January 18, 2023 A+ Schools Restorative Parenting Workshop: Positive Parenting Strategies to Improve Home and School Join A+ Schools for lunch and an interactive workshop with a restorative practices expert who will share concrete ways to balance support and firmness to help you and your students foster positive home and school relationships. Child care is available during the session. Session Details Saturday, January 28, 2023 | 12 – 3 p.m. Propel Wellness Center 1805 Buena Vista Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 Register Share this flyer with your networks.
January 20, 2022 Exploring Family Stressors and Creating Positive Relationships to Support Families Join Trying Together for the upcoming session, “Talking to Listen: Exploring Family Stressors and Creating Positive Relationships to Support Families”. Children react differently to stress and trauma, which can sometimes exhibit itself as challenging behaviors in the classroom. This workshop helps educators understand the impact that family stressors (such as a death, food insecurity, changes in placement, community violence, etc.) can have on both children and their caregivers. Participants will learn how to notice these family stressors; how to communicate with caregivers to build relationships that provide a supportive environment for young children; and self-regulation strategies to manage strong emotions when having difficult conversations with caregivers. UnConference: Creating a Safe Place with Trauma-Informed Care This session is a part of Trying Together’s upcoming UnConference. Between February 8-18, expert-led workshops will share content related to trauma-informed care. We begin the UnConference with keynote speaker Dr. Veirdre Jackson and dive into how we can create an environment of healing through equity and trust. Following the keynote, workshop sessions include how to identify family stressors, how to provide responsive care-giving for children experiencing trauma, and an overview of the recently launched Rapid Response Team from Trying Together. Individuals can learn more and register on Trying Together’s website.
June 4, 2021 Free Virtual ECE Courses Available These virtual professional development sessions explore a range of early childhood topics. Register to build on your professional knowledge, meet professionals in the field, and advance your career. Virtual Session List Creating an Inclusive Space for Children and Families Wednesday, June 9, 2021 | 6 – 7 p.m. | Free This session will focus on identifying components of an inclusive learning environment, including a discussion on optimal use of space, materials, and room arrangement in an ECE classroom. This course is a part of Trying Together’s Connections and Conversations series. Needs Assessments for PD Planning Wednesday, June 23, 2021 | 6 – 7 p.m. | Free Need help planning your professional development? Join Trying Together on June 23 to engage in conversations that will assess needs for professional development planning. Registration Process To register, use the hyperlinked event titles above. Some registrations will take place on the PD Registry. If you do not have a PD Registry account, complete this form to create one. Ask A Question For questions about our professional development sessions, contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org. For PD Registry questions, contact pdregistry@pakeys.org.
January 28, 2021 Virtual Conference: Finding Joy through Playful Learning Finding Joy through Playful Learning aims to bring together educators, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners who have a variety of experiences related to education, play, and learning. The conference will take place via Zoom over the course of several days covering six topics related to playful learning. The goal is to generate dialogue among different stakeholders and share best practices to support children and families in learning through play. About Join Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network, Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative, and Trying Together in February for a virtual conference bringing together educators, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss and share best practices to support children and families in learning through play. Act 48 and PQAS credits are available. PPID and PD Registry numbers will be collected during the sessions. The following discount code is available for early educators who wish to participate in individual sessions or the entire series: EDU-ALL for $25 price for all six workshops EDU-CHOOSE for $5/per workshop Available Sessions Rethinking Education During and Post COVID-19 Wednesday, February 3, 2021 | 3 – 5 p.m. Join featured speakers Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Dr. Scott Miller, and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy for discussions of how playful learning can change education during and after COVID-19. Featured Speakers: Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (Temple University, Brookings Institution), Scott Miller (Avonworth Primary Center), and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. How Play Can Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing Thursday, February 4, 2021 | 9 – 11 a.m. Hear from Sarah Grubb, Cindy Eggleton, and Sheba Gittens about play’s role in mental health and wellbeing. Featured Speakers: Cindy Eggleton (Brilliant Detroit), Sarah Grubb (ELRC Region 5), and Sheba Gittens (University of Pittsburgh). Addressing Equity Issues Through Playful Learning Thursday, February 4, 2021 | 3 – 5 p.m. Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims and Dr. Mandy McGuire will present their work on using play and playful learning to address inequity. Featured Speakers: Dr. Nikole Hollins-Sims (PaTTAN) and Dr. Mandy McGuire (University of Texas at Dallas). Activating Communities Around Playful Learning Tuesday, February 9, 2021 | 3 – 5 p.m. Ariana Brazier, Justin Forzano, Shari Hersh, Gamar Markarian, and Sarah Siplak, will discuss what it means to activate communities and how their communities inform the work they do. Featured Speakers: Ariana Brazier (ATL Parent Like a Boss), Justin Forzano (Open Field), Shari Hersh (Mural Arts), Gamar Markarian (New School), and Sarah Siplak (Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative). Using Technology to Strengthen the Way We Learn and Play Wednesday, February 10, 2021 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Learn about technologies and applications from Katie Gullone, Megan Rooney, Javier Maisonet, and Project Rangeet. Featured Speakers: Elias Blinkoff (Temple Infant & Child Lab), Katie Gullone (Trying Together), Javier Maisonet (Math Talk), Simran Mulchandani (Project Rangeet), and Megan Rooney (La Escuelita Arcoiris). Replicable and Low-Cost Ideas for Playful Learning Wednesday, February 10, 2021 | 3 – 5 p.m. Explore low-cost and replicable ways to encourage playful learning from Shannon Merenstein, Amy Kronenberg, Rebecca Fabiano, and Aishwarya Narayana. Featured Speakers: Rebecca Fabiano (Fab Youth Philly), Amy Kronenberg (Learn to Earn Dayton), Shannon Merenstein (HATCH Art Studio), and Aishwarya Narayana (HUME). Registration To register, visit the online registration page. General Admission tickets cost $55 and include admission to all sessions. Single session registration is also available for $10 per session. Attendees will receive the Zoom link for each day’s session prior to the start of the event. More Information For questions, contact admin@playfullearninglandscapes.fun or 267.468.8610.
January 26, 2021 How Moving Inspires Staff Wellbeing and Social-Emotional Health Are you interested in enhancing the health and wellbeing of staff who are serving young children and families? Join the Pennsylvania Head Start Association on February 11 for their Train the Trainer event, “Move2bFree: How Moving Inspires Staff Wellbeing and Social-Emotional Health.” About This two-part session is designed to enhance the health and well-being of dedicated, hard-working staff who are serving young children and families. This session will address common issues of overweight and dental disease using concepts from I Am Moving, I Am Learning, the childhood obesity prevention initiative, while incorporating lively music with health messaging from Choosy Kids. This session is best suited for Head Start and Early Head Start program staff, Early Childhood Education staff, Home Visiting staff, and community-based professionals (health providers, family support, etc.). Learning Objectives By attending, professionals will learn strategies for self-care and engage in movement, self-reflection, peer-to-peer learning, and setting individual goals to improve health. Professionals will also complete the following learning objectives: Rekindle personal joy by reconnecting to self-care through increased movement and physical activity. Describe how increasing movement and responding to music can energize and transform brain health, supporting self-confidence to model positive attitudes and healthy behaviors for children. Apply health messaging strategies and activities for stress reduction, healthy nutrition, and oral health in daily routines. Registration To register for this event, complete the online registration form. Registration will close on Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Space is limited. For questions, contact Professional Development Director Kayle Richardson at 717.831.8375 or kayle@paheadstart.org.
January 21, 2021 Helping Children Befriend Their Emotions Join Youth Yoga Project and the Children’s Museum in a two-hour workshop to learn how to support the emotional health of children ages three and up. This workshop will help educators build a greater understanding of the important role of emotions and imagination in the classroom. About By becoming more familiar with their emotions, and learning an emotional vocabulary, students are able to process and manage their emotions instead of allowing their emotions to overwhelm them. Through mindfulness, children learn accessible ways to befriend their emotions. This workshop is open to all educators who would like to learn strategies to incorporate these concepts into their work with students. Learn how mindfulness can be used as a practical tool for pre-k-12 students to build emotional awareness in children and teens. Educators will leave with specific strategies to empower their students to develop emotional awareness and emotion processing tools through mindfulness. Registration To register, visit the online registration page. Registration closes on January 29, 2021. Each participant will receive electronic workshop materials from Youth Yoga Project prior to the workshop. Two hours of Act 48 credit will be available for Pennsylvania educators. More Information For questions, please contact Taylor Dozier at tdozier@pittsburghkids.org.
January 19, 2021 Financial Literacy 101: Part Two Are you interested in learning about financial literacy and speaking with a finance expert? Join Trying Together on February 11, 2021, for our virtual course, “Financial Literacy 101: Part Two.” About In partnership with financial experts, Trying Together will provide finance basics and beyond through a series of professional growth sessions. These sessions will allow participants to interact directly with a finance expert and develop a stronger understanding of basic financial concepts, including topics related to managing personal finance, money, borrowing, and investing. This session is an opportunity to discuss the value of financial literacy for educators, child care directors, and child care owners. Session Details Session Date: Thursday, February 11, 2021 Instructors: Jasmine Davis and Marc Blount CKC: Organization and Administration CDA Subject Area: Effective Program Operation Registration Deadline: Wednesday, February 9, 2021 Registration To register, visit the 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. PQAS credit is available. If you do not have a PD Registry account, please complete this online form to create one. If you are unable to create an account, please contact pdregistry@pakeys.org for more information. More Information For questions or more information, please contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.
January 15, 2021 Financial Literacy 101: Part One Are you interested in learning about financial literacy and speaking with a finance expert? Join Trying Together on February 4, 2021, for our virtual course, “Financial Literacy 101: Part One.” About In partnership with financial experts, Trying Together will provide finance basics and beyond through a series of professional growth sessions. These sessions will allow participants to interact directly with a finance expert and develop a stronger understanding of basic financial concepts, including topics related to managing personal finance, money, borrowing, and investing. This session is an opportunity to discuss the value of financial literacy for educators, child care directors, and child care owners. Session Details Session Date: Thursday, February 4, 2021 Instructors: Jasmine Davis and Marc Blount CKC: Organization and Administration CDA Subject Area: Effective Program Operation Registration Deadline: Wednesday, February 2, 2021 Registration To register, visit the 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. PQAS credit is available. If you do not have a PD Registry account, please complete this online form to create one. If you are unable to create an account, please contact pdregistry@pakeys.org for more information. More Information For questions or more information, please contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.
December 23, 2020 Understanding the Behavior of Grieving Children Join the Highmark Caring Place on January 13 for their webinar “The Curious Observer: Understanding the Behavior of Grieving Children” to learn how behaviors can serve as a manifestation of children’s grief. About We often misunderstand grief in children, or mistakenly believe that children do not experience grief at all. Yet, anyone old enough to love is old enough to grieve. Because young children and infants experience and respond to grief in unique ways, their grief is not always clear to adults and caregivers. Children’s grief can even be masked for adults because children communicate via their behaviors, such as play. Since it can be difficult for children to verbally express their complicated and confusing feelings about the death of their loved one, especially during times of grief and loss, it’s important that we understand behaviors such as play as ways of communication. This webinar will discuss how behaviors can serve as a manifestation of children’s grief. As a caring adult, you will learn activities and interactions that can support the children in your life through their grief work. Featured Topics During the webinar, participants will: learn how behavior (such as play) is a form of communication for children from birth into adulthood, recognize how behaviors can serve as an expression of a child’s grief, and identify activities and interactions that support children in their grief work. Registration To register for this event, visit the online registration page. Share this flyer with your network.
Using Ages and Stages Questionnaires® as a Screening Tool This event is full. Please continue to monitor our website for future Ages and Stages Questionnaires® professional development sessions. Are you interested in learning how to use Ages and Stages Questionnaires® as a screening tool for children ages three months to five years? Join Trying Together on January 18 for our virtual course, “Using Ages and Stages Questionnaires® as a Screening Tool.” About During this course, participants will learn how to use the ASQ® and ASQ:SE® as a screening tool for children ages three months to five years. The session will provide information on how to administer and score the screener and share results of the screener with families. Information about additional resources for making referrals to services will be included if needed. Session Details Session Date: Monday, January 18, 2021 | 6 – 8:30 p.m. Instructor: Pamela Zimmerman Core Knowledge Area: Assessment CDA Content Area: Observing & Recording Behavior Registration Deadline: Saturday, January 16, 2021 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. PQAS and Act 48 credit available. If you do not have a PD Registry account, please complete this online form to create one. If you are unable to create an account, please contact pdregistry@pakeys.org for more information. More Information For questions or more information, contact Jasmine Davis at jasmine@tryingtogether.org.
