During this keynote address Hallie Yopp will discuss the complex nature of literacy development, including linguistic, cognitive, and affective bases. She will highlight the powerfully important role that those who work in early childhood settings play in launching children into literacy.

The EDU-Play workshop teaches the theoretical approach to developmental intervention for teachers and families. In the first session the presenter will cover EDU-Play theory and approach and will learn strategies via visual, auditory, and movement activities and will leave with an overview of EDU-Play. Be prepared to EDU-Play.

The second part of this workshop will be presented on Saturday at 10:15am.

In order to effectively lead people you have to care about them. Successful leaders recognize the importance of developing positive relationships with their team members. Many positive things happen when people work with leaders who feel they care about them; group members feel better about themselves, and individuals are able to accomplish more than they ever thought possible. It is also important for leaders to recognize and acknowledge the contributions of others. People want to feel appreciated, informed about what is happening in the organization, and listened to. It is amazing that many of us forget to celebrate small victories with individual staff members. This session is built around this skillful way to lead! This session is experiential in nature and participants will leave with specific tools to use at work, in trainings, and in their personal lives.

In this workshop you will experience an introduction to the movement-based program called Brain Gym®. Key focuses will be on: Unlocking potential for greater achievement, experiencing how movement is the link to learning, understanding how play relates to brain development, addressing the physical skills of learning that include posture, balance and motor dexterity, and practicing activities you can use with children to teach them to self-regulate (even the real young ones), focus, be creative and coordinated. You will learn tools to promote child development in a fun, playful nurturing way.

This session will provide detailed information about the latest and upcoming resources for programs pursuing accreditation. This presentation will be an overview of the many sources of information available through NAEYC’s Web site known as the “TORCH” (The Online Resource Central Headquarters). Information will be given on how to access the PowerPoint presentations that may be used to explain the accreditation process and guidance for developing program and classroom portfolios (manually or electronically). In addition, to help participants familiarize themselves with the many forms available on TORCH, examples of how to use the forms to develop study guides for programs pursuing accreditation will be shared.

Finding the right fit for a classroom or center is much like bringing a couple together. Dating only tells you so much about someone. And, when you find the right person, how do you work together to create the best possible environment for the children?  How do you stay together for the long haul?  This workshop will help you discover who your perfect partners are as well as provide essential tools to making the marriages work that exist within your preschool staff. With lots of hands-on fun and humor, participants will gain an insight into the psychology of bringing teams together, and mentoring them towards successful relationships. Walk away with tips, techniques, and games that will raise the practices of your staff and the quality of your center.

A child’s challenging behavior makes most of us immediately focus on changing the child, with varying degrees of success. Challenging or not, behavior is a means of communication, influenced by many external and internal forces. This session will introduce the BRAULT Behavior Checklist, a tool for understanding behavior from the outside in, and offers an interactive process to help participants look at challenging behavior from a different perspective.

This workshop will help participants recognize the universal basic human need for connection and validation. When these two needs are met, we are able to respond to each other and work together to create the kinds of programs and environments that support learning.

This workshop will be highly interactive and experiential. Come prepared to participate. Fabulous resources will be provided.

In her book Why Love Matters, Sue Gerhardt identifies the neural and cognitive development that is established—particularly in infancy and toddlerhood—when the child feels loved and cared for. The patterns established early on lay the foundation for how the child will function later in life—especially mental health and well-being as an adult. Gerhardt’s work is supported by current brain and psychology research by Ross Thompson, Nancy Byl, Joan Stiles, Michael Gazzaniga, and Daniel Siegel as well as the practical application through programs like Roots of Empathy and Seeds of Empathy developed by Mary Gordon. This session will address the current understanding (from a brain development perspective) of how the young brain is molded by experiences of love, nurturance, acceptance, and feelings of being cared for and how those experiences foster a strong sense of self, a connection with others (empathy), and the ability later in life to deal with less than ideal situations—both personal and societal. Along with some information delivery, participants will have the opportunity to practice some very basic techniques to take back and use immediately with the children in their care—whether infants, toddlers, or preschoolers. Also, participants will reflect on their own young lives and be able to identify experiences or events that helped to shape their personality, understand how and why they interact the way they do with others, how they came to their own sense of well-being (or lack thereof), and ways to be positive and nurturing for the little ones they work with every day. 

This session will focus on understanding and addressing the underlying emotional and psychological issues of parents or clients with issues with your program; and how staff can best meet their needs through this awareness combined with appropriate technique, without compromising their integrity and needs. Participants will also learn the four keys on how to assert professionalism along with a three-step process for making the hard communications.

Leadership and the ability to guide or change are not always welcome or understood. While leaders often make pronouncements and promises, the follow-up is not necessarily successful or yields the desired outcomes. By bringing everyone “on board” and “to the table,” leaders, whether chosen or breaking forth from a group, can and will be more effective if two characteristics are present: passion and compassion. Passion is the drive, determination, and understanding that all effective leaders must possess in order to guide or direct. Compassion is the care, nurture, and ability to mindfully adapt and adopt what is necessary to make everyone involved feel a part of and included in any and all facets of an endeavor. Both passion and compassion are not necessarily naturally occurring. Plus, both are not always possessed by a lone individual. By recognizing and considering a variety of factors, leaders can find the inner strength and drive to allow the passion for success and change to occur. In addition, by reflecting and contemplating on options and goals, the compassion needed to include everyone in a plan can also be shared. Change is difficult. Paradigms are hardwired. But with a combination of passion and compassion, a leader can make the changes needed in any program and demonstrate the ideal he/she wishes to convey.

Participants will discuss strategies to increase male involvement using strategies that include the implementation of a "Boy-Friendly" learning environment, re-visioning what "Appropriate Practice" might look and sound like, and by considering alternative "Daily Schedules".

In this, the second part of our two-part session, participants will learn more intricate techniques to utilize with families and teachers. For example: recognizing “won't vs. can't” behavior and how to use positive behavior supports; self regulatory tools for children and adults; supporting multi-modal language, and use of sensory tools. Be prepared to EDU-Play.

Art engages children’s hands, minds and emotions and helps develop valuable cognitive, social-emotional, and multi-sensory skills. Learn to identify the many developmental skills children master through art activities, and how self directed art fosters creativity and self esteem. Session begins with a colorful PowerPoint on “Art in Child Development” and continues with slides of children’s art that illustrate how to maximize the value of art in early childhood classrooms. Workshop concludes with an instructor demo and a creative, hands-on art activity designed for adults.

Inclusion of children with disabilities and/or other special needs is successful when teachers and child care providers have the resources, tools and support they need to feel competent. Inclusion is about attitude, knowledge, and skills. Begin building your toolkit for success in inclusive practice with the booklist, video reviews, Web site demo, training activities, and articles you will receive. Find out about “Beginning Together”, a state and federally funded project that provides training and technical assistance for successful inclusion in child care programs throughout the state. Learn about resources that are available to you as you support staff and colleagues in inclusive practice.

How do we build community in the classroom so that students feel safe and can voice their emotions without fear? How do we teach empathy? Participants will also learn about ways you can incorporate emotional skill-building as part of your reading curriculum.

The Mentor Program has embarked on a very exciting project that we would like to share with CAEYC members. At last fall’s Train the Trainer Conference, hearing Stacie Goffin present the message from the book she co-authored with Valora Washington, Ready or Not: Leadership Choices in Early Care and Education, sparked an idea and a rhetorical question: If teachers need to step up to the plate and get involved in determining the purpose, identity, and responsibility of the field, who better suited to do so than a community of teachers selected using strict criteria for developmentally appropriate practice and environment who just happen to meet monthly in their local communities for the benefit of their professional growth? In other words, if not Mentor Teachers, who?

We have developed an approach that we believe will help Mentors conquer the many complex and emotionally charged issues of Ready or Not one step at a time. In this session, Ellen Morrison will briefly discuss the challenges and decisions that formed the Mentor Program strategy, share the process for adaptive work that we have introduced to Mentor Seminar Facilitators, and gather your input on how to improve this process.

Technology should make our jobs easier, our teaching more effective, our material look professional, and us happier, but too often we feel that technology increases the distance between people rather than bringing us together. We often wonder whether computers improve or inhibit the development of young children, our communication with parents, and the education of adult learners. This workshop will summarize recent research on the impact of modern technology on students™ cognition and learning and the context which should inform our teaching practices. Whether you find technology mystifying or cannot wait for the latest gadget, this workshop will help you understand and interpret how these devices work to shape human interaction and discuss strategies for maximizing the benefits (and minimizing the risks) of using computers in ECE settings.

The purpose of English at the Beginning is to demystify preschool English language development (ELD) and to support early childhood instructors, directors, educators, and the families they serve. Addressing research and pedagogy, this workshop clearly showcases the stages and strategies in preschool ELD for dual language learners.

Participants will embrace and demonstrate the key understanding that preschool ELD for dual language learners is essential for immediate and long-term successes -- socially, emotionally, cognitively and linguistically. Participants will readily identify the four stages of preschool ELD, drawing clear distinctions between each stage. The participants will assess the four stages of preschool ELD, using video demonstration as a tool for their assessment. Finally, participants will articulate four researched-based strategies, which support dual language learners. Participants will reflect on these strategies, choosing which to utilize in their respective programs – as these strategies complement any program, helping to assure access to curriculum.