New Training Topics

We are pleased to announce this new addition to our Nature-based curriculum series.

It should come as no surprise that healthy physical development for children and outdoor play go hand in hand. Anyone who spends time with young children can see the benefits of playing outdoors immediately: children can move their bodies with fewer restrictions, investigate the many wonders of the natural world, use big muscles to play, and raise their voices to shout with joy. However, even seasoned educators may be surprised to learn just how crucial outdoor play is, and the many surprising ways that time spent in nature can benefit physical development in children. And building curriculum outdoors is not without challenges, as teachers must navigate challenges presented by weather, safety, and curriculum demands.

In this workshop, educators will dive deep into the benefits of nature play for children, explore the relationship between outdoor curriculum and physical skill development, and experiment with building curriculum to meet the needs of the children they serve. Opportunities will be given for collaboration and discussion with other educators across the field of ECE, along with the sharing of new resources for rich curriculum development.

Working together as a team with one common mission, the children in your program thriving offers many unique challenges. Often when starting with a new teaching team or coming back together after a challenging school year it can be difficult to jump back into the team mentality. In order to work as a team affectively each educator must be able to identify that they offer unique skills as does their team members. Being open to learning about oneself and others can be beneficial. In this training the teaching team will engage in in-person activities which highlight the different areas that are essential to working together as a team. The activities will be active events working with each other followed by reflection and discussion.   

Ask a group of early educators how many of them consider themselves leaders in their work, and one may get a variety of answers. Administrators and classroom lead teachers may clearly seem themselves in leadership positions, while teachers who are newer to the profession may not yet identify as leaders. However, the concept of teacher-leadership is not necessarily tied to a job title or a role in an educational setting. The National Education Association (NEA) (2011) describes teacher leaders as, "experienced professionals who have earned the respect of their students and colleagues and have gained a set of skills that enable them to work effectively and collaboratively with colleagues... [They] want to remain closely connected to the classroom and students, but are willing to assume new responsibilities that afford them leadership opportunities in or outside the classroom while still teaching full or part-time.” 

In this workshop, educators will explore concepts of leadership and advocacy, while making connections with other educators and reflecting on how they can grow as leaders in their field. 

Resilience is defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; or a person’s ability to bounce back after a significant setback[i] [ii]. It has also been termed as the psychological quality that allows some people who have been knocked down adversities in life to “spring back” and come back at least as strong as before iii.

Being resilient is helpful for one’s own well-being and also that of others. Yet, in challenging times, resilience is tested. These sessions are designed to support educators in their work, to help them become more resilient and to share these strategies with children and families. We will start with and continue to promote self-care and focusing on what you can control to help you through almost any storm. Join us as we build our own resilience to enable us to care for ourselves and support the children & families we work with.

[i]Oxford Dictionaries. (2021). Re-sil-ience. Retrieved from https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E210US714G0&p=Resilience

[ii]Merriam-Webster. (2021). Resilience. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resilience.

iii. Psychology Today. (2021). Resilience. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/resilience

Bibliography:

Oxford Dictionaries. (2021). Re-sil-ience. Retrieved from https://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=mcafee&type=E210US714G0&p=Resilience

Merriam-Webster. (2021). Resilience. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/resilience.

Psychology Today. (2021). Resilience. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/resilience