want to be an "honorary" chairperson for Project Head Start, but to really be involved. It was a wonderful peek into the beginnings of our program.

The third day found us on the lawn of the capital building (in the rain), for a rally to celebrate our 50 years of Opportunity. We heard from various lawmakers, both democrat and republican, honoring Head Start and celebrating that Head Start WORKS!! The most poignant address was from Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. She was a Head Start kid, and when she started in her center at age 5, she was often referred to by her family as "porbrecito Loretta" since she didn't speak. She was the daughter of immigrants, one of (I believe) 7 children, and her parents were very motivated for all of their children to get a great education. And they did. Among her siblings, there are doctors and lawyers, and Ms. Sanchez is one of TWO congresswomen--her mother is the only one in the history of the United States that can say that 2 of her daughters have served in congress.

After the rally, I went with Toni from Placer County, to meet with congressmen Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock. The aid in Mr. LaMalfa's office was a very nice man, and he asked a lot of great questions about Head Start as well as took notes on our main requests--to increase funding to our programs, and to include Head Start teachers in the student loan forgiveness program. We met directly with Mr. McClintock. He was not so interested in discussing Head Start, and he is not a supporter of our programs. We will try to keep him informed and hopefully change his mind about the great work we do.

Overall, it was an overwhelming, humbling experience. I was so grateful for the opportunity to represent our programs with these influential people.