Greetings!
Early Learning Update Week of November 13th, 2023
Items Covered:
· December Monthly Early Learning Professional Development: “Sensory and the Brain: Promoting Self-Regulation and Learning” - Thursday, December 7th from 6:00pm – 8:00pm
· Save the Date: Virtual Early Learning Professional Development Day: Friday, February 9th from 8:30am – 3:45pm
· Playchips Vendor for outdoor learning space
· Licensed ONLY - Licensing “WAC” of the week – Child Records
1.) December Monthly Early Learning Professional Development: “Sensory and the Brain: Promoting Self-Regulation and Learning” - Thursday, December 7th from 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Each month we will be offering a FREE Professional Development Training facilitated by one of our great Professional Development Partners. These trainings are available for any Early Learning staff and will have STARS and CLOCK hours available for those that need it.
December’s training is offered by IMPACT and is called “Sensory and the Brain: Promoting Self-Regulation and Learning.” The training will take place virtually on Zoom on Thursday, December 7th from 6:00pm – 8:00pm. Please see description and registration below:
Description: Do you like roller coasters? Do you hate spicy foods? We all have sensory preferences that guide the things we seek out and the things we avoid. Many “challenging behaviors” are actually a child’s attempts to regulate their sensory system, so join us to learn how to recognize sensory-seeking and sensory-avoiding behaviors in the classroom. This course teaches brain-based strategies that effective teachers use to get entire classrooms of children regulated and ready to learn. We put this into practice with a case study to identify an individual child’s sensory needs and walk through the whole process together – connecting a child’s behaviors to their sensory needs and then creating an easy-to-follow plan for supporting those needs in the classroom. As a bonus, you’ll get a printable Sensory Matrix template that you can customize for your students and use again and again in your classroom.
2.) Save the Date: Virtual Early Learning Professional Development Day: Friday, February 9th from 8:30am – 3:45pm
I am looking forward to our fourth annual Virtual Early Learning Professional Development Day on Friday, February 9th from 8:30am – 3:45pm. We will have multiple sessions on a range of topics geared toward Early Learning. The sessions will be on Zoom and are open to all Early Learning staff. Thank you for sharing with your teams and getting this date on the calendar. More Details and Registration Information to come! As a reminder if you work for a licensed program and you participate in all three session timeframes you will receive 6 STARS hours that day.
3.) Play chips Vendor for outdoor play spaces
A few of our programs need new play chips for their outdoor play spaces. If you have a vendor that you have worked with that you would recommend, can you please pass along their information to me. Thank you!
4.) Licensed ONLY - Licensing “WAC” of the week – Child Records
At licensed early learning facilities child record’s must be kept in a confidential manner, but in an area easily accessible to staff. The link to the WAC below includes a nice checklist of all the items that need to be included in a child’s record if applicable to your program. One note … double check that your registration paperwork for your school includes a question about the date of a child’s last physical and dental visit. The is a requirement of the WAC. If your school does not have that question on the registration paperwork; we now have an addendum that I can share with you that parents can sign. Feel free to reach out if you need it!
Have a great week!
