Center for Inclusive Child Care workshops...

The Center for Inclusive Child Care (CICC) is a centralized, comprehensive resource network for promoting and supporting inclusive early childhood and school age programs and providers. This network provides leadership, administrative support, training, and consultation to early care and education providers, school age care providers, parents, and the professionals who support providers and parents of children with special needs. The Center for Inclusive Child Care is part of Concordia University’s College of Education in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Center for Inclusive Child Care is dedicated to increasing the availability of quality options for families of children with special needs in community-based early childhood and school age child care. Services include inclusion trainer support, training of trainer opportunities, inclusion consultation and training, technical assistance, disability resources for professionals and families at www.inclusivechildcare.org, a comprehensive Learning Center at www.inclusivechildcare.org, and links to hundreds of disability and inclusion resources. Current workshop offerings include the following: The Six Keys: Strategies for Promoting Children’s Mental Health (In Early Childhood Programs) The Six Keys: Strategies for Promoting Children’s Mental Health in Early Childhood Programs is based on the curriculum by the same name and uses evidence-based practice and current research to demonstrate key components necessary for promoting emotional well-being in early childhood programs. There are a series of seven 2–4 hour workshops about the theories of emotional development, resilience, self-regulation, temperament, and many useful strategies for the early childhood setting. CDA Content Area 3: Social Emotional Development CDA Content Area 8: Principles of Child Growth and Development Workshop Title # 1: Early Childhood Mental Health: Why Your Role Matters! (Key # 1) In this workshop, participants will discover ways in which their early childhood role can nurture the emotional development of young children through interactions, practices, and modeling in order to build secure attachment relationships. Participants will examine what mental health means in young children and discuss specific strategies for providing consistency, responsiveness, and security in an emotionally healthy setting. Workshop Title # 2: How Do We Give Children A Strong Start?: Know the Key Emotional Milestones (Key # 2) This workshop focuses on the important emotional milestones caregivers can help children achieve as the foundation for positive mental health. This class will discuss how to use social and emotional development checklists to identify where children are in their development and look at strategies to support them as they progress to the next social/emotional milestone. Additional workshop for Key #2: Emotional Development: Acquired Skills Needed by All Children (Key # 2) This workshop, based on the work of Dr. Bruce Perry, will describe the six acquired skills needed by all children for positive emotional development including attachment, self-regulation, affiliation, awareness, tolerance, and respect. Participants will examine strategies for achieving success for children’s skill development in each of these core areas. Workshop Title # 3: Why Do Children Act the Way They Do?: Understanding How a Child Is ‘Wired’ (Key # 3) This workshop will examine how children are genetically “wired” with temperament traits that make each child’s reactions to the world unique and how these reactions impact their emotional development. Participants will also discuss their own temperaments and examine strategies for applying a “goodness of fit” model that fosters positive mental health for all children. Workshop Title # 4: Teaching Children to Know Their Own Engines: A Look at Your Environment (Key # 4) Do you see children who struggle with their emotions? This workshop will examine specific strategies for promoting self-regulation skills in young children through environmental supports in the early childhood setting and how impulse-control relates to their positive mental health. Participants will have the opportunity to explore key characteristics of the physical and emotional environment that can encourage children to learn to identify and express their feelings through everyday activities. Workshop Title # 5: Supporting Resilience in Children: The Little Engine that Could! (Key # 5) This workshop examines characteristics of resiliency and its key relationship to children’s mental health. Participants will explore the role resiliency plays as a critical factor in how children who are at risk will handle stress, react or adapt to negative situations, and overcome obstacles in their emotional growth. Participants will develop practical strategies for improving their environment and programming to enhance and support resiliency in young children. Workshop # 6: Making and Keeping Friends: The Importance of Friendship Skills (Key # 6) This workshop will examine the important relationship between mental health and social development. Participants will explore key ‘friendship skills’ and social competencies needed for children to be successful in their social relationships. Strategies will include how to use activities to promote prosocial skills to avoid aggression and build self-esteem in all children. Workshop # 7: Tools for Promoting Children’s Mental Health in Early Childhood Programs This session will offer ‘tools’ for early childhood educators and caregivers to promote the positive emotional health of young children in their programs. Participants will look at the practical applications of these necessary skills, including building community within child care, tuning in to each child and helping children understand their own feelings, as well as other key strategies within the early childhood environment. (From the Center for Inclusive Child Care) __________________ Children’s Development: What to Expect and When to Be Concerned Children’s Development: What to Expect and When to Be Concerned is based on CICC Project EXCEPTIONAL training on red flags, typical and atypical development, and when/how to share concerns with family. This course can be presented in one or two 2–4 hour workshops. CDA Content Area: # 7: Observing and recording children's behavior CDA Content Area # 8: Principles of child development and learning This interactive workshop will provide an overview of the red flags for developmental delays in young children, how to share developmental concerns with families, and local referral resources. Attendees will receive useful brochures describing typical child development and red flags for atypical development and other resource information. __________________ Floor Time: Tuning in to Each Child CDA Content Area # 3: Social Emotional Development This interactive class, using video and small group discussions, will help participants examine the Floor Time model developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan to ‘tune in’ to all children in their programs. The workshop will explore the five step process that supports the emotional and social development of a child by helping adults be aware of and to build on their intuitive understanding of children’s emotional growth while building self- esteem at the same time. ____________________ The Nurtured Heart Approach The Nurtured Heart Approach is based on the best selling work of Howard Glasser and Jennifer Easley Transforming the Difficult Child: The Nurtured Heart Approach. The material applies a unique approach for working with children who have high intensity temperament and challenging behavior using four key strategies, which have been researched as highly effective. CDA Content Area # 7: Observing and Recording Behavior CDA Content Area # 3: Social and Emotional Development Children with high intensity temperaments are often seen as children who are challenging in school or child care settings. The “Nurtured Heart Approach,” based on the work of Howard Glasser, is a unique approach for working with children who have challenging behaviors. This course combines four effective strategies for helping caregivers transform the way they see children who have high energy and high intensity from a challenge to a “gift.” _______________________ “Children and Challenging Behavior: Making Inclusion Work” “Children and Challenging Behavior: Making Inclusion Work, is an evidence-based, peer-reviewed narrative training with accompanying training activities designed for each workshop (two volume set). This course includes a series of seven 2–4 hour workshops about the function of behavior, the role of environment, tools for your toolbox, specific strategies for ADHD and Autism, and much more. CDA Content Area # 3: Social Emotional Development CDA Content Area # 7: Observing and Recording Behavior Children’s Behavior: The Importance of the Practitioner’s Role Whether someone has been in child care for one week or for 10 years, at some point everyone has had to guide a behavior that disrupts the daily routine. Join this workshop for an interactive look at challenging behavior and the child care role in working through it based on experiences and background. Prevention: It’s All About Environment What does the early childhood environment say to children? This workshop will examine the physical and social environments and their effect on children’s behavior. Learn how to prevent and guide children’s behavior through hands on activities and practical strategies. Inside the Child: Social and Emotional Development Ever wonder why children do what they do? This interactive training will give participants a chance to look at a child’s behavior from the “inside-out.” Participants will examine children’s temperament and development in relation to children’s behavior. Observation: Finding the Function of Behavior Ever thought: “They’re doing it on purpose?” Join this workshop to discover how through observation, early educators can see the clues children give adults to the purpose behind their behavior. Once the purpose is understood, a more effective response can be made to meet the child’s needs. Participants will examine observation tools for finding the ‘function’ of a child’s behavior. Tools for the Toolbox: Strategies to Meet Challenging Behaviors This workshop offers many ‘tools’ for working with children who have challenging behaviors, including specific guidance strategies as well as directions for making picture schedules and fidget toys. This interactive course has very practical information for implementing strategies in early childhood programs. ADHD: Seeing the Disability Behind the Behavior Navigating the landscape of a child with AD/HD might be easier if providers had a ‘map’ to follow! Join other participants in this interactive training in discovering the myths and facts of AD/HD as well as exploring successful and practical strategies for inclusion of children with AD/HD. Autism: Including Children with Social, Communication, and Behavior Needs This workshop will explore the key characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder and give early childhood practitioners tools to more effectively include a child with Autism in their child care setting. Included in this interactive workshop are myths and facts about Autism as well as practical strategies and tips for inclusion. ____________________ Project EXCEPTIONAL: A Guide to Training and Recruiting Child Care Providers to Serve Young Children with Disabilities Project EXCEPTIONAL: A Guide to Training and Recruiting Child Care Providers to Serve Young Children with Disabilities is based on a two volume training curriculum from the California Dept. of Education on topics like disability awareness, inclusion law, family/professional partnerships, and identifying/referring children at risk as well as much more. Thsi couse included the following nine 2 hour workshops. CDA Content Area # 2: Children’s Physical and Intellectual Development CDA Content Area # 3: Social and Emotional Development CDA Content Area # 4: Relationships with Families CDA Content Area # 6: Effective Program Operation CDA Content Area # 8: Child Development and Learning Who Will Care For Our Children? A Historical Perspective This interactive workshop highlights the history of the human rights movement and how it relates to the journey by individuals with special needs to become an accepted part of the community. While children with special needs and their families are often left with few options for quality child care, this workshop will provide research-based information on the benefits of inclusive care for all children. Participants will also explore the role of the Americans with Disabilities Act and learn how it affects child care. More Alike Than Different! The focus of this interactive and challenging workshop is on ability awareness and respect for diversity. Participants will look at the myths that influence and affect one’s own attitudes about children with special needs and how that applies to child care practice, including a look at children’s books on special needs. The training emphasizes the importance of supporting all children in their development for a positive sense of self-worth. Living With a Disability: The Family Perspective This training highlights the unique issues that families of young children with special needs face when looking for child care. Participants will explore the family perspective and discuss the topics of grief and ‘loss of dreams.’ The session will explain similarities between all families including those with children with special needs and those without and emphasize the need for acceptance and respect of diversity for family structures, values, and members. Inclusion: It’s Developmentally Appropriate Care for All Young Children! In this training, participants will examine key concepts of developmentally appropriate inclusive care, including the important role of the caregiver in the creation of an encouraging environment. The primary focus of this training is enhancing the participant’s skills in observation and encouraging and fostering positive social interaction as well as learning to promote productive play within child care settings. The benefits and challenges of including children with special needs in community care will be explored thoroughly throughout this training. Exploring the Family Caregiving Partnerships In this interactive training, participants will examine the importance of building quality relationships with families of children with special needs as an essential element in successful child care placements. Specific strategies will be developed for building parent-provider partnerships including open communication, trust, respect, and other key components necessary for achieving the goal of successful inclusion and retention of all children. When Concerns Arise: Identifying and Referring Children with Exceptional Needs Ever wondered about developmental red flags? The goal of this workshop is to assist providers with the identification and referral of children who have developmental concerns in their childcare programs. Participants will explore the benefits of supporting and assisting parents in seeking help for a child who may be in need of specialized services by understanding the assessment process and local referral contacts. A main focus will be how to share concerns with parents in a respectful manner if red flags for developmental concerns are present. Caregiving Strategies for Building Resilience in Children at Risk Children can face many stressors that will put their development at risk. In this interactive and informative training, participants will explore a wonderful foundation from which they can evaluate a child’s behavior and development, including common internal and external stressors and risk factors. Participants will also examine strategies for enhancing resiliency in their childcare programs. Caring for Young Children with Physical Disabilities This informative workshop will provide participants with a better understanding of children with physical disabilities by exploring a range of typical and atypical physical development as well as suggestions for safe and appropriate positioning and handling of children with special needs. Participants will examine concrete strategies regarding the use of adaptive equipment; learn how to create an appropriate environment, and learn safe lifting techniques so that children will be inclusive participants in all aspects of their child care setting! Nuts and Bolts: Administrative Issues in Serving Children with Exceptional Care Needs andTheir Families Ever wonder how licensing issues, insurance, liability rates, contracts, discrimination, and confidentiality relate to inclusion? In this workshop, participants will develop a foundation for meeting the needs of families and children with special needs by examining important administrative issues and by developing strategies and resources for support. _____________________________ Sensory Processing Disorder and Young Children Sensory Processing Disorder is based on material which is a supplemental to the curriculum Children and Challenging Behavior: Making Inclusion Work, In Sensory Processing Disorder. This course if developed into a one to two 2–6 hour workshops about the definition of SPD, the seven senses, strategies for improving a child care environment, and much more. CDA Content Area # 3 Guidance This interactive workshop will describe the characteristics of Sensory Processing Disorder and how it may impact young children in child care programs. Each participant will have the opportunity to examine their own sensory preferences and learn how they meet their individual sensory needs. Children have unique sensory preferences and sometimes those preferences can interfere with learning, social growth, and may result in challenging behaviors. Strategies for inclusion will be presented as well as local resources to share with parents.