Events for September 30, 2024 - September 30, 2024

Critical thinking helps children analyze and evaluate information to guide their beliefs, decisions, and actions. Join us for a town hall discussion on how we can support parents in helping their children develop this important life skill through simple daily routines.

Learn pedagogy, practical tips and techniques for integrating media resources into everyday learning activities for young learners at school and at home to introduce, reinforce and enrich learning for every young child. edWebinar attendees will get a special preview of some of the literacy, science, math, and social studies videos and accompanying resources that teachers and parents can use to ignite curiosity, build foundational skills, and introduce children to the wonder and joy of learning.

Due to structural and systemic issues, students and families may have a difficult time meeting their basic needs. This can impact their overall wellbeing and their academic progress. This training will teach educators how to help families access services including food, housing, health and mental health resources. We will also cover child care and after-school programming to discuss how these supports will strengthen students and their families. In addition, educators will learn how to recognize when resource referrals might be needed to support a family's wellbeing. Finally, it is important to note that appropriate resource referrals have been shown to reduce the likelihood of future child welfare and juvenile justice involvement. By supporting families that are working to overcome systemic injustices, we can prevent future system involvement.

Programs that actively seek out and embrace learning from families are able to create learning contexts that are responsive and meaningful to children. The cultural wealth of families includes their language, their values, and their lived experiences. In this session, participants will learn how children’s understanding of their selves, family, community, and place can be used in the early education classroom. Additionally, how the formative assessment process can be used to support developing meaningful partnerships with parents in which everyone is working together to ensure that children gain optimal benefits from their early learning experiences.

This three-day virtual institute will provide a unique opportunity for both new and experienced health leaders to deepen their skills and understanding. Discover how Head Start and Early Head Start programs can enhance the health and well-being of the children and families they serve. Explore strategies to prepare to resume healthy, safe, and nurturing in-person program services. Virtual sessions will include plenaries, workshops, networking and engagement activities, and learning opportunities in English and Spanish.

What does nonbinary really mean? What is gender nonconforming? And isn't they a plural pronoun? In this charming and disarming guide, Stuart Getty, a real-life they-using genderqueer writer, unpacks all your burning questions in a fun, visual way. No soapboxes or divisive comment-section wars here! Sometimes funny, sometimes serious, always human, this gender-friendly primer will get you up to speed. It's about more than just bathrooms and pronouns--this is about gender expression and the freedom to choose how to identify.

Working together we can create a bridge to school an intentional approach that utilizes the summer to create connection, a feeling of belonging and excitement about learning.

In the final installment of our “Making Distance Learning Work” webinar series, we will celebrate all that we have learned together this school year. We have engaged in reflective practice in the midst of the unknown and guided our youngest learners in growth and discovery through one of the most challenging school years in recent memory. Together, we will celebrate the challenges, innovations, and resilience of the early childhood field in this educator-featured “Celebration of Learning.”

This edWebinar will help early childhood educators identify the principles fundamental to a nature-based approach and the benefits of such an approach. Then, using a continuum of nature-based early childhood education as the overarching framework, Rachel A. Larimore will address the unique challenges of integrating nature into the preschool classroom.