March 17, 2020 Social-Emotional Learning and Equity: Follow the Data Join Education Week on March 25 for their webinar, “Social Emotional Learning and Equity: Follow the Data.” About Providing equitable opportunities for young people’s social, emotional, and academic growth is paramount. Equity in education goes deeper than providing equal education to all students. Equity in education is providing each student with the education they need to live and thrive. Hear the most recent findings of ACT’s Center for Equity in Learning and how SEL can be leveraged to promote equity. Get a first-hand look at some of the most recent data compiled, using measures of SEL achievement across diverse populations, and an understanding of which approaches yield the most substantive results. And briefly preview ACT’s SEL Solutions—evidence-based K-12 student curriculum, a suite of ELL options, educator professional development, and assessment—that align with CASEL’s 5 core competencies. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage. *Information provided by Education Week
March 16, 2020 Strategies for eLearning Days in the Wake of COVID-19 With many schools and learning centers closing for a period of time due to coronavirus (COVID-19), educators are utilizing technology to offer learning opportunities to students at home. Join the State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA) on March 17 for their webinar to learn more about implementing “eLearning Days.” About In this webinar, presenters will provide essential resources for state, district, and school administrators and teachers as they prepare for eLearning Days in the wake of school closings related to the COVID-19 virus. Launched by SETDA with the support of AT&T, the SETDA Coalition for eLearning will compile and provide resources on eLearning for state education agencies and school districts at no cost. The Coalition will also support leaders and spark innovation around eLearning related to the COVID-19 virus, as well as inevitable inclement weather and other disruptive events. A school-based experience in eLearning Days will provide first-hand experience of planning and implementing eLearning Days. This webinar is suitable for kindergarten through high school teachers, librarians, and school and district leaders. Time for questions will be provided. Register To register and learn more, visit the event webpage.
March 5, 2020 New Early Childhood Mental Health Survey Available The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) invites early childhood education professionals, family members, higher education staff, and mental, physical, and oral healthcare professionals to take a brief survey regarding their experiences and communications around early social-emotional development. Survey results will be used to assist the Infant Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMH) Project in developing tools for families and professionals to use in understanding and obtaining supports around early childhood social-emotional health. Take the Survey Click here to complete the survey. All surveys must be submitted by April 7, 2020. More Information on Early Childhood Mental Health For more information about the IECMH Project, visit the Pennsylvania Key website. For more early childhood related news, please visit Trying Together’s News Section here. *Information provided by The Pennsylvania Key
March 3, 2020 Managing Infectious Diseases in Early Education and Child Care Settings Join the national American Academy of Pediatrics on March 11 for a one-hour webinar to learn more about two new tools that help professionals meet national early education and child care training requirements for managing infectious diseases. Included Topics Participants will learn about the following: the important role managing infectious diseases training plays in early childhood settings; a free, new online managing infectious diseases module for any early learning provider; a free, fully downloadable managing infectious diseases training curriculum that can be tailored for your audience’s needs; and training tips that can help you share information about managing infectious diseases with your early care and education community. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage. More Information For more information, contact Eleni Victoria at evictoria@aap.org.
Unifying Framework for the Early Childhood Profession Join the Power to the Profession Task Force, either in person or online, on March 9 to learn about the Unifying Framework as professionals come together to build a movement to advance a unified, diverse, equitable, and effective early childhood education profession. About Power to the Profession is a national collaboration to define the early childhood profession by establishing a unifying framework for career pathways, knowledge, competencies, qualifications, standards, and compensation. Informed by community input and feedback, the Power to the Profession Task Force has reached a consensus on a shared framework to advance the early childhood education profession. Join the Task Force in person or online on March 9 to celebrate the profession’s shared commitment and the release of the “Unifying Framework for Early Childhood Educators” and the “Professional Standards and Competencies for Early Childhood Educators.” If joining by live stream, consider organizing a watch party with your fellow early childhood educators and allies! Visit this page for watch party tips. RSVP To RSVP, visit the event registration page. More Information For questions or more information, email p2p@naeyc.org. *Information provided by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
February 17, 2020 Message from Me Expands Its Services Nationwide Made possible by PNC Grow Up Great, Message from Me is expanding its reach nationwide to serve parents, caregivers, and early care and education professionals in more than 50 PNC networks. About Although children are developing critical language and literacy skills in their early learning environments, they sometimes struggle to communicate what they learned to the adults and caregivers around them. That’s why Trying Together and Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab collaborated to develop Message from Me, a digital tool designed in alignment with the NAEYC and Fred Rogers Center Joint Position Statement on Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children Birth through Age 8. Program Director Katie Gullone defines Message from Me as a child-led digital tool designed to strengthen relationships and provide children opportunities to share their thoughts and feelings with the adults most important to them. Implemented in early learning programs and classrooms, the digital tool provides caregivers with a series of pictures and audio messages of their child’s daily learning experiences. Delivered through email or text, these messages build connections between home and early learning environments by providing children with a platform to share their voice, feelings, and perspective on the world around them. Why It Matters Caring, responsive adult-child relationships play a critical role in the healthy development of young children, and these types of relationships are exactly what Message from Me helps to foster. “When children are exposed to high-quality early learning environments, they gain access to credentialed professionals who support their development through child-led, developmentally-appropriate activities and learning experiences. Message from Me was developed to ease the transition between school and home. By receiving photos and audio messages of their child’s early learning experiences, parents and caregivers gain a frame of reference they can build from when interacting with their early learner.” – Cara Ciminillo, Executive Director, Trying Together Thanks to PNC Grow Up Great for their continued sponsorship of Message from Me. With their generous support, countless children, families, and early care and education professionals throughout the country will now gain an opportunity to further nurture their adult-child relationships through the latest expansion of Message from Me. Impact To date, Message from Me has been implemented in early learning centers and school districts in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Utah, Michigan, and Atlanta Public Schools. Through its nationwide expansion, Message from Me looks forward to engaging more children and families as early childhood professionals begin implementing Message from Me in their classrooms. More Information Educators interested in using Message from Me receive hands-on professional development that supports teaching practices when using digital technologies with children. Trying Together exclusively provides the professional development for Message from Me. For more information, visit the Message from Me website and sign up to receive their newsletter.
February 11, 2020 Promoting Infant and Toddler Social and Emotional Development Are you interested in learning how to better support children’s social and emotional development? Join Trying Together for our online course, “Promoting Infant and Toddler Social and Emotional Development.” About This online session will explore the questions: “What is social and emotional learning within infants and toddlers, and why is it important?” Participants will be provided with positive social-emotional opportunities for infants and toddlers and develop skills necessary to build a solid foundation for very young children. Course instructors will discuss how to support very young children to form secure relationships with others to ultimately be able to focus and learn in their day to day experiences. Also, skills and techniques will be provided to engage with infants and toddlers to teach them to feel good about themselves while developing confidence and self-control. Three hours of PQAS and/or Act 48 credits will be offered. Core Knowledge Competencies (CKCs): K1.9 C2 and K2.2 C2 Keystone STARS Alignment: SQ. 3.4.4 Timeline This online course will be available from March 9 through March 30, 2020. Please note that this event listing is not a day-of, in-person event. Once registered, course instructors will provide further information on accessing the course. Registration To register for this course, complete the form below. More Information For questions or more information, contact Jasmine Davis, Professional Learning Program Manager, at 412.567.3933 or jasmine@tryingtogether.org. Share this flyer with your network.
January 23, 2020 2020 VOICE for Children Awards Celebration To protect the health and safety of their honorees and guests, the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children (PennAEYC) has decided to host their 2020 VOICE for Children Award Celebration on Friday, November 6 as a virtual event. About PennAEYC recognizes the critical role advocacy plays in high-quality early learning settings and celebrates those who speak on behalf of Pennsylvania’s children. As the voice for early care and learning, community advocates play an important role in assuring all Pennsylvania’s children get the start that they deserve in school and in life. The VOICE for Children Award is the only statewide award in Pennsylvania recognizing the grassroots leaders whose work impacts the quality of care for young children. Now in its 10th year, the VOICE Award celebrates not only individual award recipients, but the early childhood profession. Join PennAEYC in celebrating grassroots advocates and individuals who demonstrate extraordinary commitment and innovation to support high-quality early childhood across Pennsylvania. Registration To register, visit the event webpage. For questions or more information, call 888.272.9267.
January 9, 2020 Rising STARS Tuition Assistance Maximum Benefit Increased For Fiscal Year 2019-20, the maximum benefit for the Rising STARS Tuition Assistance (RSTA) program has increased to $8,000 per individual. About Administered by The Pennsylvania Key, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL)’s RSTA program helps cover a portion of tuition costs for Pennsylvania’s early childhood educators. Tuition costs net of other funding sources such as scholarships, stipends, discounts, or grants (except the Pell Grant) are used to determine the amount of assistance, with the Fiscal Year 2019-20 maximum benefit listed as $8,000. It is recommended completed applications be submitted at least four weeks prior to the start of the course, or prior to the tuition due date, whichever is first. More Information on Rising STARS Tuition Assistance For eligibility requirements, the application process, and more, visit the Pennsylvania Key website. *Information provided by PA Early Ed News For more information for professionals, visit Trying Together’s professional development page.
January 8, 2020 Career Pathway Overview for Directors Child Care Directors and Administrators are invited to join The Pennsylvania Key on January 23 for their webinar exploring Pennsylvania’s Early Childhood Education (ECE) Career Pathway. About This webinar seeks to provide a full overview of the Career Pathway. Presenters will detail different levels of the career pathway, professional development alignment within the career pathway, resources to share with teachers planning to move up in the career pathway, and examples of programs focused on career pathways advancement. More information on Pennsylvania’s Quality Initiatives for the Early Childhood Education workforce will also be provided. Registration To register, visit the event webpage. More Information For questions, all 1-800-284-6031 or email registry@pakeys.org. To learn more about Pennsylvania’s ECE Career Pathway, visit the Pennsylvania Key website.
