Annual Early Head Start and Infant/Toddler Conference - Schedule

We have correlated the content to the Head Start and Early Head Start Relationship-Based Competencies for Staff and Supervisors Who Work With Families.

Link to printable schedule at a glance 

Monday, July 29, 2013

Day Long Sessions: 8:30-Noon and 1-4pm (Lunch 12-1)

M1 Families and Young Children Facing Trauma and Adversity, Catherine C. Ayoub 

This session will focus on how Early Head Start programs can work with families and young children facing trauma, and related challenges.   First, we will explore the contribution of trauma in the lives of young children and the adults who care for them.  Biological and behavioral signs of our exposure to traumatic events are recorded as we experience trauma; participants will learn who our bodies keep score.  Next, the impact of chronic trauma on thinking and feeling for infants, toddlers and preschoolers will be assessed the context of child development and brain development.  Attachment, relationships, identity formation, and world view all provide the foundation for early learning.  The effects of trauma on young children change their coping strategies and affect each of these critical areas of development.  With this understanding of trauma, we will explore promising approaches for the assessment and treatment of trauma for both children and their parents.  Finally, we will talk about the need to care for ourselves as caregivers as we work with families facing trauma and adversity.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Family Well-Being and Families as Learners

M2 Perinatal Mental Health Issues and Interventions, JoAnne Solchany

This workshop will address mental health issues as they present in pregnancy and the post partum period.  We will look at how a parent’s mental health concerns and symptoms can impact the developing relationship between the child and the parent as well as how these issues impact child development and well being.  Case study material will be used to illustrate some of these relationships.  Ideas and specific interventions will be provided and discussed as to how they can be used to decrease any negative impacts and improve outcomes for both parent and child.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Family Well-Being and Families as Learners
• Coordinated, Integrated and Comprehensive Services

M3 A Developmental Parenting Approach to Home Visiting:  How to do it and How to Measure It, Mark Innocenti and Lori Roggman

Developmental Parenting refers both to parenting as a support for children’s development and to a particular approach to intervention services in which practitioners use a strengths-based approach to identify and support positive parenting behaviors that promote children’s early health and development. The general rationale and key components of a Developmental Parenting approach will be presented in this session.

Developmental Parenting uses an approach that focuses on parenting and child development, engages parents and children in interaction, supports developmental parenting behaviors, and helps parents and other family members use everyday activities to support children’s development. These components of the approach, based on research from multiple disciplines, will be described in detail.  Participating practitioners who work with parents will learn about this approach and how they can expand parental support for children’s development in the context of each family’s culture and values.

Specific concrete examples of tactics that work in practice, are supported by research, and can be used with parents from diverse ethnicities and backgrounds, will be described in this session. Practitioners have used these tactics successfully to promote Developmental Parenting among parents facing a variety of challenges related to health, mental health, poverty, disability, or other sources of stress. By generating examples, role playing, observing video, and developing plans, practitioners have the opportunity to practice these tactics.

This  workshop includes presentation, video observation, reflection, discussion, activities, and role plays.

HOVRS?—A Home Visit Quality Tool for Developmental Parenting  

HOVRS (Home Visit Rating Scales) measures the quality of home visits to families with infants, toddlers, and young children. HOVRS was developed based on input from practitioners and validated on observations of home visits in 2 infant-toddler home visiting programs and has been adapted for easier use (HOVRS-A) and for observing indicators of excellence (HOVRS-A+). The HOVRS scales, particularly the home visiting process quality scales, predict positive outcomes for parenting and child development. A short video clip of a home visit will provide the opportunity to observe examples of HOVRS indicators and to discuss ways to use the tool effectively to support effective practices in Developmental Parenting programs.

HOVRS for Practitioners and Supervisors

Programs that deliver Developmental Parenting support services through home visiting need a way to ensure the quality of the home visiting process.  Using the HOVRS home visit quality measurement tool, practitioners and their supervisors will be better able to track their progress toward home visiting that effectively supports Developmental Parenting. The HOVRS tool includes 7 rating scales.  The first 4 rating scales measure home visiting process quality:  Responsiveness, Relationship, Facilitation, and Non-Intrusiveness.  The other 3 rating scales measure parent-child interaction, parent engagement, and child engagement.  The constructs measured by each of these scales are supported by research evidence.  The indicators on these scales are supported by practitioner examples and descriptions. In this workshop, home visiting practitioners and supervisors will learn about HOVRS, how it was developed, and its reliability and validity. Video of home visits will provide opportunities to practice scoring HOVRS and to discuss ways to use the measure support effective practices and improve program quality. 

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators
• Self-Aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships
• Data Driven Services and Systems for Continuous Improvement
• Foundations for Professional Growth

M4 Enhancing Capacity in Child-Parent Work: Knowledge, Observation and Self-Awareness, Julie Larrieu

This workshop will present strategies to enhance the child - caregiver relationship in the context of early intervention and infant learning specialties.  A framework for understanding domains of caregiving and associated outcomes for infants and very young children will be presented.  Specific techniques to facilitate healthy relationships will be shared, as well as examples of when referrals are indicated.  Strategies for the professionals' self-care to use when working with traumatized and overburdened families also will be discussed.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be better able to:

1. Discuss multiple domains of caregiving
2. Recognize children's behaviors that are associated with caregiving strategies
3. Understand techniques to enhance caregiving relationships
4. Identify when referrals are indicated and how to make such referrals
5. Be familiar with mechanisms for self-care when working with traumatized families

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Family Well-Being and Families as Learners
• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators
• Coordinated, Integrated and Comprehensive Services
• Foundations for Professional Growth

M5 Wet, Wild, and Wacky, and Creative Gardening with Young Children, Sharon Brown

Wet, Wild, and Wacky: This hands-on workshop will help educators explore the wonderful world of water – beyond the water table. Ice, bubbles, gel and snow will be used to help children gather information about all forms of water. Activities linked to all areas of development will be presented giving participants ideas of how to set up environments for discovery and exploration.

Creative Gardening with Young Children – Growing Healthy Minds: This workshop will explore ways to garden with young children beyond zip-lock bags. Participants will explore a variety of hands-on activities that they can take back into the classroom on Monday morning. The benefit of insects, worms, and composting will be discussed and explored.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

9:30-10:15am

Key Note Address: Nefertiti Bruce “Live Today Well”

Life is so precious and at the same time so fleeting. Living today well involves adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress. Join national speaker and author, Nefertiti Bruce Poyner as she outlines strategies to help each of us learn to navigate the road to living life well. "The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present."

Relationship-Based Competencies:

• Foundations for Professional Growth
• Family Well-Being and Families as Learners

10:30-Noon

Tu1 Understanding and Promoting Language Development in Infants and Toddlers, Debbie Sullivan and Nathan Roberts.

This workshop will provide a general overview of typical speech and language development for infants through age 3.  We will also discuss the most common types of disabilities that affect communication development (hearing loss, Down syndrome, prematurity, ASD, cleft palate, general overall delay, etc.)  Participants will receive hand-outs, resources, and many strategies to promote speech and language development in the home, daycare, play groups. Time will be spent practicing strategies in small groups, and viewing videos of various parent training programs.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators
• Self-Aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships

Tu2 Moving Beyond Empty and Fill To Deep Investigations, Keith Pentz

Toddlers, by nature, are inquisitive.  They explore, investigate, ponder, and willingly attempt new experiences when given opportunity and guidance in a safe environment.  The toddler is continuing to develop speech and language along with other communication skills, has cognitive powers that are beginning to formulate explicit memory connections, and has new-found physical skills beyond those of infancy.  By utilizing thoughtful engagement, teachers and caregivers can effectively move toddlers beyond simple, singular activities to sustained and expanded provocative projects and experiences. 

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Positive, Goal-Oriented Relationships
• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

Tu3 Curriculum Roundtable, Melissa Bandy and Lilli Carrillo

EHS Curriculum Roundtable. This session provides an opportunity for programs to informally share ideas and discuss what curriculum approaches and strategies they are most excited about. What curriculums are being used in Region X’s EHS Home Base and Center Based programs? How are they aligned with the various frameworks from the National Centers and are they bases on quality, research based approaches for serving infants toddlers and their families? Participants will explore, share ideas, and be challenged to take their strategies and approaches further to foster School Readiness for the infants, toddlers and the families they serve.

Tu4 Seeing with New Eyes: Reflecting Parent Infant Interaction through Narrative Stories, Leslie J. Munson, Caitlin Seifert, Ruth Falco, and David Allen

Parent-infant interaction plays a critical role in child development. Research indicates that the behaviors during interaction can be improved with the support of home visitors.  Using the  Parent Infant Interaction Curriculum (PII Curriculum) (Munson, Falco, Allen & Seifert, 2013) as the framework, participants will learn ways to help parents understand their relationships with their young children through videotaping and photographs. Participants will leave with concrete ideas, materials and resources that will be useful in home visiting.    

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

Tu5 Considerations for Working with Teen Parents:Approaches for Home Visitors, Emily Berry and Heather Baeckel

In this workshop, participants can expect to learn more about how to build a trusting relationship between teen parent and home visitor.  Participants will also learn developmentally appropriate strategies that strengthen the relationship between teen parent and their child.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Positive, Goal-Oriented Relationships
• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

Tu6 The Three R’s of Leadership: Resilience, Reflection, Relationships, Nefertiti Bruce

Class is in session and not just for children! Effective leaders are necessary to manage the ever changing and at time difficult landscape of early care and education. Lessons in strategies to accomplish this goal take place every day in ordinary moments. Learn how to turn ordinary into extraordinary as we examine the three R’s of leadership. Don’t be late, class is in session! 

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Foundations for Professional Growth

1-4pm

Tu7 Connecting Our World through Languages, Victoria Prieto & Donna Britt

Supporting language learning for young children whose primary language is not English requires an understanding of early dual language learning. There is vital connection between language, culture, and learning. Oral language development becomes the foundation for the acquisition for reading and writing skills that develop and integrate from birth through age five. The child’s development of these skills is fundamental to future success. Attendees will explore the influence of culture on language learning, use, and practices. Through planned experiences they will explore the myths of dual language acquisition, review the milestones of language development, and identify and discuss practices and strategies that help children acquire language.

1. Discuss the development of pre-language and literacy skills in relation to brain develop.
2. Review the milestones of language and literacy development.
3. Discuss the myths surrounding dual language acquisition.
4. Define the concepts of culture, values, beliefs, & assumptions.
5. Identify strategies that help children acquire language within the context of family and community.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Self-Aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships
• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

Tu8 Found Objects #1 (1-2:30pm): Boxes and Cans: Expanding Curriculum for Infants & Toddlers, Sheryl Billey
Limit: 30 Participants

Create toys and activities to engage infants and toddlers that will expand your curriculum. Manipulatives are created from recycled items; the toys are very inexpensive and easily replaced. Hands on and Hand-made!   

During this session we will discuss what really is curriculum for infants and toddlers and how to create and engaging environment for the young child. Over 90 ideas will be presented for the items you can make for your classroom, child-care, or home.  

Blockfest #2 (2:45-4pm) Lorraine Olsen

This will be an active, hands-on introduction to the BlockFEST materials and how this event supports all areas of a young child’s development. Be prepared to engage in block play and learn new strategies for promoting math, literacy, language and science concepts in block play with young children.  Limit:  30 Participants

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

Tu9 1-4pm (repeat of Tu8)
Limit: 30 Participants

Blockfest #1 (1-2:30pm) Lorraine Olsen

Found Objects #2  (2:45-4pm): Boxes and Cans: Expanding Curriculum for Infants & Toddlers, Sheryl Billey

Tu10 Interactions and Relationships: Making Connections that Change Lives, Keith Pentz

The importance and influence of interpersonal connections on all aspects of development begins even before birth. From the earliest experiences of emotions, gazes, touches, play, language, nurture, and relational attachment, our bodies, brains, and minds begin to form who we are as individuals.  Each interaction—each event—each opportunity—each engagement—profoundly impacts all of us personally and collectively. The society of tomorrow is being determined by the relationships created and established today.   

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators
• Positive, Goal-Oriented Relationships

Tu11 In Their Space: Supporting Home Visiting Parents Educators, Karina Bravo

The workshop will be focused on helping attendees understand the complex relationship between parent/child and in-home parent support and education partners.  Participants will engage in experiential activities aimed at increasing awareness of their internalized beliefs regarding parenting and how these overlap with how we interact with caregivers in their homes.  Attendees will also learn and practice how to initiate non-confrontational dialogue when a caregiver is observed to engage in “less than ideal” behavior or exchange with their child.  Training participants will be guided in self-reflection and begin their journey towards identifying why working with some caregivers seems so emotionally taxing and challenging.  The training is concentrated on early intervention and prevention for young children and reflective practice to avoid burnout/compassion fatigue and is useful for attendees that work in-home with children and their families, to include, but not limited to: early childhood home visitors, parent educators and support partners, and/or social service practioners.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Foundations for Professional Growth

Tu12 Compassionate Practice Based Coaching: A People-Based Art, Mary Foltz

Building a climate of trust, clear understanding, and mutual competence is the foundation of an effective coaching relationship. This session will offer participants the opportunity to explore the elements of effective coaching.   These elements include building rapport, establishing goals, reaching agreements, observation and debriefing, as well as dealing with challenges that may arise.  The session will take a closer look at selected elements, in order to allow time to practice specific skills.    

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Positive, Goal-Oriented Relationships
• Self-Aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships
• Foundations for Professional Growth

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

8:30-Noon

W1 Supporting Early Math & Science for Infants & Toddlers, Donna Britt and Jan Greenberg

Math and science are all around us! Infants and toddlers are natural scientists and mathematicians, using their senses to explore their world. Join us in connecting the routine care and sensory play of infants and toddlers to strategies that support the development of early math and science concepts, skills and school readiness. 

Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Relate school readiness to the development of early math and early science concepts and skills.
2. Identify early math and early science experiences that occur in everyday care routines and the sensory play of infants and toddlers.
3. Explain the scientific process. 
4. Describe strategies for including early math and early science concepts into the daily routines, experiences, and play of infants and toddlers.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

W2 Building a Better Playgroup, Jana Brooks

Provide your program with all the tools to build a successful socialization experience from the ground up!  Starting with a blueprint using Early Head Start guidelines; learn how to establish clear expectations, orientations, and schedules for both families and staff.  Next, build a strong foundation by creating spaces that are inviting and appropriate for families with young children.  And finally, use your toolkit with examples of forms, handbooks, and problem-solving strategies to keep your Playgroups in good repair.  Mountain States Early Head Start began use this model in 2009, and have increased our attendance exponentially, with over 65% of enrolled families consistently engaging in Playgroups.  We are excited to share our formula for success with other Early Head Starts!

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

W3 Positive Guidance in Home Visiting: Effective Practices that Promote Change, Tim Andrews

In this engaging session, participants will learn some powerful home visiting strategies to support growth and change in families.  Participants will be oriented to online tools, strategies, and other supports that make home visits more effective. Participants will have a brief overview of Early Childhood Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports and will be encouraged to think about families in ways that may be different.  Participants will also learn some effective practices that support families growth and change over time.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators
• Self-Aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships

W4 It’s about the Brain—Addiction and the Myth of Choice, Jay Wurscher

This workshop will cover the basic process of addiction and the brain and how that affects the parent, the child and the helper.  It will also cover some drug specific behavior around common substances of abuse.  While many people agree with the statement “addiction is a disease” we still often react to the symptoms of that illness in a way this is less than helpful to the parent.  Frustration with people who don’t get into recovery on our time lines makes the job more difficult and the child and parent feel more hopeless.  This workshop will offer some tools in both thinking about and responding to the illness of addiction.  It will also help the worker understand what choices really do exist for those addicted to substances.  

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Positive, Goal-Oriented Relationships
• Self-Aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships
• Foundations for Professional Growth

W5 A Newborn in the Family: Crying, Skin Bumps, Poop, Pee and Feeding.  How to assist your new families with appropriate health messaging, Peggy King

When a baby is born and enters the family it is a time of delicate transition for everyone.   It is important for those working with a family during this fragile period to be prepared to provide responsive support and accurate information. This session will explore the physical and emotional needs of the newborn, the mother, the father, and the entire family.  Participants will come away with information on how to address frequently asked questions,  knowledge of basic health messages during this period, awareness of an infant’s state of being and the cues they send,  as well as useful professional links. 

W6 Using Data to Develop Quality Programs for Infants, Toddlers, and their Families, Sarah Semlak
Note: This is an all-day session

Data is essential to the design and implementation of quality services. Programs serving infants and toddlers gather a multitude of children, families, staff, and community data. Using this data to determine what is working or not working in a program is critical to serving children and their families, both on a daily basis and overtime. This session will explore the range of data related to infants’ and toddlers’ school readiness and how this data connects to continuous program improvement. It will begin with an overview of how specific aspects of 1307 and the four-action-steps associated with School Readiness connect with 1304. It will offer participants the opportunity to process where their programs are with developing solid program-level goals and a strong leadership team, critical to gathering and utilizing meaningful data related to school readiness. The session will continue with lessons learned on how to connect child-level data with program level data and using this data to make informed decisions concerning program improvement.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Data Driven Services and Systems for Continuous Improvement

1-3pm

W7 More than a Passing Phase – it’s a Lifetime Investment!  How our Earliest Experiences Teach us What to Expect, Kathy Bobula

The focus of this workshop is on how our earliest experiences impact our physical and mental health throughout our lives (even in old age) by changing how our brains and DNA work.  What we encounter early in development “tells” our brain and body what type of world to be prepared for.  The baby’s development is changed accordingly in preparation for this world.  We are just beginning to understand the full impact on babies when “bad” things happen to them. The good news is that we can do something about it through purposefully forming and supporting attachment and relationships.  

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Foundations for Professional Growth
• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators
• Positive, Goal-Oriented Relationships

W8 Self-Care, Paula Zaninovich, Alsion Beanblossom, Jeff McCulloch

Mental health Consultants will discuss the use of reflective supervision, case presentations and video reviews to enhance the effectiveness of Family Support Staff’s work with Early Head Start families and reducing staff stress and burn-out.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Foundations for Professional Growth
• Positive, Goal-Oriented Relationships

W9 Emotion Coaching, Jamie Rodrick

How do your thoughts and reactions to emotions influence how you care for children?  How can different parenting or teaching styles influence children’s social and emotional development?   In this session, participants will learn about four different response styles tied to emotions.  Participants will focus on the steps of “Emotion Coaching” to help to children build social competence including building empathy for others, becoming problem solvers, and relating to others.   

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Foundations for Professional Growth
• Self-Aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships

W10 Family Dynamics from a Strengths Perspective, Charles Smith

See family dynamics from a fresh perspective- energy and synergy that fuels the life of a family.  Have some fun (and gain perspective) by looking at the role of family dynamics in our own lives and in the lives of families we serve.  Family dynamics (patterns of relating or interacting) is often thought of in terms of problems and deficits.  We will explore some of the sources of family dynamics, with a particular focus on developmental themes- trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, identity vs. role diffusion, intimacy vs. isolation.  With an eye on the strengths perspective, we will identify how family dynamics play out in daily life routines and situations- child rearing, extended family connections, household relationships/roles - and what you can do to promote and strengthen positive family dynamics. 

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Self-Aware and Culturally Responsive Relationships
• Family Well-Being and Families as Learners

W11 Healthy from the Start: Infant & Toddler Nutrition—Best Practices in Nutrition and Activity, Diane Smith

Each infant’s growth and development will be different.  Parents and caregivers of infants often share common questions and concerns about caring for infants.  This workshop will highlight  resources and best practice to help parents raise happy, healthy infants.  Guidelines and strategies for establishing a positive feeding relationship between infant and parent will be the focus of this workshop. Emphasis will be on promoting healthy weight in infancy and throughout life. Topics include hunger and fullness cues, healthy infant feeding practices such as limiting juice and appropriately starting solids, and ways to incorporate physical activity from birth to 24 months.

Relationship-Based Competencies:  

• Family Well-Being and Families as Learners
• Parent-Child Relationships and Families as Lifelong Educators

W12 (See W6)