Session Descriptions

Creating Learning Environments for Children with Special Needs

This 1-day training session explores ways to support the development and learning of children with disabilities in early childhood classrooms. This interactive session focuses on specific strategies for adapting the environment to meet the individual needs of children with various types of disabilities. Participants will learn and practice a process for embedding children's special education goals into the daily routines and activities of the early childhood classroom. In addition, participants will develop an action plan to be implemented in a classroom in which they work. A web-based follow-up session will be provided 4-6 weeks after the initial training.

Embedding Intervention - A Team Approach

The daily routines and activities of the early childhood environment provide the most appropriate opportunities for children to learn and develop. When IEP goals are developed around the natural routines of the classroom and home, goals may be implemented more frequently and by all professionals who serve the child. In this 1-day session, participants review models of service delivery, link IEP goals to the routines of the classroom and home, review different methods of related service delivery which embed goals in classroom routines, explore different methods for documenting progress toward IEP goals which are embedded in the classroom routines, and review strategies to promote collaboration through consultation.

Promoting Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Infants and Toddlers

This 2-day session will provide an overview of the components of early social and emotional development in infants and toddlers (i.e., temperament, attachment, emotional regulation, developmental issues, etc.) and how these components influence and are influenced by families and the communities in which they live. Participants will explore and discuss how nurturing relationships, responsive caregiving and supportive environments can prevent challenging behaviors and facilitate healthy development. Participants also will explore how centers can help to sustain the foundations of social competence through program leadership and parent involvement. The content of this training will build on the evidence based work of the Center on the Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL*).

Promoting Healthy Social and Emotional Development in Preschool Children: Train-the-Trainer

Since 2004, Partnerships for Inclusion has provided an intensive 3-day training session designed to provide early childhood professionals with evidence-based, classroom strategies to prevent challenging behaviors by promoting healthy social and emotional development of preschool children (ages 2-5 years). This year PFI will offer a 2-day train-the-trainer version of this session which is based on the Pyramid Model for Promoting the Social and Emotional Development of Infants and Young Children and the work of the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL*). This session will include an overview of the content of the training modules, strategies to effectively use the materials to promote adult learning, and related resources.

*For more information about CSEFEL, visit their web site at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/