Professional Development
We offer a variety of learning opportunities designed to strengthen the skills, knowledge and confidence of early childhood educators, teachers, and family members.
We Bring Professional Development to You
Our commitment to facilitating professional learning extends beyond our premises. We’ll bring our expertise and resources directly to your location of choice for a convenient and tailored learning experience for your team.
Whether it's at your office, conference centre, online, or another venue of your choice, our dedicated team ensures seamless delivery of high-quality learning sessions.
Online
In ALBERTA and across CANADA: Our professional development opportunities will help you support the participation of all children.
In Person
Workshops to Choose from
We offer high-quality adult learning opportunities which are available in Alberta and across Canada to support your agency’s changing professional learning needs and interests.
What do you do when a child does not respond easily to the practices that generally spark connection with children in play, routines, and everyday activities? In this session, participants will describe the difference between “Turn- taking” and “Taking Turns” (yes, there is a difference!), and how turn-taking supports connection, engagement, and learning. Participants will investigate turn-taking and serve-and-return strategies that support connection with children who feel hard-to-engage, both with and without the use of toys. Lastly, participants will have the opportunity to create a plan to start using these strategies with children in their program.
As educators and parents, we want our children to participate meaningfully in the day-to-day experiences of our families, classrooms, and communities. Literacy and communication skills are how we share our experiences with others and interpret their experiences in turn. How can we support early literacy and communication development for our children who have significant communication disorders and other disabilities?
This workshop will support educators and families to engage children in reading and writing activities that are interactive, personally meaningful, and aimed at enhancing their participation across their day. We will explore technology applications and simple materials we can make at home to foster these experiences. Attendees will leave this workshop with new ideas and resources to support all children to become engaged as early readers and writers.
While the majority of educators believe in inclusion for all children, inclusion continues to create stories of success as well as challenge. Grounded on a foundation of human rights, this workshop will engage participants in reflecting on their beliefs and values about inclusion. Participants will clarify the definition of inclusion and the rights of children as it relates to inclusive education; describe the elements of an inclusive culture; and, investigate their role in supporting inclusion within your sphere of influence.
While the majority of educators believe in inclusion for all children, inclusion continues to create stories of success as well as challenge. In this session, participants will briefly review the definition of inclusion; investigate inclusive practices that support all children’s participation; and explore tools they can use to analyze the types of support an individual child might need for meaningful participation.
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is critical for children with limited verbal ability to be included and have a voice in their everyday interactions. This workshop will define AAC, and clarify its importance as a communication tool. Participants will investigate a variety of apps and systems that provide children with access to communication and promote language development. We will discuss best practices for Aided Language Modeling across routines and activities, to promote confidence and comfort in using these tools. Overall, learners will leave with a more solid awareness of the tools that are available to provide every child with a voice in their regular routines. This workshop is recommended for educators who are actively supporting a child that uses AAC to communicate.
Physical literacy helps all of us to have a meaningfully active lifestyle. Understanding how and why we move, with opportunities to do so in the early years, impacts a child’s learning and lifestyle as they grow. In this workshop, participants will describe the components of physical literacy and the foundations of movement; clarify why physical literacy and movement is important to everyone; and, investigate strategies for inclusive recreation—making gross motor play accessible for all children.
Quality coaching, quality teaching, and child learning are interconnected. As we aim to strengthen the skills and knowledge of others, this learning opportunity will explore the research and skills behind adopting and implementing a practice-based coaching model.
PBC is a cyclical process for supporting the use of professional skills that lead to positive outcomes for children. It is grounded in creating a culture of coaching and fostering collaborative, co-learning partnerships.
Participants will be introduced to tools that guide assessment of learner needs, shared goal setting, action planning and reflective feedback. Through use of video, case studies, and break-out groups, participants will practice the PBC framework within the context of their own work.
Time will also be provided exploring next steps for implementation and sustaining the practice based coaching model in the workplace.
The first five years of a child’s life is very important. A child’s healthy social and emotional development forms a foundation for lifelong learning and mental health. Children’s social and emotional development is deeply linked to healthy adult-child relationships.
In this workshop, participants will-
describe what social and emotional development is, and how it lays the foundation for relationships, mental health, and development;
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investigate how to support social and emotional development from a neuro-relational perspective; and
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examine their own social and emotional development, and how that impacts their work and relationships.
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The research is clear on the critical role the environment holds in influencing children’s well-being, their participation, and engagement. In this session, participants will identify how their beliefs about children and families impact their relationships; identify practices that create a responsive environment for children;, and investigate practices to support children’s social and emotional development in the areas of emotional literacy, regulation, peer interactions, and problem-solving.
Regulation involves more than just having a basket of fidgets! Regulation comes through relationships—educators and caregivers have a valuable role to play in supporting children’s regulation each day. In this session, participants will define regulation and the factors that can influence it; identify how our relationships with children are a necessary part of regulation; and, investigate practices that can help support children’s regulation in the learning environment.
Human behaviour is complex, and our approach to supporting children’s development requires us to think holistically. This means moving away from previous and potentially harmful ways that we used to look at children’s behaviour. This workshop will help participants understand the paradigm shifts necessary to support a whole-child approach to guiding children's participation. Participants will investigate the impact of relational safety versus a traditional approach to responding to behavior; reconsider their understanding of the cause of behaviour, their expectations of neuro-diverse children, and the importance of a common approach for an integrated support plan; and, they will have a chance to practice reframing children's behaviour through the use of scenarios and group discussion.
Mealtimes can be stressful for both children and educators, but it doesn’t have to be! Drawing from multiple evidence-based frameworks, participants will gain a better understanding of typical feeding development and common challenges; as well as develop an appreciation of the complexity of feeding and how to support all children’s participation at meal times. Recognizing their role and responsibilities in creating responsive meal time routines, participants will leave with at least one strategy they can use right away to support mealtime participation in their program.
Fee Structure
TWO HOURS
$500
THREE HOURS
$750
ONE DAY
$1,500
TWO DAYS
$3,000
