May 21, 2012               Circle Time with Alleyoop

April 9, 2o12               Art and Early Childhood with Sarah Lenoue

Learn more about  Visual Thinking Strategies and how to incorporate into your classroom.  This teaching method and curriculum promotes a structured, open-ended discussion of visual art with an emphasis on critical thinking, language and literacy.  They use techniques to engage the individual and group in a problem-solving process to encourage students to express ideas and respect opinions of their peers.  Used in many schools and museums across the country, they also have a wonderful partnership with The Frye Art museum.

March 19, 2012            Emotion Coaching with Melissa Benaroya

Emotion coaching helps parents guide their children through life’s ups and downs in a way that builds confidence, resilience and strong relationships. Developed by Dr. John Gottman, author of Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child, this process helps your child learn how emotions work and how to behave in healthy ways when feelings are strong-skills that help them thrive socially.  Melissa Benaroya MSW, LICSW, Certified Gottman Educator  is a licensed clinical social worker with an emphasis in working with children and families.  She is the co-owner of Grow Parenting and the co-creator and founder of the award winning Mommy Matters workshop series for mothers of toddlers and preschoolers. Her book The Childproof Parent was released in December 2011.

Emotion Coaching Handout

Why fathers matter – emotion coaching

November 21, 2011     Speech and Language Intervention

Meredith Shatto, MS, CCC-SLP and  Robert Shields, MS, CCC-SLP discussed early intervention, feeding/oral motor therapy, language delays, literacy, augmentative communication, autism, and other developmental language delay and disorders.

Preschool development powerpoint

Speech Sound Development Chart

October 17. 2011         Birds and Bees conversation with live video from Amy Lang

Due to an illness cancellation with our original speaker, Michelle Stiller, we were able to tune in to a webinar on Birds, Bees and Kids with Amy Lang.  Amy discussed “What you need to know and what they need to know” for ages 5-8 year olds.  She also provides a preschool webinar which is later than our meeting time.   Be sure to check out what she has to offer.

September 19, 2011    Nutrition with Carol Cartmell discussing best practices and allergies

We enjoyed hearing from Carol Cartmell, R.D. from the city’s Child Care Nutrition Program.  She gave us some good information on best practices in our programs, and we all enjoyed sharing ideas with one another on ways we have encouraged healthy habits, used cooking in our programs, facilitated mealtime socializing, grown food and herbs with the children, and much more.

August 15, 2011     Part 3: Self Care Series – “Handling Difficult Communication with Parents” presented by Dr. Lenore Rubin

It’s not always easy to talk to parents about their children’s challenging or concerning behaviors.  As educators, we may second-guess ourselves or doubt our own judgment about a child’s development.  We might not know what to say, how to say it, or where to turn for help after we do say it.  We learned about community resources, new tips on maintaining professionalism, and sharpened our communication skills.  A great resource written by Dr. Rubin is the Child Care Behavior Handbookwas referenced as well.

August 8, 2011       Part 2: Self Care Series- “Preventing Teacher Burnout”presented by Dr. Lenore Rubin

Due to some scheduling conflicts, July’s meeting was pushed to August.  Several came out to join us for a fun evening of socialization, relaxation, discussion, and delicious food.  We were pampered with a complementary chair massage and yoga class.  While also unwinding with fruit smoothies, steel drum playing in the background and card making.  We learn techniques for managing stress-level and preventing teacher burnout.  There is a difference between stress and burnout!  We hope you rejuvenated that “spark” for teaching that may have gotten lost amongst the planning, cleaning, and to-do lists!

June 20, 2011        Part 1: Self Care Series – Dealing with Difficult Child Behaviors”presented by Dr. Lenore Rubin

Do you have a child in your classroom that exhibits concerning behaviors? Do you feel frustrated with a child who takes up all your time and attention with his/her aggression, constant crying, or attention-seeking behaviors? Are you concerned about the physical, social, or emotional development of a child in your care?  We have suggestions, ideas, and resources for you!

May 16, 2011          Meet and Greet

Our first official member meeting was held at Endolyne Joe’s in the Fauntleroy neighborhood.  It was a great turnout for our first meeting – small and intimate – perfect size for everyone to have quality conversations with each other.