Conference Schedule

Over the last two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of lawsuits filed by employees against employers. Whether filed by current or former employees, whether warranted or frivolous, these lawsuits can end up costing employers a great deal of time and money.  This workshop will address the 13 most common management mistakes that can start in your agency, end up in the courtroom, and ultimately lessen your chances of prevailing in court.

Participants will:
1. Come to understand the rise in employee lawsuits and recognize how these lawsuits can cost the agency a great deal of time and money. 2. Learn negative ramifications that can result from improper documentation, unfamiliarity with policies and failure to address employee complaints and learn proper procedures for each. 3. Learn negative ramifications that can result from improper documentation, unfamiliarity with policies and failure to address employee complaints and learn proper procedures for each. 4. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls that can lead to a discrimination lawsuit and failure to stay abreast of employment law. 5. Be able to identify, and ultimately avoid, the 13 management mistakes that can lead to employee lawsuits which cost the agency unnecessary time and money.

Pre-school and early childhood educators will experience a class geared for their students using the bookI Am Yoga to facilitate yoga and mindfulness practices for the youngest of students. The session will be run as a class for the students with some introduction and conclusion specifically for the educators.

Participants will: 1. Understand the usefulness of yoga and mindfulness with young children. 2. Gain an understanding of using books to inspire movement and stillness. 3. Learn how to use the book "I Am Yoga" to engage children in yoga and mindfulness.

We all know the importance of reading to children. Books can be used as a wonderful tool to encourage inclusivity in one's community. Learn how to use your bookshelf to create an antiracist, inclusive classroom filled with children who are excited to learn about those who are different from them, and teachers who feel confident in leading them to do so.

Participants will: 1. Understand systemic racism and what it means to be antiracist. 2. Look critically at children's literature to discover implicit bias present in books. 3. Leave with a list of books to start their collection of diverse literature with. 4. Learn how to discuss literature with children through the lens of social justice.

Hissing cockroaches are an easy and fascinating classroom pet! These harmless insects will help you teach science, math, vocabulary, and stewardship while promoting fine motor skills, social and emotional development, and creative and critical thinking. Easy for children to handle (no wings; slow moving) and care for, you will be amazed by the variety of concepts and skills they will help you teach: cold-blooded insects, insect parts, molting, defense mechanisms, camouflage, animal behavior and growth, geography, charting, observation skills, measuring, poetry, movement and more! Classroom pets are proven to enhance learning quality, so come meet your fun, easy, new best friends: Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.

Participants will: 1. Observe and learn about Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches. 2. Explore concepts and skills you can teach using hissing roaches. 3. Discuss science, math, literacy, social-emotional, and creative/critical thinking skills related to hissing roaches. 4. Explore stewardship ideas for the care of roaches in your program. 5. Practice modeling curiosity, respect for animals, a love of learning and the use of open-ended questions.

This training helps childcare administrators and providers improve their ability to develop a marketing plan and use marketing tools to communicate with families about the benefits of their program. This training reinforces the belief that sound business practices improve the sustainability of childcare businesses. Strong and sustainable childcare businesses can support program initiatives aimed at improving outcomes for children. The training will reference the Business Administrative Scale (BAS) for Family Child Care manual.

Participants will: 1. Strengthen their understanding of marketing tools, audiences, and elements necessary to develop a marketing plan. 2. Be encouraged to tailor marketing practices to the audience they are trying to reach. 3. Learn to develop effective communication strategies to promote their services.

At some time or another, most administrators are faced with the unpleasant task of terminating an employee. This workshop will focus on the proper process to follow throughout the termination process. We will discuss the documentation needed, the termination letter and meeting, performance appraisals, disciplinary actions and other aspects of termination.  Additionally, we will discuss the potential law suits which can result from termination, how to avoid them and how to prevail if you are faced with a termination related legal action.

Participants will:
1. Understand the importance of policies and documentation throughout the employer-employee relationship which will support a termination if warranted. 2. Be able to prepare a legally sound termination letter and follow best practices during the termination meeting. 3. Recognize the importance of an honest employee performance appraisal to support a decision to terminate and the legal ramifications that can result from an appraisal that does not truthfully reflect the employee’s performance. 4. Learn how to avoid, or if need be, defend, a discrimination lawsuit related to termination. 5. Learn best practices in defending an unemployment claim filed by the terminated employee.

This interactive session will highlight the importance of educator self-care and what that looks like. Often this idea of “self-care” feels impossible and overwhelming especially in the current teaching climate. Teachers will learn realistic simple techniques to prioritize their own well-being in the moment and how to model these for students. Educators will experience breathing and grounding practices throughout the session.

Participants will: 1. Learn the basic meaning of mindfulness as a practical form of self-care. 2. Learn the importance of modeling mindfulness in the classroom. 3. Learn simple mindfulness exercises to use as “in the moment” self-care.

In this presentation, we will learn about childhood trauma and how it impacts students during their time in school. We will learn about the ACEs, the neurological changes that occur when a child is exposed to trauma, lifelong implications of someone with childhood trauma, and how we can fight this in our schools. We will learn specific trauma-informed teaching strategies to implement in your classroom or school to build resilience in children.

Participants will: 1. Identify each of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). 2. Explore how ACEs impact executive functioning skills. 3. Recognize how to diffuse behaviors. 4. Learn how to implement resilience factors in their classrooms and schools.

Join Kid's Music Legend Laurie Berkner for this get up and get-moving session! As a children's musician and songwriter, much of what she thinks about is creating and sharing her songs - all while connecting to the kids that listen to her music. In this one-hour performance Laurie will lead you through a typical 30-minute set list of her songs, discuss what it is about each one that helps to achieve that goal, and share what she has found over the last 25 years to be some of the most effective elements to engage kids through music. Get ready to sing and move together!

1. Through her performance songs, Laurie will teach you how to connect with children. 2. The audience will get up with movement and music, learning how to bring these techniques to the classroom. 3. The audience will be given the most effective elements of teaching children through music.

Intentional teaching requires wide-ranging knowledge about how children develop and learn. Intentional teaching doesn’t happen by chance, intentionality is a result of being deliberate. Moreover, it requires early childhood professionals to be inspired, equipped, and supported. Early childhood professionals will be provided with BEST intentional teaching practices to guide them through an organized scope and sequence that supports targeted teaching and outcomes.

Participants will: 1. Understand the meaning of Intentional Teaching. 2. Learn how to utilize the best intentional teaching practices in their learning environments. 3. Reflect on the guiding principles of intentional teaching to establish a balanced approach to teaching and learning.

Come on this journey of ideas, strategies, and best practices for incorporating art provocations for early learners.

Participants will: 1. Explore the inclusion of math, science and language arts in creative art experiences. 2. Discuss and describe a wide range of art styles and techniques that are appropriate for early learners. 3. Evaluate how art serves as a process for wellbeing and happiness in children as they freely express themselves.

Sometimes in life, you just feel … stuck. When you’re stumped by a seemingly unsolvable challenge, sometimes all you need is a little nudge from an outsider with a fresh perspective, someone who points out the answer that was there the whole time. This presentation is that little nudge, and a great fit for organizations experiencing transition or in a season of intense change. You’ll learn how to recognize opportunities in road blocks and how to see dead ends as new beginnings. Because the difference between success and failure is not luck, it’s looking at your world in a whole new way! So come ready to spark some new ideas — and grab onto them.

Participants will: 1. Learn to transition in difficult circumstances in a positive way. 2. Leave with action items to implement in their own programs to grow personal and professional success. 3. Have a deeper understanding of how to find the joy in the most difficult of times.

Technology gives us so many opportunities to scale and enrich our partnerships with families, but with so many new digital tools, how can we know what is most effective and what are the best practices? This session will provide a research-based framework to guide schools in transformative family engagement. The framework shows how to harness the power of technology while maintaining foundational strategies of relationship building and face to face communication and support for families of today.

Participants will: 1. Collaborate with colleagues in an interactive session format, to discover and share “what is working.” 2. Learn practical strategies about developing a cohesive family engagement plan. 3. Leave with a print and digital version of a framework or checklist that they can use when self-evaluating their own program’s efforts.

Leaders, you can create community among your staff members by building connection and a sense of safety. Use Conscious Discipline Powers and Skills to shift your perceptions of common behaviors, strengthen your effectiveness and improve the culture of your program. Transform your communication with staff members so that it is effective and respectful.

Participants will: 1. Recognize healthy and unhealthy ways to perceive behavior of children and colleagues and reflect on their own perception of common behaviors. 2. Delineate steps to achieve an executive state when experiencing a lower state. 3. Describe activities and interactions with staff members which create a sense of safety and build connection. 4. Distinguish among passive, assertive and aggressive voices and explain the effect of using each one.

Learn the developmental benefits of incorporating nature into your classroom and how to bring the outdoors in.

Participants will: 1. Describe how exploring nature with infants and toddlers can enhance learning and development. 2. Identify strategies for infusing nature and science into daily routines, activities, and play. 3. Create and facilitate nature exploration opportunities for infants and toddlers.

Are conflicts among children a huge issue in your classroom? Turn classroom conflicts into shared cooperation by using conflict as an opportunity to teach missing social-emotional skills. You will be empowered to reframe negative perceptions about peer to peer struggles and classroom disruptions. Equip yourself to focus on assertive solutions by teaching the victim to use a self-assured voice and the child who has used aggression to use effective verbal communication strategies instead.

Participants will: 1. Identify strategies that teach children to handle and resolve conflicts, initially with teacher support and facilitation and then independently. 2. Empower both victim (by teaching self-advocacy skills) and aggressor (by teaching effective communication skills) so each is successfully involved in the process of conflict resolution. 3. Explain the benefits of teaching young children how to successfully advocate for his/her rights and needs, as well as effectively communicate wants and needs.

The inclusion of all students in our neighborhood schools from an early age impacts how our community bridges and accepts individuals with disabilities from birth through adulthood. Transforming how we think about students with disabilities (dismantling biases to having high expectations), understanding the history of special education, and recognizing why inclusion is important are the cornerstones to understanding the why and providing all community members with a sense of belonging.

Participants will: 1. Review IDEA, Least Restrictive Environment and Continuum of Placement, a snapshot of the history of special education and disability in Virginia. 2. Define Inclusion, what it is and what it is not. 3. Discuss barriers, common myths, and research. 4. Explore ways to make school communities more accessible and inclusive. 5. Transform the way we think about Students with Disabilities and Inclusion.

In this presentation, participants will be able to experience examples of projects that start with one open ended question and build projects to deepen thinking and engagement in their students. Appropriate for teachers of students age 3 and above.

Participants will: 1. Identify how to create engagement through projects. 2. Learn to design an inquiry based model for instruction. 3. Expand their knowledge of open ended questioning. 4. Identify how to design project based learning will construct a deeper understanding in the classroom. 5. Learn how to incorporate authentic assessment into the projects. 6. Practice creating a project.

Though the careful examination of children's work samples and images from creative, arts-based engineering experiences, this session will support participants as they build new understandings of how to encourage children's knowledge and experiences with engineering design and integrative STEAM learning through supportive pedagogical practices.

Participants will: 1. Analyze children's drawings, constructions, and reflections created during engineering design experiences. 2. Understand the role of arts-based engineering design experiences as an important component of early STEAM learning. 3. Examine the constraints, challenges, and benefits of integrating engineering into classroom learning. 4. Explore the pedagogical practices known to be most supportive of children's engagement in early engineering experiences.

Organize your day by adding transitions to reduce wait time between activities and stress in your classroom. Great transitions capture attention, teach, and help children know what is coming  next. Learn about planning transitions, how they should work, and tips to support children while  transitions take place.  
Participants will: 1.Discover how effective transitions can support classroom management goals. 2.Learn how transitions can increase environmental rating scores. 3.Get transition ideas that take social distancing and other mandates into account to help you  plan transitions during a typical day.   

NAEYC presenter and national early childhood speaker presents engaging hands-on presentation on the fine motor development of young children 3-6 years old. This session contains essential, rarely addressed, information for educators of ALL young children, which supports pencil grasp and pre-writing development across the curriculum. Session is fun and fast-paced. Activities and techniques are ready to use in the classroom tomorrow!

Participants will: 1. Understand and be able to implement techniques to develop shoulder, arm, and hand development of young children. 2. Understand and be able to implement strategies to facilitate tripod pencil grasp and scissor skill development. 3. Be able to articulate substantive rationale to parents and others regarding appropriate fine motor development of young children.

Managing an early learning program or a classroom is demanding. Are you as organized as you want to be? Are you ready for your next task or feel you’re always playing catch-up? This webinar will provide 10 tips to stay organized and save you time.

Participants will:
1. Understand the importance of staying organized in your demanding environment. 2. Learn organizational techniques to be more efficient throughout your busy day. 3. Discover time-management strategies to accomplish tasks faster.
 

Helping young children with introvert personality traits feel valued and understood allows them  to thrive. Learn about the traits and factors that influence a child’s natural personality and reflect on  approaches and strategies to support and engage young introverts.  
Participants will: 1.Learn basic personality traits associated with introverts and extroverts. 2.Consider misunderstandings about introverts and other factors that may influence a child’s  natural personality.  3.Reflect on approaches and strategies to support and respectfully engage young children in  early learning programs who display introvert traits.  

Because of Covid-19, many early childhood/home centers are struggling to keep children safe while participating in a developmentally appropriate physical activity program (DAPAP). It is nearly impossible to keep children socially distanced from one another, equipment clean, & have one piece of equipment for every child (to prevent sharing). Teachers also creating a DAPAP for home use have a hard time generating physical activities that require little/no equipment because not all households have/have access to, activity equipment (or that the equipment is in working order). Therefore, children are being deprived of quality, developmentally appropriate, physical movement experiences, including the development of stability, locomotor & manipulative skills, in school and at home.

The purpose of this session is to provide innovative ideas for constructing & utilizing DAPAP equipment that is created by children/parents/teachers & used at school (in class) &/or at home. Children [parents] creating play equipment makes it possible to participate safely in DAPAP activities anywhere again, despite Covid-19, because the equipment is “personalized.”

In this session, participants will (1) learn about the intricacies of creating homemade play equipment, (2) receive a multi-page “How to” handout so children/parents/teachers can craft low cost, DAPAP equipment. The handout also includes games/activities that accompany the homemade equipment, (3) participate in making play equipment/participate in games/activities created for the equipment, & (4) share their own homemade play equipment ideas.
1. Created/Made Manipulatives for Mindful Movement, as well as participated in the games/activities made for the manipulative (i.e. homemade play equipment).
2. Understood, the intricacies of creating homemade play equipment by giving examples in the online discussion area when prompted.
3. Applied the Making Manipulatives for Mindful Movement information by generating/sharing their homemade play equipment/games/activity ideas in the online discussion area.

A positive learning community empowers children with essential social emotional skills that are built on a foundation of empathy and relationship building. In this session, we will use these principles to help us guide and cultivate children’s developmentally appropriate understandings of diversity and cultural tolerance. We will discuss ways that as educators and caregivers we can best support children’s abilities to form friendships and work cooperatively in an increasingly diverse world.

Participants will: 1. Identify techniques for addressing children’s emerging awareness and curiosity of sameness and difference within their classroom and community settings. 2. Explore strategies for fostering healthy attitudes and developmentally appropriate understandings about diversity and tolerance. 3. Identify ways to foster positive community building and problem-solving skills as young children learn to form friendships and work cooperatively.

Conscious Discipline® helps us to see that an encouraging environment builds a child’s self-esteem. Learn the skill of noticing that will strengthen children’s prefrontal lobes, bring awareness to their actions and facilitate lasting change. Learn how to offer encouragement through noticing vs judging that primes the brain for academic achievement. Participants will recognize how positive intent encourages us to look for the best in people and situations and focuses on viewing oppositional behavior or conflict as opportunities for teaching moment so we transform resistance into cooperation.

Participants will: 1. Describe the difference between noticing / describing vs. judging behaviors. 2. Recite a language script that empowers the brain and taps into executive function. 3. Define what a CD Safekeeper is as well as share its mantra for teacher and students. 4. Select ways to focus on helpful behaviors via classrooms jobs and other acts of service.

A Director wears many hats, but the key to managing the various roles is being a leader in many ways. Organization sets you up for success, time management helps you execute successfully and keeping your team motivated is vital to your success. Come learn tricks and proven strategies to keep your confidence and avoid burnout. The ECE field needs you more than ever, lets get motivated together.

Participants will: 1. Learn organizational strategies to set up paperwork and more. 2. Take home time management tools they can use to make the most of their day. 3. Leave with a list of staff motivating tools. 4. Leave feeling motivated to never give up their important role in our field.

Preschool children learn best through play. During this session, participants will discover how to create an engaging and nurturing preschool environment that intentionally integrates developmental domains. Strategies for optimizing learning through teacher facilitated play and discovery will be shared and participants will take away numerous ideas to implement in their own classrooms.

Participants will: 1. Understand that child development is optimized through “play.” 2. Reflect on the value of offering extended time to engage in “play” activities. 3. Recognize how adults nurture and challenge learners through facilitated “play.” 4. Identify strategies teachers can use to intentionally integrate developmental domains in the preschool learning environment.

There are times when we just don’t feel up to it. Life has a way of frustrating us with issues, circumstances, heartbreaks, and stress. Although these situations occur, we are required to leave everything at the door when we step foot into our workplace. This session addresses gossip, conversations, attitudes, appearance and a whole lot more to assist you with presenting yourself as a professional.

Participants will learn: 1. How punctuality affects the workplace. 2. What gossip does to the workplace. 3. Know that family perceptions matter.

Movement for children is a critical area of development. Working with children with diverse abilities can be challenging. This session will give some specific ideas for a variety of needs and things to consider when including all children.

Participants will: 1. Understand the benefits of including children with special needs in a physical activity. 2. Enhance their early childhood program by adding strategies to include children with special needs in movement activities. 3. Learn strategies to empower educators in the connection with movement and their students.

Infant, Toddler focus: Explore earth, life, and physical sciences through drama, music, and puppetry. Discover how the arts can enhance your children’s understanding of weather and seasonal changes, life needs, and the natural world outside your door. Expand science curriculum while discovering new strategies for engaging students in the natural world and increasing their curiosity and knowledge through drama, music, and puppetry.

Participants will: 1. Discover and explore earth, life, and physical science concepts using drama, music, props, and stories. 2. Learn and practice simple puppetry skills that can be used to facilitate and extend science learning. 3. Manipulate and develop a puppet character “ambassador” for outside classroom experiences in nature.

In this session the participants will be introduced to Virginia resources to help with thinking through and planning for social emotional growth.

Participants will: 1. Learn to relate activities for positive social / emotional development to be included in everyday planning. 2. Learn how how to use the resources available for planning. 3. Learn how to implement planning in the classroom, daily and throughout the year.

An interactive training where participants will explore and play with various types of blocks and other building materials in order to discover how to enhance block play in their own infant and toddler learning spaces.

Participants will: 1. Learn the definition of a block Learn how block play supports development. 2. Understand what teachers and providers need to know about block play. 3. Discover the adult's role in block play.

Join Wolf Trap Master Teaching Artist Valerie Branch to explore the elements of dance and movement strategies that will empower educators to use and facilitate movement-led teaching and learning for young children. Learn how dance fosters classroom engagement by setting expectations; encouraging child-led learning and participation; and creating a fun learning environment while connecting to core curriculum.

Participants will: 1. Explore the elements of dance and movement strategies that will empower educators to use and facilitate movement-led teaching and learning for young children. 2. Learn how dance fosters classroom engagement by setting expectations; encouraging child-led learning and participation; and creating a fun learning environment while connecting to core curriculum. 3. Learn the fundamental elements of dance and experience the application of those elements to strategies that support young children’s learning.

During the pandemic, schools are discovering more and more how rich a learning space outdoor areas can become. With the right supports and planning, the outdoors opens up a wide range of new activities and approaches to support child development. This program will explore the use of outdoor spaces for helping children to thrive in this challenging time.

Participants will: 1. Understand the research supporting outdoor learning for preschoolers. 2. Learn concrete ideas for using outdoor spaces effectively to promote healthy child development. 3. Participants will explore the best use of their own spaces to enhance outdoor learning opportunities.

Research supports the inclusion of books from diverse cultures as it offers a window to the world. It also offers an opportunity for children from diverse backgrounds to appreciate themselves and reflect on their own lives. In this session, participants will be introduced to quality children’s books which explore themes of racial, ethnic, economic, and identity diversity. Participants will be encouraged to share their experiences in using children’s literature to explore themes of diversity with their young learners.

Participants will: 1. Explore themes of racial, ethnic, economic, and identify diversity by exploring high-quality children’s books. 2. Gain an understanding of the benefits of the inclusion of books in their classrooms. 3. Acquire new strategies to incorporate diverse books in their daily lesson plans.

Self-regulation starts when children are babies. It occurs through warm and responsive relationships with their caregivers. Explore the world of self-regulation and how you as an educator can support self-regulation in early childhood. 1. Participant will identify the importance of self-regulation. 2. Participant will understand self-regulation and its ability to help children understand and manage their own behavior and reactions. 3. Participant will explore self-regulation develop supportive foundations for infants, toddlers and preschoolers 4. Participant will experience and develop tools to help create a safe learning space for self-regulation.

We’re going on a math hunt. Going to catch some math skills. We’re so smart! What’s out there today? Join the adventure as we learn through imagination and interactive play important math standards and skills including: counting, sorting, graphing, comparing and much more! This presentation will use elements of play, storytelling, and movement to engage young learners. Lessons and activities shared will build early numeracy skills while connecting to other important early childhood guidelines in both math and literacy.

Participants will: 1. Identify the three stages of early math competencies. 2. Demonstrate the use of concrete and pictorial representation with early childhood learners. 3. Recognize number knowledge skills through subsitizing, one-to-one counting, and comparing sets. 4. Explore student-centered numeracy lessons and activities.

Preschool focus, Explore earth, life, and physical sciences through drama, music, and puppetry. Discover how the arts can enhance your children’s understanding of weather and seasonal changes, life needs, and the natural world outside your door. Expand science curriculum while discovering new strategies for engaging students in the natural world and increasing their curiosity and knowledge through drama, music, and puppetry.

Participants will: 1. Discover and explore earth, life, and physical science concepts using drama, music, props, and stories. 2. Learn and practice simple puppetry skills that can be used to facilitate and extend science learning. 3. Manipulate and develop a puppet character "ambassador" for outside classroom experiences in nature.

Most organizations invest a significant amount of time and money searching for employees..  Therefore, it makes sense to be prepared to recruit and select the best possible candidates. This workshop will help you avoid the pitfalls resulting in legal dilemmas and hiring the wrong candidate.  We will discuss relevant legal concepts including “at-will” employment, and discrimination.  Additionally we will look at the documentation recommended at all stages of the employment relationship.

Participants will:
1. Be able to develop interview techniques and questions that follow best practices and employment law. 2.  Discover ways to advertise positions to recruit qualified candidates for employment and to comply with EEOC non-discrimination requirements. 3. Understand the concept of “at-will” employment and what, even in an “at-will” employment state, would be considered an illegal termination.

 
The session will close with an update from VAAEYC's Equity and Anti-Racism Circle.
 

Young children thrive in a positive environment that supports their needs. This session will highlight the  rationale behind, strategies for, and examples of developmentally appropriate environments that are  optimal for children’s growth in all developmental domains. 
Participants will: 1.Attain strategies and tips for arranging environments that support the development of  young children in all four learning domains. 2.Acquire tools and resources to help organize an environment that influences children’s  overall development and helps them achieve intended learning outcomes. 3.Learn how to apply the information gained to make a positive impact on young children. 

Success can be defined in its simplest form as making life better for someone else. Whether it comes in creating a better product, helping to relieve someone’s stress or pain, bringing someone laughter or joy or helping someone get more out of their life, success is always about serving. This being the case, the key to success in any business lies not only in the development of great products and services, but more importantly in the development of great people. In this insightful presentation, Dave Davlin shares three essential ingredients for developing a purpose-driven mentality to achieve a fulfilling career and balanced life. This presentation is an hour of interaction, humor and audience participation mixed with a powerful message. It is a roller coaster ride of emotion that will find the audience engaged in hilarious laughter one moment and brought to tears the next. The audience will be challenged to make the most of every moment in order to develop themselves personally and professionally while creating value and making a difference in the lives of others.

1. Participants will learn the top three essential ingredients for developing a purpose-driven mentality to achieve a fulfilling career and balanced life 2. The audience will be challenged to make the most of every moment in order to develop themselves personally and professionally 3. The participants will be taught how to create value and make a difference in the lives of others.

The COVID-19 crisis is challenging everything we know (or thought we knew) about early care and education programs' business finances. Childcare Centers and Preschool Directors must adapt to an ever-changing business environment, reconsidering ratios, pricing, and programming to survive. This workshop will help busy Directors learn what financial business practices are essential for managing their programs' financial health.

Participants will learn:
1. Financial planning essentials that will enable Directors to adapt to an ever-changing business model. 2. Understand business metrics necessary to manage the financial health of your program quickly. 3. Technology must have's for streamlined and automated financial best practices.

This training will give you ideas for outdoor learning activities that will encourage high quality interactions and outdoor environments that will also enhance the development of young children.

Participants will: 1. Gain more knowledge on teacher/child interactions outdoors. 2. Learn ways to enhance their outdoor learning space. 3. Gain more knowledge on developmental milestone domains that are covered during outdoor play. 4. Learn more ideas on a variety of activities to enhance outdoor learning.

The purpose of this training is to help explore a crucial set of skills and behaviors, mastering the strategies learned to effectively communicate, connect with, and support others through healthy and productive interactions. The discussion focuses on personal and interpersonal elements of Emotional Intelligence as determinants of leadership success.

Participants will: 1. Define emotional intelligence and identify why it is an important leadership skill. 2. Review a model of emotional intelligence and discuss behaviors necessary to be an effective leader. 3. Identify strategies to increase resilience and deal with adversity. 4. Build better relationships by improving trust, collaboration, and conflict handling.

The workshop will focus on implementing and honoring race, cultural and diversity in early childhood classrooms.

Participants will learn: 1. Ways to diversify the early childhood classroom environment. 2. Ways to honor ALL families. 3. Intentional teaching strategies in a diverse classroom.

Executive Function is the cognitive process that regulates an individuals’ ability to organize thoughts and activities, prioritize task, manage time efficiently, and make decisions. Executive Function develops cognitive skills such as self- regulation, deliberate memory, and focused attention while developing academic skills. The presentation will view play as the leading skill-development activity for young children and emphasize the teacher’s role in support the development of mature, intentional dramatic play. In this session teachers will be challenged to treat work more like play.

Participants will: 1. Be introduced to the Vygotskian approach to child development. 2. Discuss strategies that help children improve the quality of their dramatic make-believe play so it fosters self-regulation development. 3. Introduce to specific instructional activities that are design to teach self-regulation components. 4. Identify how play facilitates brain development. 5. Discuss how Executive Functions skills can be implemented into any classroom.

Family child care homes are a vital part of child care. The need for smaller, high-quality in-home child care has never been greater. At the same time, it's become more difficult to operate small programs efficiently. This workshop will provide you with actionable advice and recommendations for modernizing your technology business practices for full enrollment and business sustainability.   

Participants will learn:
1. How to leap into using technology to run your business and grow your revenue. 2. How to collect fees/payments from all sources, pricing assistance, record keeping, and tax prep. 3. How to use technology to meet parents where they are, both to market and once they are enrolled.

This session is designed for programs using The Creative Curriculum®. Participants will examine how to modify the focus questions from The First Six Week Teaching Guide to meet the needs of children, families, and teachers during distance learning. Teachers and administrators will learn to craft their back-to-school strategy using a variety of instructional delivery methods. Participants will consider the increased need for supporting the social–emotional development of children starting school this year. Participants will identify ways to navigate a return to school that will be different for teachers, children, and families, including strategies for implementing a distance-learning approach and partnering with families.

Participants will:
1. Discuss challenges surrounding COVID-19 and distance learning and strategies for overcoming challenges. 2. Explore how to use the materials in The Creative Curriculum® to support families and children in a distance learning setting. 3. Review Teaching Guides and their role in supporting children’s learning and family partnerships.

Early childhood educators must provide learning environments where all children thrive and feel valued.  This session explores practical and inexpensive strategies for transforming your physical classroom space  into a learning environment designed to motivate young children while meeting their needs for safety,  security, and acceptance of their cultural diversity. Participants will discover the benefits of using the  physical arrangement of the classroom to promote a positive classroom climate, especially as we  continue to navigate societal issues like the COVID-19 pandemic and racism.  

Participants will: 1. Learn how to design your classroom so that all children feel safe, secure, and valued. 2. Learn effective practices for transforming the physical classroom space using inexpensive  and practical strategies.  3.Consider the impact of current societal issues like COVID19 and racism on young children and discover ways in which the classroom environment can help children cope with the  stress of these challenges.   

In this workshop, discover the power of transformational change through the Conscious Discipline pyramid for success. Explore the concept of an adult change first model and how this impacts every day life. Discover for yourself the power of change.

Participants will: 1. Identify the difference between traditional discipline systems and the Conscious Discipline model . 2. Explore the powers, skills and structures of Conscious Discipline. 3. Recognize the benefits and challenges of an adult first model.

Early childhood trauma generally refers to the traumatic experiences that occur to children aged 0-6. Because infants' and young children's reactions may be different from older children's, we must provide a developmentally appropriate opportunity for expression, emotion, and understanding. Play serves as this function. Children are allowed to approach their fears and feelings in a way that makes it less frightening and more understandable. Play allows a safe space to explore those big feelings and emotions.

Participants will: 1. Identify to the importance of play in early childhood education; specifically social and emotional development. 2. Identify early signs of stress and trauma in young children. 3. Demonstrate preparing an early learning environment that encourages expressive, play. 4. Identify and explore open-ended questioning and positive redirection/engagement.

Today’s presentation will discuss the importance of transitions in the early childhood classroom, the elements of a good transition and how to use transitions to support the teaching of Virginia’s early learning standards. Participants will also learn about tools and strategies for making transitions more successful during their school day.

Participants will: 1. Become familiar with the elements of a good transition. 2. Understand how transition activities can support Virginia's early learning standards. 3. Learn about strategies to help address challenges that may arise during transition times.

Join your friends and colleagues for VAAEYC's first Virtual Happy Hour and Dance Party!

Bring your kids, pets, adult beverages, whatever! Be ready to have your camera on to show off your dance moves! There will also be some silly games and great conversation.
 

Join your friends and colleagues for VAAEYC's second Virtual Happy Hour and Dance Party!

Bring your kids, pets, adult beverages, whatever! Be ready to have your camera on to show off your dance moves! There will also be some silly games and great conversation.

This interactive session will engage the participants to how to develop an Operating Budget that includes at least one innovation program for young children and families. For example, developing and implementing an outdoor, natural learning environment. The participants will work in small groups to apply the steps to estimate the cost, the revenue needed to operate the program and strategies to generate the revenue for the project.

Participants will: 1. Identify an new, innovative program they want to add to the programs they are providing to young children and their families. 2. Be able to create a draft budget that includes this new program. 3. Be able to create two strategies to generate the revenue necessary for the new program they want to add to their Early Childhood Education program.

Your team is the greatest asset to your early childhood program. In this session, you will learn how to assess your organizational culture and use a strengths based approach to engage your staff in the quality of your program. We will share practical tools to help staff to identify their values, lead with a clearly defined set of standards, and build a healthy and productive workplace culture that positively impacts children, families and employees.

Participants will: 1. Identify five components of a healthy workplace culture. 2. Understand at least 3 ways that workplace culture impacts the children and families that we serve. 3. Utilize a staff profile sheet to identify at least three areas of strength and three areas of growth for their team.

The world underwent drastic changes in 2020, and the world of early childhood education was forced to change as well. This workshop will highlight the many positive ways that the classroom has changed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and what we can do to sustain these healthy changes.

Participants will: 1. Discuss the benefits of living in a state of uncertainty. 2. Identify the positive changes their program has made since the pandemic began. 3. Identify various ways they have improved as teachers since the pandemic began. 4. Identify the ways in which adhering to new safety protocols have made their practice more inclusive. 5.Understand the ways this pandemic lead to increased independence in children.

Toddlers enjoy music, too; but they have special needs. Many times materials are too old for them. That Baby Bounce when listening to music is delightful. Come learn songs Mar. has written just for this age group, many for Kaplan and Dr. Becky Bailey. The workshop will present developmentally appropriate activities and materials for toddlers, as well as educate participants on their value in development.

Participants will: 1. Gain an understanding into how music benefits infant/toddler development. 2. Learn simple to use music and activities specifically for this age group. 3. Through active participation, gain confidence in using these strategies and songs. 4. Learn about brain development and music's role in implementing the findings.

In this hands-on session, engage in games, role-playing and cooperative group activities that build academic skills (in literacy, numeracy, geography and science) while broadening ecological awareness and global citizenship. Help students explore interdependency of living things in nature and ways people can have a positive impact on the environment. Receive lesson plans matched to state standards.

Participants will: 1. Increase their understanding of basic ecological concepts and best practices for introducing these concepts in their K-3 classrooms in an age-appropriate way. 2. Come away with a rationale for why environmental education is a priority at all grade levels, how it is supported by research, and how environmental education is truly interdisciplinary, combining numeracy, literacy, science and social studies. 3. Be able to design interdisciplinary, interactive lesson plans on environmental themes that work for a variety of learning styles in a differentiated classroom.

This workshop will provide participants with an interactive way of understanding and explaining how stress affects children and lends itself to challenging behaviors. We will also talk about the impact of stress on the brain and nervous system. Individuals will leave the workshop with techniques that build and strengthen relationships, foster respect, teach children to solve problems and promote empathy and self-regulation.

Participants will: 1. Identify why recognizing and addressing stress is important. 2. Develop an understanding of how stress converts into challenging behaviors. 3. Describe the parts of the brain and nervous system and how they are impacted by stress. 4. Devise a plan for applying strategies to help children neutralize their stress response systems.

Safety is on the forefront of all of our minds right now but the question still remains, how do we support children’s emotional safety during these uncertain times? During this session we will discuss how to be an emotional safekeeper and build a plan to enhance each child’s sense of safety in your classroom. Together, we will set the foundation for a safe future.

Participants will: 1. Define what is a sense of safety is in the classroom. 2. Understand the current level of emotional safety in our classrooms and how to enhance it. 3. Explore practical ideas for enhancing students emotional safety. 4. Demonstrate the skills to build a plan for implementing a better sense of safety for children in the classroom.

The Virginia Dept. of Social Services is excited to announce the launch of a valuable new community engagement and early care and education resource: Building Child Care Supply: A Toolkit for Community Success Safe, affordable, quality early care and education opportunities are absolutely critical to the success of young children, working families, schools, and local businesses. The Building Child Care Supply Toolkit will help you and your partners assess key data points, identify resources and implement effective strategies to broaden child care capacity, quality and impact in your locality. The Toolkit's modular format enables you to access ideas and information most relevant to your locality-specific questions and challenges, and includes an invitation to get connected with existing supports, experts, coaches and early childhood coalitions in your region. In addition, the Building Child Care Supply webpage features helpful, actionable supplemental materials: Locality Data Matrix: Includes key indicators related to child care supply and quality in your community Child Care Community Profile: A user-friendly tool to help you and your partners identify and prioritize early care and education gaps and needs. Marketing Templates: Presentations, announcements, postcards and promotional items to start or revitalize the conversation in your locality.

Participants will: 1. Explore six user-friendly steps for building child care supply and quality. 2. Learn how to access data, identify resources and generate awareness related to early care and education. 3. Gain valuable, flexible strategies to address your locality-specific needs, gaps and barriers. 4. Get connected with the early childhood network where you live and work.

This session will address Oral Language as one of the four instructional priorities for a strong literacy foundation. The components of the oral language system will be identified and described. Effective language facilitation strategies will be discussed and demonstrated. You will leave knowing how to provide early learning oral language experiences for children through purposeful, daily activities.

Participants will: 1. Identify and describe the oral language systems. 2. Describe and implement strategies to deliberately teach language facilitation techniques. 3. Provide purposeful everyday early learning experiences for children to develop cognitive, oral language, and literacy skills.

Using music and movement to teach Spanish to preschool age children. The presentation will include music and movement songs/activities that can be used through out the day from circle time as well as incorporating them into a music class.

Participants will: 1. Be comfortable teaching basic Spanish terms. 2. Receive songs with instructions for use in their classrooms. 3. Learn how easy adding a language into daily routines can be. 4. Explore what happens in the child's brain when learning a language through music & movement activities.

The Growing Brain, a Zero to Three curriculum, emphasizes the connection between the brain and children’s behavior. Complementing the Growing Brain session on Social-Emotional development, participants explore the connections between areas of the brain and how these connections are expressed through behavior; key factors that influence behavior; and root causes of challenging behavior and effective strategies for helping children with these difficulties. Join us for this active session for a deeper understanding of behavior.  

Grab your coffee and join this group of Early Childhood Educators for informal discussion before the conference day begins. A great way to start networking before the day begins!

Grab your coffee and join this group of Early Childhood Educators for informal discussion before the conference day begins. A great way to start networking before the day begins!

Come get energized about what you do while becoming engaged with stimulating lecture and activities. Mar. will share brain research findings and give you ways to use them that will help you meet State standards while having fun. Make learning enjoyable for you and the children!

Participants will: 1. Gain an understanding of why music is such a helpful tool for learning. 2. Learn the basic brain research findings to support music in education. 3. Participate in activities that put the research into action. 4. Be able to immediately use what is taught when they return to the classroom.