Zen and the Art of Early Childhood Education
Many of us think of “early childhood” as more than a stage of development or a career choice. Join Richard as he shares his story and elicits the stories of his audience members. Laugh, cry and cheer as we reflect together on why we choose play, why we choose anti-bias work and why we choose to give young children meaningful learning experiences. What does it mean to place ourselves in positions of service? How do we balance our humanity and our professionalism in an ever-changing world? How are we community builders? Get ready for a keynote that will provoke your thinking, engage your emotions and nourish your spirit!
Marketing Your Child Care Business—Kari Stattelman
Learn basic marketing principles and concepts. Complete an environmental scan. Identify features and benefits of a child care program. Analyze child care competitors. Identify strategies to build an effective message. Define target market to secure future enrollment. Learn how to use marketing principles to secure community partnerships.
This class is sponsored by South Dakota Dept. of Social Services through First Children's Finance, MN
Planning for the Future: Accounting and Financial Statements—Kari Stattelman
Learn basic accounting terms and review commonly used financial statements. Break down sections of an income and expense statement, a cash flow statement and a balance sheet. Analyze a case study to determine financial health of a child care business. Identify strategies of how to use financial statements to inform business decisions.
This class is sponsored by South Dakota Dept. of Social Services through First Children's Finance, MN
The Wonder of the Outdoors—Susan Dotson, Family Child Care Professional
For a multitude of reasons, children today spend very little time outside compared to generations prior. As providers and caregivers, we can give the children in our care that opportunity. This class will show easy, cost effective activities and ideas to encourage outdoor time and make it fun.
Learning Environments & Planning—Angi Strohfus, BA
Establishing a positive learning environment is one of the most important things a teacher can do to provide an effective learning experience for students. Learn to balance classroom management and how to create a hands on learning environment that allow fundamental academic skills through discovery and creative activities.
Strategies for Early Literacy Learning—Darbi Hunt, BS. and Megan Handshue, MA.
Strategies for Early Literacy Learning helps adults support young children’s language and literacy skills to increase their school readiness in childcare and home environments. Participants will learn to apply evidence based strategies in individualized ways that work for their environments and the children they support. The interactive format encourages participants to share best practices and learn from each other as well as the presenter.
Stay OK with the Community Resilience Model—Sarah Vining, MSW, CSW-PIP, QMHP, Certified CRM Teacher
Your mental wellness matters! Come learn about the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) to help strengthen your wellness with quick, simple skills. CRM is a biological model that teaches us how our mind and body are connected. CRM helps us understand how stress and trauma affect us, our nervous systems, and our emotions and behaviors. It gives us wellness skills to build resilience. This biological model empowers us with simple wellness skills to get us back into our resilient zone where we are more calm, focused, and functioning as our best self. Because it is based in biology, these skills can be used across the lifespan and in a variety of settings. We believe that when we empower ourselves with skills to regulate, we will be empowered to provide a more calm, regulated environment for the children in our care. We hope to share this model and give attendees concrete skills and practical applications for stress-reduction and resiliency.
SD Public Broadcasting Resources & Ideas—Marcy Drew, Ed.D
This session will include fun activities, games, and other resources for engaging young children using tools from SD Public Broadcasting's Early Learning Initiative and aligned with the SD Early Learning Guidelines. Find ideas to support children as they learn through play and meaningful interactions!
Beyond the Book - A Make & Take—Janessa Bixel, M.Ed. Early Childhood Education
Books can be a wonderful starting point for engaging young children in learning concepts other than literacy. In this fun, hands-on session, we will be exploring the book “10 Black Dots” by Donald Crews. During the session we will engage in several activities to extend learning beyond the book. You will be challenged to share your own ideas too. Bonus - all session participants will receive a copy of the book!
Self-Compassion for Kids and Caregivers—Staci Born, EdD, LMFT, RPT-S
"Secure your oxygen mask before assisting others." If you have flown on a plane, you have heard the safety message. When our role is to provide care for others, we must attend to ourselves. Self-compassion is giving ourselves the same kindness we would give someone else, especially when faced with personal challenges. In this workshop, participants will learn about the dimensions of self-compassion, practice several self-compassion techniques, and review the important role of developing self-compassion in children. Activities for developing self-compassion in children will be demonstrated.
SD's Developmental Disabilities Network—Arlene Poncelet, Executive Director, SD Council on Developmental Disabilities
Learn about South Dakota's Developmental Disabilities Network - Disability Rights South Dakota, the USD Center for Disabilities and the SD Council on Developmental Disabilities. Each organization will share important information on their services and how they can work with you and the families you serve.
Child Development Made EASY: LTSAE—Lisa Sanderson, CDC's Act Early Ambassador
Delays and disabilities among children are common, yet commonly overlooked. The CDC's Learn the Signs. Act Early. (LTSAE) resources are free, high quality, easy to understand, and support the important work of professionals and parents to boost child development from birth through age 5. Learn how these resources may be utilized to support staff professional development and engage families to help children progress developmentally, celebrate milestones reached, and support early identification and intervention services when delays are noted.
CSI: Curiosity, Science & Investigation—Allegra Fink
Fun and easy science experiments to get children interested in science.
Plan your conference days. Click on the image to download this PDF, print it out, and plan your classes!
Richard Cohen Presents: The Heroes of Our Time
This powerful, fun, thought-provoking keynote address includes music, opportunities for reflection, interactive discussions with the audience about the stresses and triumphs of the early childhood teacher/caregiver, singing, poetry and (believe it or not) dancing in the aisles! Audiences come away cheering, energized and filled with honor for the unique contribution they are to society.
Richard Cohen Presents "Grownups' Night Out"
DON’T MISS THIS ONE!
A Rollicking Evening Event for Early Childhood Conferences
After a full day of workshop sessions, join in a fun-filled evening of lighthearted singing, interactive games and, in a first for our field, Richard pokes good-natured fun at crying babies, snot-nosed kids, persnickety parents and hand-print holiday turkeys with his special brand of stand-up comedy created especially for stressed-out, paint-covered, marker-stained early childhood professionals! Let’s ‘fess up about all the things we moan about to each other after the parents and children have gone home!
We’ll be bringing this one to you on Friday Evening.
Full STEAM Ahead–Reloaded—Sarah Roberts M.Ed
Do you love science? Have you attended a Full STEAM Ahead session in the past? Even if you're unsure of your STEAM knowledge, check out this session to expand your STEAM learning and implementation in your early childhood setting!
The Impact of Technology on Early Childhood—Emily Learing, MA, LMFT, RPT
The technological advances present for today's infants, toddlers and preschoolers has changed the way the early childhood population interacts with the world. And while advances in technology have led to many positive outcomes for this age group, with those advances have also come some challenges and questions about whether they are developmentally appropriate for this population. In this presentation, participants will learn about today's technology and it's impact on the early childhood population's development--both the positive and the negative--so that they can leave the presentation with skills for using technology for good and limiting the technology that interferes with typical early childhood development.
Building Your Bounce—Kami Bartles, MS
When we don’t take the time to Build Our Bounce, caring for children may be difficult. In this training you’ll explore what resilience means to you, how it plays a role in your well-being and tips for bouncing back from change and challenges.