Are you struggling with management problems during large group? Learns ways to make your circle time engaging and fun for young children. This session includes ideas for creating predictable routines, using props and adaptations for those challenging behaviors.

Learn how the goals and principles of the Pyramid Model for Social Emotional Competence support teachers with challenging behavior. This session will focus on the second part of Tier One of the Pyramid Model, creating and establishing supportive environments. Explore contributing factors in the environment that lead to consistency and predictability and lessen the likelihood of challenging behavior, such as expectations and rules, schedules and transitions, environment design and visual cues.

This interactive training provides participants with an overview of developmentally appropriate practices, as defined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and focuses on how to bring DAP to life in a preschool classroom.  This training will share practical strategies to embed the guidelines in your daily work with children and how to create fun and engaging learning opportunities to meet children where they are developmentally.

Dual Language Learners are living in a world where gaining knowledge of multiple languages and cultures happens daily.  In this session, participants will gain an understanding of the benefits of creating a learning environment that incorporates culture while using intentional strategies that support educational outcomes.   In addition, participants will learn the critical importance of including families of DLLs in the child’s program to more effectively meet learning goals.

Learn how collecting documentation using observation-based assessment will support teaching practices. Participants will discover ways to collect a variety of evidence and apply it to the objectives of their curriculum and practice using evidence to develop a deeper understanding of how to use assessment for intentional lesson planning.

Using the GELDS, participants will explore the developmental continuum for Number and Quantity. This session includes hands on Math games and activities for teachers to adapt based on the developmental needs of the children in their classroom.

Sorting and Patterning – 2 hours (Ages 3-5)

Using the GELDS, participants will explore the developmental continuum for Sorting and Patterning. This session includes hands on activities for teachers to adapt based on the developmental needs of the children in their classroom.

Shapes – 2 hours (Ages 3-5)

Using the GELDS, participants will explore the developmental continuum for Shapes. This session includes creative ways to teach children how to recognize and identify shapes and understand the attributes that make up a shape.

Using the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS), this hands-on science session encourages children to observe, ask questions, and experiment. Learn how to promote children’s curiosity by asking why, how, and what questions. Be prepared to participate in fun engaging science experiments and activities to take back to your classroom using inexpensive real and found items.

Learn how the goals and principles of the Pyramid Model for Social Emotional Competence support teachers with challenging behavior. This session will focus on Tier One of the Pyramid Model, how relationships with children, families and co-workers are the foundation of everything we do. Learn concrete strategies for building nurturing and responsive relationships that lead to positive behavior.

Explore the world of books and learn intentional strategies for building children’s language skills and increasing vocabulary in this interactive, informative session.

Props and Puppets to Enhance Literacy in the Classroom – 2 hours (Ages 0-5)

Learn to make books come alive and encourage children to retell stories through the intentional use of props, story extensions and simple to make puppets!

Listen Up: Phonological Awareness is All Around! – 2 hours (Ages 3-5)

This session addresses the fundamental definition of phonological awareness while breaking down the continuum of age appropriate skill development. Specific and simple strategies will be practiced for ready-to-use activities in the classroom.

The ABCs of Alphabet Knowledge – 2 hours (Ages 3-5)

When and how do I begin teaching letters? Should I teach only one letter a week? How many letters should a child know before Kindergarten? These questions and many more will be answered in this interactive and fun training! Come learn about precursor skills to learning the letters of the alphabet and how to teach skills from matching to identifying, sound-symbol match and upper and lower case letter identification. Walk out with practical strategies for your classroom.

Learn more about the four-step planning process to consistently create purposeful learning opportunities for children during center time. This 12 hour training training can be individualized to meet your program needs featuring the following:

• Science and Sensory (2 hours)
• Block Play (2 hours)
• Math and Manipulatives (2 hours)
• Dramatic Play (2 hours)
• Language and Literacy (2 hours)
• Art and Music (2 hours)

Center Time Management – 4 hours (Ages 3-5)

Does center time make you want to pull your hair out? Join us as we explore management skills and techniques teachers can use to make center time the engaging, fun and easy to manage.  This training includes how to introduce centers, tips for managing materials and how to enhance play.

Making the Most of Center Time – 2-4 hours (Ages 3-5)

Center time lends itself as an optimal time of day for teachers to build relationships and interact in meaningful ways with children.  This session will offer you the opportunity to learn more about making the most of this time to interact with children and use what you learn to plan more meaningful activities during center time.

This training will focus on the purposes of writing, how to engage children in writing across the Pre-K classroom and the development of skills children need in order to learn to write. It will include hands-on activities to motivate children and build the motor skills children need for success.

This training will focus on defining and explaining emergent writing and describing the importance of motor and midline development on emergent writing.  It will include practicing motor-based activities that support the development of emergent writing.

Composing with Early Writers – 3 hours (Ages 3-5)

This training will focus on composing goals for young children which includes, exposing children to print in meaningful ways, strategies for helping children witness the process of translating speech into print and demonstrating to children that print has meaning.  Participants will participate in hands-on composing activities and experiences for young children.

Children need to remain active throughout the day; promoting outdoor play allows them to get fresh air and explore their environment through hands-on learning. Teach math, science, writing, vocabulary and social skills when children are outdoors using their senses. Learn creative games and activities to develop gross motor skills as children increase their ability to balance, jump, climb, throw, run and skip.

Did you know that informational texts comprises most of what we, as adults, read in our daily lives, yet children are not prepared to understand and use informational text?  Have you wondered how to do introduce informational text in an appropriate manner in the preschool classroom? In this training, teachers will learn about:

• the benefits of using informational text
• how to integrate informational text into everyday learning experiences
• how to extend learning with activities that let children explore new concepts

Teachers will practice using the REAL framework pairing an informational text with storybooks to develop read-alouds that build a vocabulary rich classroom and relate to knowledge of the real world for children.

Challenging behavior is difficult for teachers and children alike.  Did you know that one in four children experience at least one potentially traumatic event before the age of 16?  Trauma is just one of the causes of challenging behavior.  This training will explore Tier 3 of the Pyramid Model for Challenging Behavior and the messages behavior communicates.  Together, we will help teachers understand the form and function of specific challenging behaviors, discover strategies to reduce the behavior and develop individualized interventions for children who need additional support in the classroom.

Why do infants and toddlers do the things they do?  Discover the answers in this session as we explore how they learn, and the importance of teacher-child interaction and the classroom environment.

Learn how to plan learning experiences that will focus on hands-on and culturally responsive strategies that are aligned to the SocialStudies standards.  You will leave with developmentally appropriate activities around understanding basic economics, developing an emerging awareness of culture and diversity, discovering community, exploring social history, the passage of time and demonstrating an awareness of geography.

This session identifies the five components of storytime for infants and toddlers, along with interactive ideas to help build a rich literacy environment in the early childhood classroom.

Participants will learn how to engage children in active exploration opportunities to participate in the scientific process. This session provides hands-on experiences that teach children how to explore their curiosities and interests and promote critical thinking.

The Work Sampling System® is a curriculum-embedded, authentic performance assessment for teachers to use to assess young students’ development in multiple domains. This training can be individualized for your program needs:

• Technical assistance using WSO
• Understanding the importance of assessment
• Collecting quality documentation
• Understanding how to rate children using the Developmental Checklist
• Using the Class Profile report to plan lessons
• Using the Narrative Summary to communicate with Families