June 10th, 2016
Announcing the 2016 ECDA Fall Conference!
Mark your calendars for Thursday October 27th & Friday October 28th! The ECDA Fall Conference will be held in a BRAND NEW venue this year, at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown! Once again we have confirmed some very exciting and talented speakers to join us over two days of learning, growing, and networking.
The conference will be focused on the topic of guidance. Every early childhood educator has asked themselves “Why does this child behave this way”, “What can I do to change this behavior”, or proclaimed that “Nothing Works!”
The world around us is moving at a hyper speed. Schedules, expectations, demands, abilities, and trauma are only some of the challenges that can knock us off course. Children are as impacted by life’s stress as adults. More and more often we hear early childhood educators discussing the challenging behavior they encounter within their classrooms. Educators want to learn new skills and a deeper understanding of what to consider to prevent challenging behavior and also to support children to develop healthy relationships and social emotional skills.
Throughout this conference, participants will have the opportunity to explore the matters of challenging behavior, self regulation, nurturing healthy relationships and social and emotional skills, working in partnership with families, and creating opportunities for children to be successful!
About our Opening Keynote speaker Barbara Kaiser: Barbara Kaiser has worked for over three decades as a teacher and education consultant. She has co-authored several books, including Challenging Behavior in Young Children: Understanding, Preventing and Responding Effectively 3rd Edition (2012, Pearson Education). She has taught part-time in the Faculty of Education at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec and Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
In addition to presenting workshops and keynote speeches on the topic of challenging behaviour and related issues internationally, Barbara recently developed a Provincial Anti-Bullying Strategy with the Nova Scotia Department of Education. She has also developed an instructional DVD series and related workshops, "Facing the Challenge."
Prior to moving to Nova Scotia, she was the founder/director of the first rural, subsidized day care centre in Quebec, Canada after which she started and ran another non-profit, community-based centre in Montreal which became well known for its multi-age group setting, and unique use of space which emphasized empowering children and helping them learn how to make meaningful choices for themselves.
More exciting information to come, stay tuned!