SICCF-Southern IL. Coalition for Children & Families

10/17/2026

10/17/2026

DEC Community of Practice (CoP) Spotlight: Inclusion, Equity, and Social Justice

The DEC Inclusion, Equity, and Social Justice Community of Practice (IESJ CoP) hopes to bring together individuals committed to growth and learning around equity, inclusion, and social justice issues within the early care and education field. This CoP is designed to center the experiences and outcomes of those most marginalized within our community and to help members use principles of equity, inclusion, and social justice in their own work.

Learn more and join the CoP: https://sbee.link/6jxqhg4vr9

10/14/2026

This week we celebrate SICCF Board member Colleen McLaughlin, for being honored as one of Illinois AEYC’s 2026 Children’s Champions! 🎉
We can think of no one that is more deserving of this special honor.
Colleen's unwavering dedication to early childhood education has touched countless lives — inspiring educators, empowering families, and creating brighter futures for children. 💛

Thank you, Colleen, for your passion, leadership, and tireless advocacy. You remind us every day that investing in our youngest learners is investing in a better world.

Colleen will be honored at a special luncheon later this week in Springfield. So here's to Colleen — a true champion for children!

10/11/2026

Southern Illinois..at its best!

What an incredible 30 hours of community, connection, and giving! Together, Southern Illinois showed up in a big way to support the organizations and missions that make our region a better place for everyone.

To Our Generous Donors:
THANK YOU! Every single dollar, share, and word of encouragement helped spark REAL change. Your generosity powers local programs, strengthens families, and keeps our communities thriving. We are constantly inspired by your heart for Southern Illinois!

To Our Participating Nonprofits:
Thank you for your tireless dedication to our region. Seeing your passion, creativity, and commitment throughout GiveSI was nothing short of inspiring. We are so proud to partner with you and champion the work you do every single day!

To Our Community Partners & Sponsors:
This event would not be possible without your unwavering leadership and support. Thank you for investing in our local non-profits and helping us amplify their impact across Southern Illinois!

Together, we’ve proven once again what’s possible when Southern Illinois comes together to give where we live.

10/11/2026

We keep adding more, doing more, buying more, and scheduling more, as though childhood is something we need to constantly upgrade.

More toys. More activities. More enrichment. More elaborate setups. More adult input into experiences children are perfectly capable of creating themselves.

Then we wonder why there’s so little room left for sustained attention, repetition, connection, and simply being content with what’s already there.

We’ve commercialized so much of early childhood that ordinary experiences can start to feel inadequate. A walk needs a scavenger hunt. Play needs a learning objective. A handful of fallen leaves needs to become an elaborate sensory bin. Even a quiet afternoon can leave adults feeling guilty that they haven’t done enough.

But children need time to linger, revisit, experiment, and become deeply familiar with their world. They need opportunities to generate their own ideas without us constantly introducing the next thing or steering the experience toward our own.

And we need to examine how much of this urgency belongs to us. Our discomfort with stillness. Our boredom with repetition. Our pressure to produce something impressive, keep up, or prove that we’re doing enough.

A full schedule doesn’t tell us whether a child feels fulfilled. A room full of toys doesn’t tell us whether they have room to think. And an experience that looks impressive to adults doesn’t necessarily offer more to the child.

We all need more room to slow down, connect, and appreciate what’s already in front of us.

Children only get one childhood. We need to stop filling every inch of it and leave them room to actually live it.

10/11/2026

Playtime is a great time to nurture early language skills! (See more tips in this blog post: https://monkeylink.co/5baf5a)

10/10/2026

10/09/2026

ECEC programs, if you are not yet using ASQ online- it is something to think about! The Coalition, in partnership with CCR&R offers access to the online system for free to programs in our region.

Has your program made the switch from paper questionnaires to ASQ Online? Here are nine ways the online data management system for ASQ helps early childhood professionals save time and boost screening efficiency!

To see ASQ Online in action, register for an upcoming free live demo: https://monkeylink.co/f4f6a3