September 10, 2020 Pennsylvania’s Child Care Crisis: A Virtual Public Forum Child care providers, teachers, parents, and advocates in Pennsylvania are invited to join Start Strong PA on September 16 for “Pennsylvania’s Child Care Crisis: A Virtual Public Forum.” The Forum will include an important discussion with the congregational delegation regarding Pennsylvania’s child care crisis. About During the Forum, featured speakers will present the following: PennState’s Dr. Philip Sirinides will review major takeaways and recommendations from a new study documenting the financial impact of COVID-19 on the child care sector. Pennsylvania Chamber of Business Industry President and CEO Gene Barr will discuss child care’s vital role in Pennsylvania’s economic recovery. Providers, advocates, and others will detail the changing face of child care and challenges caused by COVID-19, the essential role that child care will have for working families in a recovering economy, and the need for additional financial stabilization assistance to prevent the collapse of the sector. A question and answer session with panelists and members of Congress will follow these presentations. Registration To register for the Forum, visit the event webpage. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
September 9, 2020 Feelings Behind the Mask: Building Emotion Vocabulary Are you interested in learning strategies to expand children’s feeling and emotion vocabulary? Join Trying Together on September 30 for our online session, “Connections and Conversations: Feelings Behind the Mask: Building Emotion Vocabulary.” About Connections and Conversations Virtual Check-Ins are biweekly interactive sessions that highlight topics of interest to the field of early childhood education. Participants engage in virtual discussions with child development experts while interacting with early learning practitioners to share questions, experiences, and expertise about the highlighted topic. Sessions offer one hour of PQAS credit. Act 48 credit will not be provided. In this session, participants will learn about strategies to expand children’s feeling vocabulary in order to support their abilities to correctly perceive and respond to feelings in themselves and others. Identifying and expressing emotions are key skills in a child’s development. Children need a large and complex feeling vocabulary to make finer discriminations between feelings, to better communicate with others about their internal affective states, and to engage in discussions about their personal experiences with the world. Session Details Session Date: Wednesday, September 30 | 6 – 7 p.m Instructor: Nancy Loughead CKC: Curriculum and Learning Experiences CDA Subject Area: Social & Emotional Development Registration Deadline: Monday, September 28 Registration To register, visit the course PD Registry page. Space is limited. Participants will receive the course Zoom link via email within 24 hours before the start date for the course. For questions, contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org. Session Rules and Guidelines These virtual discussions are designed to provide educators the opportunity to grow professionally and share knowledge on early childhood topics. During the meeting, participants should follow the guidelines below to ensure a successful virtual meeting for all participants. Please allow all participants a chance to speak. Listen respectfully and actively. Commit to learning about each other, not to debating the topic. Embrace differences of opinion as healthy and support each person’s authentic self-expression. Participants will be muted for the beginning portion of the session. Participants may use the “Raise Hand” feature in Zoom to request an opportunity to comment or ask a question. Individuals will be temporarily unmuted by the moderator. Participants may type a comment or question in the Chat or may send comments or questions directly to the moderator for them to share. To receive PQAS credit, you must complete an evaluation at the end of the session and include your PD Registry number. Have fun, make connections, and engage in the conversations! More Information For questions or more information, please contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.
Connections and Conversations: Infant Sensory Experiences Are you interested in learning about the importance of sensory development in infants and toddlers? Join Trying Together on September 16 for our online session, “Connections and Conversations: Infant Sensory Experiences.” About Connections and Conversations Virtual Check-Ins are biweekly interactive sessions that highlight topics of interest to the field of early childhood education. Participants engage in virtual discussions with child development experts while interacting with early learning practitioners to share questions, experiences, and expertise about the highlighted topic. Sessions offer one hour of PQAS credit. Act 48 credit will not be provided. This session will define and explore the processes of sensory integration and the importance of sensory development in infants and toddlers. Participants will receive an overview of infant sensory development and ways to contribute to children’s learning within classroom settings as well as adaptations that can be made for students with behaviors due to the way they process sensory experiences differently. Participants will be lead in creating various developmentally friendly sensory toys with objects found in their own homes. Session Details Session Date: Wednesday, September 16 | 6 – 7 p.m Instructors: Jennifer McKain and Alicia Sebastian CKC: Child Growth and Development CDA Subject Area: Principles of Child Growth & Development Registration Deadline: Tuesday, September 15 Registration To register, visit the course PD Registry page. Space is limited. Participants will receive the course Zoom link via email within 24 hours before the start date for the course. For questions, contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org. Session Rules and Guidelines These virtual discussions are designed to provide educators the opportunity to grow professionally and share knowledge on early childhood topics. During the meeting, participants should follow the guidelines below to ensure a successful virtual meeting for all participants. Please allow all participants a chance to speak. Listen respectfully and actively. Commit to learning about each other, not to debating the topic. Embrace differences of opinion as healthy and support each person’s authentic self-expression. Participants will be muted for the beginning portion of the session. Participants may use the “Raise Hand” feature in Zoom to request an opportunity to comment or ask a question. Individuals will be temporarily unmuted by the moderator. Participants may type a comment or question in the Chat or may send comments or questions directly to the moderator for them to share. To receive PQAS credit, you must complete an evaluation at the end of the session and include your PD Registry number. Have fun, make connections, and engage in the conversations! More Information For questions or more information, please contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.
September 8, 2020 Supporting Fathers as Central to Family Life Are you interested in learning about what changes are needed to make room for fathers in the “first shift” of family life? Join Brazelton Touchpoints Center on November 17 for their webinar, “From ‘Second Shift’ to ‘First Shift’: Supporting Fathers as Central to Family Life.” About This webinar will focus on institutional, practitioner, and family changes that must occur to make room for fathers in the “first shift” of family life. It will showcase a user-friendly tool from the Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) program that can help organizations assess their “father friendliness.” Agency and program changes that increase fathers’ inclusion in family life will be shared. Presenters will highlight fathers’ contributions to family life in over-burdened, under-resourced communities, which often go unrecognized. Registration To register and learn more, visit the Brazelton Touchpoints Center website.
Parent and Child Voices: Fathering and Co-Parenting Are you interested in learning about the Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) program? Join Brazelton Touchpoints Center on October 20 for their webinar, “Parent and Child Voices: The Importance of Fathering and Co-Parenting.” About This webinar will feature the voices of children, fathers, and mothers on the importance of fathering and co-parenting. Presenters will explore how the SFI program helps parents learn to hear what their partners and children need, and figure out—together—the routines, parenting strategies, and future plans they want to keep or change to best sustain their family. The webinar will include short videos of children talking about what their father’s presence or absence means to them, and of parents discussing how SFI changed their families. Registration To register and learn more, visit the Brazelton Touchpoints Center website.
Father Involvement and Co-Parenting: Why It Matters Are you interested in learning about the impact of fathering and co-parenting on child and family development? Join Brazelton Touchpoints Center on September 29 for their webinar, “Focus on Father Involvement and Co-parenting: Why It Matters.” About This webinar will explore the positive impact of fathering and co-parenting on child and family development and how the Supporting Father Involvement (SFI) model supports fathers as equal partners in parenting. Presenters will introduce SFI’s Five Domain Model and its engagement tool for tapping father involvement and increasing shared parenting responsibilities. Directors from two community agencies serving diverse families will discuss the impact of implementing the SFI program in their communities. Registration To register and learn more, visit the Brazelton Touchpoints Center website. Photo Credit Photography by Emily O’Donnell.
STEMIEFest 2020: Virtual Conference STEMIE is partnering with the Boston Children’s Museum and Bridge Multimedia for the inaugural STEMIEFest and MakerFest. Join them from September 14 – 18, 2020 for a series of STEM-focused virtual events! About STEMIEFest will: convene experts to engage early childhood practitioners in learning about and applying evidence-based practices in STEM and inclusion; excite families, practitioners, and young children in exploring, making, and tinkering through MakerFest; connect participants with authors of STEM-focused books through Storybook Conversations; and showcase STEM activities, STEM games from museums, and organizations from around the nation through Media Cubbies. Registration To register and learn more, visit the conference Eventbrite page.
September 2, 2020 COVID-19’s Impact on Early Childhood and ACEs Are you interested in hearing guidance from experts on early childhood development, adverse childhood experiences, and the impact of COVID-19 on children? Join the NIHCM Foundation on September 10 for their webinar, “Protecting Our Children: COVID-19’s Impact on Early Childhood and ACEs.” About Although most children are not at high risk for contracting COVID-19, the pandemic has disrupted their lives and exacerbated challenges to children’s health and well-being. This webinar will convene experts to provide information and guidance on early childhood development, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and the impact of COVID-19 on children. Speakers will discuss the following topics: the importance of early childhood experiences in lifelong health and how adversity affects both the developing brain and other physiological systems; what ACEs initiatives are doing to respond to COVID-19 and the opportunities and challenges the pandemic has produced for professionals in the field; and lessons from a health plan’s investment in programming that addresses ACEs, including education on ACEs for teachers, policymakers, and health care professionals. Registration To learn more and register, visit the event webpage.
September 1, 2020 Stress Management Tools and Techniques Are you interested in learning evidence-based tools parents, teachers, and children can use to self-soothe and regulate their emotions? Join Coach Troy Byer on September 22 for “Stress Management Tools and Techniques.” About In this webinar, Mind Care & Emotion Regulation Expert Troy Byer will highlight tools and tips parents, teachers, and children can use to self-soothe and regulate their emotions – especially when confronted with stressors, threats, or challenges. Coach Troy will help participants learn exercises focused on self-soothing and emotion regulation techniques that address confusion, anger, anxiety, depression, and help children regulate their behavior. Participants will complete this webinar with a toolbox of organic, quick, effective, and fun techniques. Featured Topics This webinar will feature the following topics: how to use Emotion Regulation Finger Holds, how they work, and why they work so well; how to distinguish emotional triggers and how to deactivate a trigger before it is expressed negatively; and the importance of maintaining a state of peace and right brain/left brain coherence and how to organically regulate the experience. Registration To register, visit the event webpage.
Virtual Community of Practice Meetings Are you interested in discussing topics of interest and current trends with fellow professionals in the early childhood field? Join ELRC Region 5 for their virtual Community of Practice sessions! About Community of Practice sessions provide early learning professionals with opportunities to discuss topics of interest, current trends in the early childhood field, and offer insight and inspiration to their fellow professionals. In November, these virtual sessions will discuss how to create Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) plans using approved program observation instruments, creating goals from the results of those instruments, identifying the steps it will take to reach the goals, and who is responsible for ensuring the goal is implemented. Participants will learn about the importance of including staffs’ professional development plans and how to use the CQI throughout the whole year. Available Sessions Saturday, November 14: Continuous Quality Improvement Plan 10 a.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session Thursday, November 19: Continuous Quality Improvement Plan 10 a.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session 1 p.m. | Zoom Meetings | Attend the Session More Information For questions, contact ELRC Region 5 at elrc5@alleghenycounty.us or 412.350.3577. Share this flyer with your network.
