Professional Workshops

Keeping Play in the Classroom

“Play is our brains' favorite way of learning”- Diane Ackerman

Learn ways to create invitations to play in the classroom that meets early learning standards and goals. Discover how play-based learning increases children’s problem solving and decision-making skills. Foster the development of fine and gross motor skills, as well as literacy and numeracy skills using hands-on activities. Learn how to discuss what children are learning through play with their parents.

Positive Discipline - How We Speak to Children

What are the goals of misbehavior and how should you respond? What is the difference between positive discipline and being punitive? This interactive workshop will discuss proven approaches to building self-esteem and assertiveness while reducing children’s aggressive or passive behaviors. We start by discussing realistic expectations for preschoolers and how misbehavior is a learning opportunity. How providing language and role modeling can be much more effective in your classroom than “time-out”.

Personality Strengths

Are your people-oriented or task-oriented? What are your personality strengths and how does that affect how you interact with your students, their parents, and your co-workers? Effective communication is the key to successful relationships and the foundation of a successful early childhood classroom. Learn how knowing your personality strengths can help you be more effective in your role as an early childhood educator. This is an interactive workshop with a target audience of those willing to reflect on their own personality strengths and how they can use them to strengthen relationships and communications with all members of the program's community. Participants will take a 5-minute personality test. Will interactively share the results. We will discuss each personality type in detail and reflect on its strengths. We will discuss how others may see our strengths as weaknesses. We will role-play interacting with co-workers, parents, and children with both similar and different personality strengths. We will link to social-emotional development learning standards and domains

Taking the Fear out of STEM

Discovery-based learning encourages our youngest learners to practice the (STEM), science, technology, engineering and math skills they naturally have. How does that work? Can I take it apart? Can a put it back together? How do we solve this problem?