New research and a fresh outlook by the American Academy of Pediatrics confirm that screen time for young children is rapidly increasing at younger ages. This course will provide strategies for staying current on this rapidly evolving topic. In addition, it will provide attendees with tools for supporting caregivers of today’s youngest and most vulnerable media users. Participants will also hear reputable research findings related to the impact of technology on early child development.

It is essential for early childhood educators to gain knowledge about pediatric health promotion and obesity prevention. To ensure the success of pediatric health promotion and obesity prevention programs, carry over must occur between schools, daycares, the home environment, and community recreation. This course equips educators with a plethora of creative, fun, budget-friendly physical activities combined with academic concepts and recyclables that can be easily incorporated into a variety of settings including schools, daycares, clinics, and the home environment.

This course is presented in partnership with Region 9 Head Start Association's Training West. A disaster or emergency situation can occur anytime and anywhere, often without warning. Through this training, participants will explore potential disaster/emergency situations in early childhood programs and appropriate responses to those situations.

Teaching Beyond Bars™ is a course fit for those who work with children that have a parent incarcerated and unsure how they can be a resource. This interactive course teaches you how to address that uncomfortable and sensitive topic of incarceration with ease and confidence.

This course is presented in partnership with Region 9 Head Start Association's Training West. This course will help participants use favorite Circle Time stories to engage children in STEM thinking. With a focus on specific learning objectives, academic vocabulary, and intentional questioning strategies, Circle Time can create a sense of “I wonder” leading to STEM-based thinking and exploration at learning centers throughout the day.

Culture impacts all of us and who we are. It is important to consider culture in early learning as young children are developing their identity and sense of belonging. After an overview of what is and why use culturally responsive teaching, this course provides numerous practical ideas to be responsive and inclusive of all cultures when working in an early childhood setting.

This course addresses the challenges of working with young boys in early childhood programs. After discussing some of the many reasons why young boys are more difficult to care for and educate than young girls, a variety of suggestions are provided to address this dilemma, from overall policy and school-wide program changes to curricula, instruction, and the environment alterations.

This course discusses the challenge of meeting the unique needs of twice-exceptional students in early childhood programs. These students are both gifted and talented, and have one or more special needs or developmental delays. Several approaches to teaching these children are provided, including three specific teaching models.

This course invites teachers to think critically about their early childhood classroom from the child’s perspective, and through the lens of aesthetics and beauty. It encourages teachers to enhance children’s environments through the Seven Principles of Design with nature, color, textures, lighting, furnishings, displays, and focal points.

This course challenges early childhood teachers and caregivers to help each child construct their own healthy racial and ethnic identity. Teachers and caregivers should not impose their view of the child’s race or ethnicity on the child; they must support each child’s unique process as the child develops a healthy sense of his/her racial and ethnic identity.