Early Childhood Educators Institute 2025

Registration is Now Open!

Institute Information

The Ninth Annual Early Childhood Educators Institute (ECEI) will be live online and fully interactive using Zoom Videoconferencing on July 29, July 31, August 5 & August 7 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. If you are an early childhood or primary teacher (birth to grade 3), a special educator, home visitor, or related service/CIS personnel, then this Institute is for you!

Institute Theme

This year's theme is Reflective Practice

Where might you have room in your busy days to reflect on your work supporting young children? Reflective practice for early childhood educators involves consciously examining and learning from experiences to improve future performance. It is a process that focuses on self-reflection of one’s interactions, feelings, reactions, and areas of growth to promote emotional awareness, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

Schedule for Online Institute

Institute Strands

The ECEI consists of 11 strands. Participants choose to take one strand for the duration of the Institute. Those who wish to attend the institute (four days of live online learning) will receive a certificate of completion recognizing 20 hours of professional development.

3-Credit Courses Aligned with the Institute

Those who wish to extend their learning can later register for the optional 3-credit course aligned with their strand. The course requires participation in all four dates of the institute and continued participation in an online environment between August 8 and September 30, 2025. Course takers will be expected to complete and submit all coursework by October 1, 2025. Every course is offered at the graduate and undergraduate level. Those who do not yet have a Bachelor's Degree will be automatically registered for the undergraduate section. Course takers will receive a grade on an official VTSU transcript in lieu of a certificate of completion. The courses are designed to deepen practice, meet child care professional development requirements, and contribute to early childhood or elementary educator licensing competencies and/or renewal of educator licenses and endorsements. All courses are aligned with the Vermont Early Learning Standards (VELS) and the Vermont Guiding Principles for Full Participation of Each and Every Child, which are central to a shared vision for young children in Vermont in the years from birth through Grade 3. 

For those who attended the Institute in previous years, the registration process will look different this year. Rather than registering for an institute strand and an aligned course simultaneously, instead you will register for the institute first by selecting a strand below. Once you register for and pay for the Institute ($200) by card, check, or PO, you will receive an email from the Center for Schools with the aligned course registration link.

Keynote Presentations

Reflective Practice as an Invitation to Brave Spaces and Skillful Scaffolding for our Children

Day 1: Tuesday, July 29, 9 am

Michelle Maitri-Mudita, M.Ed., Director of Social-Emotional Learning and Wellness, Northeast Kingdom Learning Services and Ready, Set, Grow Childcare AND Halie Barrick, M.A., Founder and co-facilitator of Growing Edge Equine*imity LLC.

What if we told you that reflective practice isn’t just something to mark off on your calendar, but rather is a way of life? In this presentation we will challenge the assumption that reflective practice is a luxury; we believe it is a necessity. We are all familiar with the ‘revolving door’ challenge often faced in the field of early childhood education; today we propose that deeply-integrated reflective practice offers a viable path toward building stable, strong, and thriving teams. By prioritizing reflective practice in every level of our organizations, from directors, to administrators, educators, and support staff, we can “be the change we wish to see in the world” and have a tangible impact on the mental, emotional, and relational health of our communities. This requires our wholehearted engagement, conscious reflection, and a willingness to always keep growing; and if we are committed to the journey we just may find that our lives are filled with more joy, more peace, and more potential to ignite the spark of lifelong learning in our children!

Self-Care as Reflective Practice: Tending to Ourselves, Sustaining Our Work

Day 2: Thursday, July 31, 9 am

Ingrid Anderson, Ed.D., Faculty, Portland State University 

What if self-care wasn’t an extra task, but a form of reflective practice woven into the rhythm of your day? In this keynote, Dr. Ingrid Anderson explores how intentional self-care can deepen awareness, restore emotional balance, and reconnect us to the “why” behind our work with young children. Through a trauma-informed and strength-based lens, participants will be invited to consider small, sustainable practices that support emotional presence, professional resilience, and a sense of collective care. This session will offer both inspiration and practical tools to nurture your well-being and spark reflection in your daily routines.

A Pathway to Persistence: Inspiration to Discover and Achieve Your Personal Goals

Day 3: Tuesday, August 5, 9 am

Heather Duhamel, M.Ed., Faculty, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education, Vermont State University

In Vermont, within our Early Childhood Education field, there are multiple entry points into each career pathway. We each have our own unique professional development story. By mapping this story, with right-sized resources and support, there is an opportunity to finish this story and meet your goal.

Our Profession's Power: Reflective Practice Shapes Active Engagement 

Day 4: Thursday, August 7, 9 am

Lauren Hogan, Strategic Advisor, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

When we bring together the diverse voices, experiences, and expertise of early childhood educators working in centers, schools, and homes, our collective advocacy becomes increasingly powerful. In this session, we will highlight key moments of advocacy successes, reflect on our challenges, and look ahead to what’s happening now and next. Together, we will talk about how educators, in Vermont and across the nation, are responding to this moment with momentum - and with continued, shared resolve to advance a unified, diverse, effective, well-prepared, well-supported, and well-compensated early childhood education profession that helps all of our children, families, and communities thrive.

Pricing

The institute registration fee and the aligned course fee remain affordable again this year due to the generous support of the Vermont Department of Children and Families/Child Development Division.

The institute and course are priced separately.

Strand Descriptions

Choose one strand for the 4 institute days. Select a strand title below to read the description. You will be asked to make a first and second strand choice when registering for the Institute. If your first choice is full or is cancelled due to low enrollment, you will automatically be registered for your second choice. You will receive email notification of the change.

For those of you who attended the Institute in previous years, the registration process will look different this year. Rather than registering for the institute strand and an aligned course simultaneously, instead you will register for the institute only below. Once you register for and pay for the Institute ($200) by card, check, or PO, you will receive an email from the Center for Schools with the optional, aligned course registration link.

Augmentative Communication Strategies for Young Children

Session Description: This strand/course will focus on exploring, identifying and implementing augmentative communication supports for young children with complex communication needs. It will provide participants skills and knowledge regarding increasing participation, play and social interaction for young children in inclusive early childhood classrooms, and within daily routines within the home setting. A specific emphasis will be placed on building a comprehensive understanding, and practical application, of the Augmentative Communication process for children ages 2 through 8 years of age. Using a coaching model participants will practice using modeling, coaching, reflection and joint planning to enhance AAC implementation with colleagues and families. The use of this coaching model promotes professional growth and cultivates strong caregiver/provider relationships.

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit. 

Audience: Participants from the fields of early childhood education, early childhood special education, speech language pathology and occupational therapy working with children birth through age 8 may benefit from the content of this course.

Work students will need to complete prior to the institute: None

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review Aligned Credit Course Syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

Creative Techniques for Working with Trauma-Impacted Children and Families

Session Description: According to SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) two-thirds of children report experiencing at least one traumatic event by age 16.  Potentially traumatic events might include things such as abuse, community or school violence, natural disasters, grief, serious accidents or illnesses and many others. Understanding how to recognize these signs in the children in our care is the first step in our ongoing goal to best care for and teach them. Recognizing the possible resultant problematic behaviors is the second step and then having strategies in our toolbox to help them recover and thrive is the third step.  The knowledge to be considered a trauma-sensitive educator is not only a “nice skill”, it is a critical tool in our work to become educators who engage in reflective practice.

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit. 

Work students will need to complete prior to the institute, if any: Reading the required text. The instructor will provide more detailed information once you have registered. 

Audience: Early Childhood Educators (birth to grade 3)

Intended Outcomes: Learners will...

• Distinguish the difference between stress and trauma
• Define events that often rise to the level of trauma for our students
• Pick out clues that point to problematic behaviors that may be connected to trauma
• Understand techniques that are helpful
• Understand techniques that are not helpful
• Be connected to resources for additional support

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Mark-making, materials and narrative: Interwoven ways of knowing, representing, and being together

Session Description:

The Exhibition and Atelier Mosaic of Marks, Words, Material is coming to Winooski, Vermont, in the Summer of ’26. This strand/course uses the exhibit catalogue (https://www.store.reggioalliance.org/products/mosaic-of-marks-words-material) as a source of study and reflection. The catalogue gives visibility to children’s work and processes as they encounter and navigate communication and mark-making in pursuit of understanding the symbol system of standardized writing and reading. This class will deepen our understanding of the interweaving and transactions that take place between mark-making and narrative by engaging in a deep examination of how drawing and materials are informed by words and mental imagery, and of how words and mental imagery are informed by the senses and perceptions (visual, tactile, sound, physical). Our conversations, supported by the exhibition catalogue, will lend insight into the power of drawing, mark-making, materials, words, narratives, and relationships in our own classrooms. It will also serve as a model for the reflective practice inherent in the Cycle of Inquiry (Gandini & Goldhaber, 2000), where child observation invites reflection and the planning of authentic, responsive curricular encounters, which the students taking this class will practice.

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit.  

Audience: Early Childhood Educators (birth to grade 3)

Work students will need to complete prior to the institute: Choose one Markmaking tool from this list, purchase as needed, and bring to each session:
- Black, gray and white pencils,
- Colored pencils,
- Black, white, and colored water-based paint markers,
- Oil pastels,
- Fluorescent markers,
- Colored markers (fine and wide tips),
- Gold and silver markers,
- Hard Pastels (Conte crayons).

Please come having read:

- Read the Course syllabus

- Pages 111-113 in Gallas, K. (1994).

- Mosaic: Introduction (pp.9-24) and Endnotes (pp.128-151).

The instructor will provide more detailed information once you have registered.

Audience: Birth through age 8.

Intended Outcomes:

• See examples of children’s wealth of potential, their ability to wonder and investigate, and their ability to co-construct their knowledge through active processes.
• Learn about the theoretical foundations related to the relationship between speech and action.
• Reflect on the interweaving and transactions that take place between children’s mark-making and narrative.
• Make connections to the power of drawing, mark-making, materials, words, narratives, and relationships in their own classrooms.
• Have hands-on experiences with a chosen material (one from among the materials used in the exhibit’s atelier) and develop in-depth knowledge of its affordances and possibilities.
• Develop strategies to incorporate their chosen medium/material into their classrooms
• Observe, document and share the children’s interactions with their chosen medium/material with their colleagues and families.

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review aligned credit course syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

Math in the Outdoors: Using Nature-Based Approaches to Teach Early Mathematics​

Session Description:

Educators will explore innovative and effective strategies for teaching early mathematics through nature-based approaches. Recognizing the immense potential of outdoor environments as rich learning spaces, participants will delve into methods that capitalize on the natural world to foster mathematical understanding in young learners aged from birth to 8 years old. Throughout the course, participants will investigate various mathematical concepts and skills including number sense, number operations, geometry, measurement, patterns, data collection and problem-solving, within the context of outdoor environments and indoor math invitations. Through hands-on activities, discussions, and reflective exercises, educators will gain practical insights into designing and implementing nature-based math experiences that engage and inspire young children. 

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit. 

Work to complete prior to the institute: None

Audience: Early Childhood Educators (birth to grade 3)

Intended Outcomes:

• Understand the theoretical foundations of nature-based pedagogy and its relevance to early mathematics education.
• Explore and identify opportunities for integrating mathematical concepts and skills within outdoor and indoor learning environments suitable for young children.
• Design developmentally appropriate and engaging nature-based math activities that align with early childhood curriculum standards and learning objectives.
• Equip educators with the knowledge and skills to apply observational and inquiry-based strategies, facilitating mathematical explorations and problem-solving, while effectively documenting, assessing, and sharing children's mathematical play with families.
• Utilize a variety of natural materials to create hands-on math materials that support learning experiences that cater to diverse learners' needs.
• Design and implement meaningful and challenging math curriculum that promote hands-on learning for all young children while integrating math, literacy and science in early childhood curriculum.
• Explore family and community events that help establish and nurture respectful, reciprocal relationships with children's families and communities, while building a deeper understanding of the importance of math in early childhood.

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review aligned credit course syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

Partnering with Families in Early Childhood Education: Engaging in Reciprocal Partnerships with Families and Fostering Community Connections

Session Description:

This strand is designed around the development of a Family Teacher Partnership Plan based on National Association for Education of Young Children’ DAP: Engaging in Reciprocal Partnerships with Families and Fostering Community Connections. The strand will embed key principles and theories into four areas: child development/developmentally appropriate practices and role of family in early childhood education systems; reflective practice and relationship building with families, communication strategies for families, welcoming families and building family participation in child curriculum, classroom activities, and school culture.

By focusing on the establishment of successful partnerships between parents and families within the realm of Early Childhood Education, this learning opportunity draws upon NAEYC standards, ecological systems theory, and reflective practices. Students will acquire practical tools to assist families in enhancing their skills to support their child’s development, enrich classroom culture and curriculum, and establish effective communication with teaching staff.

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit. 

Work students will be required to complete prior to the institute: 

DAP: Engaging Reciprocal Partnerships with Families and Fostering Community Connections, (1 page) available online: https://www.naeyc.org/resources/position-statements/dap/engaging-families

The instructors will provide more detailed information once you have registered.

Audience: Early Childhood Educators (birth to grade 3)

Intended Outcomes:

Students will...

Development of a Family/Teacher Partnership Plan that includes all components of NAEYC’s DAP: Engaging in Reciprocal Partnerships with Families and Fostering Community Connections, that includes:

• strategies for respectful, reciprocal relationships with and among families;
• strategies to work in collaborative partnership with families, seeking and maintaining regular, frequent, two-way communication with them and recognizing that forms of communication may differ for each family;
• strategies welcome family members in the setting and create multiple opportunities for family participation;
• family’s choices and goals for their child and respond with sensitivity and respect to those preferences and concerns.
• opportunities for the family share with each other their knowledge of the particular child and understanding of child development and learning as part of day-to-day and other forms of communication (e.g., family get-togethers, meetings, support groups).
• Involving families as a source of information about the child (before program entry and on an ongoing basis).
• Strategies to learn about the community and then use the community as a resource across all aspects of program delivery.

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review aligned credit course syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

Reflection= Root of Resilience & Resounding Relationships!

Session Description:

Are you an early educator feeling drained, frustrated, and burned out? …. wishing you had better or more tools to draw from when those big behaviors derail your day? Join us! Together we’ll walk through the hard work of identifying stuck points and growth points, and we’ll end up with more patience, and more tools, for your time investment! This learning opportunity will support early educators and caregivers in using reflective practice to grow their own self-awareness and scaffold their skills to better facilitate social emotional learning with the children in their care. We all share a desire for more ease and peace in our days, while guiding children toward becoming their best selves, and this can be done! It may require a paradigm shift (‘power with’ instead of ‘power over’, relationships rather than rewards and punishments), a mindset shift (connection over control, regulated adults regulate children), a toolbelt shift (growth mindset, positive psychology, ACEs, PACEs, and resilience, healthy communication and conflict resolution) and lots of support along the way, but it *can* be done! Come spend some time with a mother- daughter team who have lived this path, and who have a passion for sharing some of the stepping stones toward supporting the growth of children who will not need to spend their adulthoods recovering from their childhoods. And in the process, you will grow, too ~ ! ~ and day-to-day life might just surprise you with more peace and joy in the process.

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit. 

Work students will be required to complete prior to the institute: Please read The Art of Possibility by Benjamin Zander. The instructors will provide more detailed information once you have registered.

Audience: Birth through age 8.

Intended Outcomes:

• Introduce learners to the importance of developing a growth mindset and healthy self-care as early childhood professionals
• Introduce learners to the importance of responsive, attachment-based early care for young children
• Introduce learners to the effects of developmental trauma and resilience: how this manifests in our own lives as educators & how this may be influencing the development and behavior of young children in our care
• Provide learners with a basic understanding of the science of brain development and the nervous system, as well as additional relevant resources to support their own awareness and continued learning
• Provide learners with practical tools and strategies for: educator self-awareness and self-regulation & improve the quality of adult-child interactions and supports

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review aligned credit course syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

Reflective Strategies for Supporting Social Communication in Young Children through Connection, Play, and the Exchange of Feedback

Session Description:

Effective and meaningful social interaction relies upon the exchange of words, ideas, and communication without words, or symbols such as body language, emotional signals, and social cues. As unique social beings we have preferences and tendencies that guide how we begin, navigate, and end social interactions. Yet, social interactions are reciprocal back-and-forth exchanges that require consideration not only for our own hopes, priorities, and preferences, but also those of our social partners. And effective communication for all includes empowering all communicators to understand their own preferences as well as their social partner’s preferences. Enhancing access to effective sensory processing, communication opportunities, and negotiating social relatedness demands of interactions can enhance cross-neurotype communication within neuro-shared play contexts. Applying, modeling, and strengthening reflective communication practices, by monitoring, modifying, and modeling communication, can enhance social connection, collaboration, and social problem solving. This series will explore how educators can create an optimal environment, using neurodiversity-affirming practices, to foster engagement, social emotional regulation, and social communication for all children. Participants will engage in readings, discussions, simulations, and guided application as they develop and design strategies and practices that draw from universal design. These practices celebrate children as their authentic selves, offer opportunities for shared decision making, self-determination, and offer scaffolding within social exchange to hone children’s capacity for social emotional regulation and effective communication.   

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all course instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit. 

Work students will be required to complete prior to the institute: Identify a real or made-up learner which you will use to guide the development of a play plan to support social communication. The instructor will provide more detailed information once you have registered.

Audience: PreK - grade 3 early childhood and elementary educators, special educators, paraeducators, instructional assistants, related service providers (SLP, OT, SPED, LSW), and personal care assistants.

Intended Outcomes:

As practitioners and educators, it is our job to integrate knowledge of best practices for supporting learning and communication with ongoing information, beliefs, and opinions from a neurodiverse community of communicators. The exchange of feedback can enhance our capacity for communicating across neurotypes and within natural social conflicts that are bound to arise as we communicate in our neurodiverse world. Applying, modeling, and strengthening reflective communication practices, by monitoring, modifying, and modeling accommodations and modified communication opportunities can enhance social connection, collaboration, and social problem solving.

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review aligned credit course syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

The Words We Use: Reflecting on Language in Early Childhood Education Practices

Session Description:

As early childhood education (ECE) continues evolving, the kind of language early educators use in our everyday professional engagements can evolve with it. In this course, we will examine the way the language we use impacts how early educators see ourselves, how others see us, and how examining the language we use deepens our connection to our practices.  We will begin our exploration by developing an interdisciplinary understanding of how the language individuals and groups use impacts the ways in which people see the world, or worldview perspective, and how people see specific subjects. Upon establishment of this concept, course participants will think deeply about how the language they use impacts how they, themselves, and others see our work and their participation in it, and how we can regularly reflect upon the kind of language we use in our work across professional encounters among families, legislators, colleagues, and directly with children to most fully convey our work and meanings.

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit. 

Work students will be required to complete prior to the institute: Review

• Marian, V. Introduction
• Matatov, S. (2021, April 28)
• Boroditsky, L. How language shapes the way we think

The instructor will provide more detailed information once you have registered.

Audience: Birth through age 8.

Intended Outcomes:

To support educators to think critically and intentionally about the language they use in their professional encounters. This includes everyday encounters with families, children, and colleagues, and less frequent encounters such with legislators.

Participants will learn to critically analyze their experiences and actions and to use that analysis to inform future learning and practice, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and growth through self-awareness and deliberate reflection.

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review aligned credit course syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

Therapeutic Care Work with Young Children in Classroom Settings

Session Description:

This course will focus on providing therapeutic learning and/or healing experiences in a classroom setting for young children who, for either internal or environmental reasons, struggle in their relationships with the people in their world. We will examine the personality traits and knowledge base that are critical for teachers to possess. We will discuss self-reflection as well as peer reflective practice in order to succeed in this challenging and highly rewarding work. We will also explore how curriculum, physical environment, and program supports can advance this work. We will look at issues such as attachment, parent to staff relationships, strategies for working with children who have unmet emotional or developmental needs. The course will entail a mix of didactic presentation, videos and discussions. Participants are asked to bring in case examples of children and family situations that have presented challenges in their work or their programs. 

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit.

Work students will be required to complete prior to the institute: None. The instructors will provide more detailed information once you have registered.

Audience: Early Childhood Educators (birth to grade 3)

Intended Outcomes:

• Understand what unmet emotional needs or developmental needs look like
• Understand what is meant by therapeutic early care and education
• Familiarity with Addison County Parent/Child Center therapeutic childcare assessment
• Understand Teacher/Caregiver Attributes and Training essential in therapeutic work with young children
• Understand Social/Emotional Curriculum implications of working in a therapeutic classroom
• Understand Physical Environments that support therapeutic work
• Understand Program Supports needed to establish and maintain a therapeutic classroom
• Familiarity with reflective supervision practices in therapeutic work with children and families upon completion of this course, participants will learn to critically analyze their experiences and actions and to use that analysis to inform future learning and practice, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and growth through self-awareness and deliberate reflection. 
• Effectively giving and receiving peer feedback
• Understand common goals in working with children with challenging behaviors, strategies for achieving these goals, and anticipated outcomes
• Develop and articulate a personal understanding of how change happens for young children struggling with SEB challenges
• Understand strategies to decrease stress for families of children with SEB challenges
• Familiarity with the frequent role of sensory integration issues in children’s social/emotional struggles

Register for Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review aligned credit course syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

Through the Child's Eyes: Building an Environment of Hope and Resilience

Session Description:

This course is a companion training to the Strengthening Families/STRONG Framework and the HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) Framework. We will explore child and educator resilience, examining how to remain resilient and hopeful among daily challenges by using the Strengthening Families Protective Factors and HOPE framework. This course encourages educators to identify resiliency-building practices in themselves and in their classrooms by reflecting on the child’s perspective and experience.

The goal of the training is for participants to examine the child’s perspective and understand what it looks like to implement the Strengthening Families Protective Factors and HOPE building blocks to promote PCE’s (Positive Childhood Experiences) in their classroom.

STARS is Vermont’s Quality Recognition and Improvement System (QRIS) for child care, preschool, and afterschool programs. Participation in STARS means that a program is striving beyond licensing regulations to meet higher quality standards, uphold professional practices, and commit to continuous quality improvement (CQI). The STARS Elements of Quality are categorized into three categories: 

- Adult Child Interactions: Using positive adult-child interactions to support social, emotional, and intellectual growth. 

- Family & Youth Engagement: Engaging families and youth using program structures and practices to create respectful, responsive, reciprocal relationships with families and youth. These relationships are partnerships in development and learning and are responsive to each family’s and youth’s cultural norms.

- Responsive Practices: Implementing culturally, developmentally, linguistically, and individually responsive learning activities that promote all areas of child development and are informed by family and youth voice.

According to VTAEYC SPARQS coaches and assessors, many of the ECE programs they support across the State with STARS have requested additional professional development related to the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s Strengthening Families Framework and strategies to meet the diverse needs of children and their families.

This Early Childhood Educators Institute champions the use of reflective practice by all childcare providers and their supervisors. Each of the four keynote presentations at the institute will incorporate this practice and all instructors have been asked to embed, in some way, reflective practice during their 4 days of institute time and during follow-up time spent by those choosing to add credit.

Work students will be required to complete prior to the institute: The instructors will provide more detailed information once you have registered.

Audience: Birth through age 8.

Intended Outcomes:

Participants will...

• Identify and implement five practices in their classroom to promote HOPE and resiliency.
• Demonstrate foundational knowledge of the HOPE framework.
• Increase their knowledge and application of the Strengthening Families Protective Factors in the early childhood education environment.
• Develop an understanding of resilience and the impact on themselves as educators and the children they work with through reflective practice

Register for the Institute

If you are interested in the optional 3-credit course extension, please review the course syllabus below before choosing a strand.

Review aligned credit course syllabus

Back to Institute information • Back to top of strand descriptions

Course Funding Opportunities

For those who wish to register for the optional, aligned, 3-credit course, there are some financial assistance opportunities available. Once you register for the institute, you will receive an email with more information.

For More Information on the Institute

Please contact ECInstitute@vermontstate.edu