The Jericho-Syosset-Woodbury Child Care Partnership held its monthly meeting recently to discuss recent happenings in the child care industry.

The Partnership held a "Grandparent as Caregivers Meeting" in January, which was designed to help grandparents adjust to taking care of children again. The program was held in conjunction with the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), located in Plainview.

CCE is an educational, not-for-profit agency serving Nassau County residents for over 85 years. It provides programs and research-based information on horticulture and environmental topics, food and nutrition, consumer issues, parenting and youth development to improve community vitality. Volunteers help to make the programs more effective in reaching larger numbers.

The follow-up meeting, which was to be held on March 7, was cancelled due to inclement weather conditions and rescheduled for April 25. "The first meeting was very successful and a momentum started," said Lenore Sylvan, partnership chair. "It was very interesting and informative."

Some topics of concern that arose during the meeting were grandparents who had to watch their grandchildren all day and were exhausted, the guilt for saying no to the children and how to deal with it and the need to discuss punishment with the parents. These will all be addressed at the second meeting in April.

The Partnership is also trying to get an acceptable, legal and notarized consent form that grandparents can carry in case of taking a child for treatment to a doctor or hospital. Judging from comments made at the last grandparents meeting, many did not realize that they needed permission from the parents.

Sylvan has recently met with doctors and pediatricians from Syosset Hospital and Schneider's Children's Hospital to work on the exact wording of the consent form.

The Partnership has also been busy getting the word out about quality childcare and what the standards are. Jericho High School students produced a video in the fall, with script approval by Child Care Council, entitled Child Care Issues; a publication of a brochure on Jericho-Syosset-Woodbury child care resources and active participation in re-coding the Town of Oyster Bay zoning ordinance dealing with child care. The video has since been given to local and state officials and most recently to the two New York State Senators.

Also, the Partnership has assembled a brochure listing local nursery schools, preschools and child care centers. The new brochure, which will be mailed soon, also tells the parents what questions they should ask when visiting a center and what to look for.

Upcoming meetings have already been arranged for the convenience of the members. Except for the July meeting, all will be held on the first Thursday of the month. The dates are as follows: April 5, 2001, May 3, 2001, June 7, 2001, July 12, 2001 and Aug. 2, 2001 and will be held in the Jericho Schools conference room. Everyone is welcome.