September 8, 2025 Three Ways to Build Your State’s IECMH Funding Strategy Zero to Three and the Children’s Funding Project are offering a series of three 90-minute webinars to answer questions about public financing for infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH). Learn More The series, titled “Three Ways to Build Your State’s IECMH Funding,” will include three sessions: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Fiscal Mapping: Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. Understanding True Costs of IECMH Programs and Services: Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. Filling the Gap: Tax Revenue Building: Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. Registration is open.
Three Ways to Build Your State’s IECMH Funding Strategy Zero to Three and the Children’s Funding Project are offering a series of three 90-minute webinars to answer questions about public financing for infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH). Learn More The series, titled “Three Ways to Build Your State’s IECMH Funding,” will include three sessions: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Fiscal Mapping: Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. Understanding True Costs of IECMH Programs and Services: Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. Filling the Gap: Tax Revenue Building: Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. Registration is open.
Three Ways to Build Your State’s IECMH Funding Strategy Zero to Three and the Children’s Funding Project are offering a series of three 90-minute webinars to answer questions about public financing for infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH). Learn More The series, titled “Three Ways to Build Your State’s IECMH Funding,” will include three sessions: Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) Fiscal Mapping: Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. Understanding True Costs of IECMH Programs and Services: Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. Filling the Gap: Tax Revenue Building: Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. Registration is open.
September 2, 2025 The Common Causes for ECE Burnout and Tips on How to Manage It A recent article by Zero to Three addresses the common causes for early childhood educator burnout and provides tips on how to manage or prevent it. Learn More The article by Zero to Three – a national nonprofit focused on the healthy development of infants and toddlers – notes that burnout in early childhood education goes beyond fatigue. It is “described as a state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion” that can be a response to intense or prolonged stress. According to the Zero to Three article, burnout may be disguised as cynicism, detachment, or feelings of helplessness or ineffectiveness. Physical symptoms can manifest as headaches, stomachaches, changes in appetite, and continuing to feel drained after adequate rest. Common Causes The three most common causes of early childhood educator burnout are: Emotional labor – the effort required to manage emotions, especially when meeting workplace demands; for example, this may look like patience with young children even when their behavior is challenging. High workloads – due to early childhood staff shortages, educators often find themselves juggling more demands, often leaving little time for breaks or relaxation; as a result, this can lead to impaired work-life balance that can result in everything from headaches to sleep issues. Lack of resources – limited access to specialized materials can make it challenging to support children with developmental delays, disorders, or disabilities; also, teachers may experience feelings of guilt or inadequacy if they sense they’re being forced to cut corners or compromise their quality of service. Self-Care Tips Zero to Three provides tips on how educators can cope with stress and frustration to avoid burnout, arguing that self-care is “nonnegotiable.” Three areas to focus on include: Mindfulness – the intentional practice of being fully present in any given moment and approaching it with openness and acceptance. In the early childhood education sphere, the advantages of mindfulness include: reduced anxiety, higher empathy and compassion, and improved well-being. Seeking peer support – consider forming a peer support group or establishing individual mentorships to help with stress management in child care settings. Setting boundaries – establishing healthy boundaries help to prevention overextension or over-commitment, reduce emotional exhaustion and stress, reinforce self-worth and self-respect by promoting the prioritization of well-being, and protecting enthusiasm for serving young children and their families. To learn more, read Zero to Three’s recent article.
November 3, 2021 State Strategies to Strengthen Infant-Toddler Care as Public Pre-K Expands Expanding public pre-k for three- and four-year-old children can unintentionally reduce access to infant toddler care. Join ZERO TO THREE for a discussion about how states can protect and expand infant-toddler care, ensuring that families have affordable access to a full continuum of high-quality early care and education. Individuals may register on the ZERO TO THREE website. About ZERO TO THREE ZERO TO THREE works to ensure that babies and toddlers benefit from the family and community connections critical to their well-being and development.
September 15, 2021 The Fatherhood Connection: Engaging Dads at the Community Level Are you interested in learning how to engage fathers and father figures at your child care center? Join Zero to Three on September 23 for their virtual webinar, “The Fatherhood Connection: Engaging Dads at the Community Level.” Individuals may register via the online registration form. More Information In this webinar, Rebecca Parlakian, MA, Ed from Zero to Three will share some of the seminal and emerging research exploring the impact fathers have on their children, and the ways in which fatherhood impacts men as well. Next, Dr. Alan-Michael Graves of the Good Plus Foundation will discuss the critical success factors for powerful and authentic fatherhood engagement at the community level. Finally, participants will explore the systemic obstacles that many fathers face as they work to coparent their children. Learning objectives for this session are: Explain common barriers preventing fathers from participating in program services on behalf of their child(ren). Describe the ways in which father involvement shapes children’s development and outcomes. Apply recommended practices in father engagement to a plan appropriate for participant’s setting/community.
December 10, 2020 Infants and Toddlers Face Racism Too Are you interested in gaining new insight into how racism shapes our lives from our earliest days? Join ZERO TO THREE on December 17 for their online event, “Continuing the Dialogue: Infants and Toddlers Face Racism Too.” About During this event, presenters will share excerpts from the session “Infants and Toddlers Face Racism Too: Science, Practice, and Policy.” Session participants will hear how racism affects America’s youngest residents, discuss this topic together, and learn about strategies and resources that can help address racism and advance equity in early childhood systems, services, and programs. Registration To register, visit the event registration page.
July 7, 2020 A Routines-Based Approach for Young Children with Disabilities Are you interested in learning about a routines-based approach for providing early intervention to young children with disabilities? Join ZERO TO THREE on July 15 for their free webinar, “Where Intervention Happens: A Routines-Based Approach for Young Children with Disabilities.” About Throughout the day, children learn during their everyday routines, including during child care. Ensuring that infants and toddlers with disabilities get the most intervention possible and the most relevant intervention possible means building their caregivers’ capacity. This webinar will address the assessment of child and family needs, the use of a primary service provider, collaborative consultation, data collection, and how to train staff to use a routines-based approach. This webinar is best suited for early intervention professionals, as well as caregivers who have or would like to have an early intervention professional working with them. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage. For those who are unable to attend the session, please note that all registrants will receive a link to the webinar recording 24 to 48 hours after the session.
July 2, 2020 ZERO TO THREE Annual Conference Are you interested in learning about the latest early childhood research and connecting with thousands of fellow educators from around the world? Join ZERO TO THREE from October 5-9 for their Virtual Annual Conference! About This year’s virtual conference will give participants the added flexibility to be connected safely to thousands of colleagues from around the world; be inspired through an immersive experience into the latest research and education; and be prepared to move their practice forward in our changing and challenging world. The conference package includes five days of exceptional programming and 30 days of exclusive, on-demand access to recorded sessions. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are included. Pre-Conference Forums will be available as well from September 22 to October 1 for an additional fee. Each Forum package includes a single two-day Forum event and 30-day access to the recorded session. CEUs are included. Featured Sessions The conference features many presentations and breakout sessions, including, but not limited to the following: Bringing Self-Compassion and Care Home: Learning by Nurturing Supporting Healthy Development Through Meaningful Relationships With Mother Nature, a Growing Global Movement Operation HealthySteps: Promoting Safe Childcare Practices Across a Large Medical System Where Trauma and Grief Collide: CPP With Child Traumatic Grief How to Incorporate Mindfulness Techniques Into Family-Based Practices With Infants and Toddlers Interrogating Whiteness in Early Intervention Equity and Inclusion in Family Engagement Programs See the full schedule. Registration To register and learn more, visit the event webpage. Member and group discounts are available. If you require any assistance with your registration, contact the Customer Support team at 855.868.1192
October 23, 2019 Co-Parenting Tips When You’re No Longer Together In a recent article authored by Rebecca Parlakian, Zero to Three highlighted eight tips to help parents and caregivers overcome co-parenting challenges. About While co-parenting is often associated with separated parents, the term actually describes a larger pool of caregivers, including parents, grandparents, or another family member. Essentially, co-parenting refers to situation where adults share the duties of raising and caring for a child. When a relationship changes or ends, it often means a big change in the co-parenting process. As Parlakain describes, “a strong, respectful co-parenting relationship helps children feel safe and secure.” However, building such a relationship isn’t always easy when parents are no longer married, romantically involved, or in good standing with one another. Learning to work together to raise a child takes time. Recognizing this, Parlakain identified eight co-parenting tips to help caregivers overcome common challenges. Co-Parenting Tips Remember your new roles (and new boundaries). Keep your child at the center of your co-parenting work. Let go of negative feelings, disappointments, and frustrations. Let your children love your co-parent. Text carefully. Figure out what works for effective communication. Assume the best. Take care of yourself. For full tip descriptions, read the original article on Zero to Three! More Information For more information and co-parenting strategies, visit the Zero to Three website.
