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Early childhood educators are often expected to give endlessly—to children, families, and programs—while their own well-being is rarely prioritized. For program leaders, this raises an important question: How are the adults in your program really doing?

In this webinar, Dr. Cathi Miller—professor, consultant, and host of the podcast Developmentally Inappropriate with Dr. Cathi—is joined by Dr. Keena Mosley, an ECE professor and leadership coach, to explore how administrators can champion strong educator communities that transform program culture, reduce burnout, and support long-term teacher retention. Participants will examine how intentional leadership practices can foster belonging, collaboration, and resilience.

Through reflection and practical examples, administrators will learn strategies for cultivating supportive educator communities within their programs, creating environments where teachers feel valued, connected, and able to thrive alongside the children they serve.

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Examine the relationship between educator well-being, professional connection, and teacher retention in early childhood programs.

2. Apply leadership practices and program-culture strategies that reduce educator isolation and support staff well-being.

3. Implement practical leadership strategies that strengthen educator communities, prevent teacher burnout, and promote long-term sustainability.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
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• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Current neuroscience reveals a remarkable truth: the way young brains process sound builds the foundation for language and literacy, and music-making actively strengthens that foundation. Join Ann C. Kay, M.A., Co-founder of Rock ’n’ Read Project, for a fun, engaging session where you’ll sing (on mute!), explore the science of early brain development, and learn how to use music-making to help babies and toddlers build essential pre-reading skills. No prior music training is required.

Long before a child says “Mama” or “Dada,” they begin “warbling”—experimenting with pitch and rhythm. Through singing, caregivers and educators can nurture connection while strengthening auditory processing, auditory memory, phonological awareness, and beat synchronization, or the ability to keep a steady beat. Research consistently links beat-keeping with later reading achievement, making everyday musical experiences a powerful tool for early learning.

In this high-energy webinar, Ann will show you how to turn brain research into simple, practical “Monday morning” strategies that support infant and toddler development. Together, you’ll practice foundational music-making skills such as keeping a steady beat and matching pitch, while discovering how daily musical experiences build “musical fitness” over time. Like physical fitness, musical fitness develops through regular practice and supports the cognitive growth necessary for language and literacy acquisition. By singing the day away, you can create a joyful, nurturing environment while helping lay the groundwork for lifelong learning.

Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to:

1. Examine the research linking auditory processing, auditory memory, phonological awareness, and beat synchronization to future reading success.

2. Apply age-appropriate music-making techniques such as beat-keeping and pitch matching with infants and toddlers.

3. Implement daily musical practices to support long-term cognitive development in infants and toddlers.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
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• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

What if you could stop chasing endless new art ideas—and still offer rich, meaningful creative experiences all year long?

In this practical and inspiring session, Faigie Kobre, early childhood educator, former preschool director, and creator of the Beyond Copycat Crafts framework, invites educators to rethink how they approach process art in the classroom.

Many educators feel pressure to constantly introduce new and exciting art activities to keep children engaged. Yet in reality, four core process art activities can be expanded, adapted, and revisited in countless ways—enough to sustain an entire year of creative exploration. In this webinar, Faigie will walk participants step-by-step through these four essential activities and demonstrate how they can be used over and over again with fresh purpose and intention.

This session is rooted in her Creative Trio PAC Framework, where P = Process Art, offering educators a repeatable system that replaces “cookie-cutter” crafts with meaningful, child-led creative experiences. You’ll learn how to balance structure and freedom, support creativity without chaos, and confidently guide open-ended art that is developmentally appropriate, engaging, and manageable—no matter your classroom setting.

You’ll leave with a clear framework, adaptable ideas, and renewed confidence in your ability to foster authentic creativity without the overwhelm.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the four core process art activities that can sustain creative work across an entire year

• Distinguish between copycat crafts and true process art

• Apply the Creative Trio PAC framework to plan intentional, open-ended art experiences

• Design developmentally appropriate art invitations that balance structure and creative freedom

• Reduce planning overwhelm while increasing meaningful creative engagement

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
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Are you finding that more and more children present you with more and more questions? Do you ever feel like some days you just can’t find the answers—or that when you do, nothing seems to work or keep working?

In this insightful session, Michele Hemenway Pullen, Project Specialist at the University of Louisville Early Childhood Research Center, will guide you through a simple, step-by-step approach to help you regain your confidence and know “what to say when,” as well as which next steps are best to take.

Originally designed for early childhood college students who were experiencing new levels of frustration, Michele’s “When to Say When” checklist has, over the past fifteen years, become a trusted framework for educators seeking composure, clarity, and confidence—especially when working with children whose behaviors are complex or whose neurodivergent traits may be misunderstood.

Each step highlights areas where you can seek additional training or collaboration and provides practical strategies grounded in evidence-based practices. You’ll leave with clear, actionable “next steps” to guide your professional growth and interactions with children and families.

You’ll gain:

1. Greater confidence in identifying which areas of a child’s development to consider when confronted with confusing or challenging behaviors.

2. Stronger communication skills for engaging families in ongoing, collaborative conversations about what you’re experiencing.

3. A renewed sense of well-being and reassurance that you have a plan—and that you’re doing all you can.

As we move through this process, you’ll be invited to use the checklist document to take notes, reflect, and apply your learning in real time.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Join our newsletter! Earn your Professional Development hours with FREE sessions delivered right to your inbox every week
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

What if the key to better planning isn’t doing more—but seeing more? Join the Founder of Clare Devlin - Education Consultancy, in this engaging and down-to-earth session where you’ll discover a practical, no-nonsense approach to observation, assessment, and planning in early childhood education.

This isn’t about checklists or paperwork overload—it’s about truly seeing your children, understanding what their play and behavior are telling you, and using that insight to plan meaningful experiences.

In this session, Clare Devlin, will walk you through a simple yet powerful three-step reflective cycle—What, So What, Now What—designed to help you observe with purpose, assess with clarity, and plan with intention. You’ll learn how to tune into children’s natural play, record meaningful observations, and collaborate with your team to make confident, informed decisions that support each child’s development.

You’ll leave this session feeling inspired and equipped with tools you can use right away—whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or just starting out.

In this session, you will: 

• Learn how to record rich, objective observations that capture the essence of children’s play, thinking, and learning. 

• Strengthen your skills in making sense of observations through reflective team discussions. 

• Explore how to plan purposeful next steps that build on children’s strengths, interests, and emerging priorities. 

• Use involvement levels as a practical tool to understand and support deep engagement. 

• Discover how to simplify your observation, and assessment process using a clear, one-page format.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Join our newsletter! Earn your Professional Development hours with FREE sessions delivered right to your inbox every week
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Insurance costs are rising, and for many child care providers, the reasons behind those increases can feel unclear, inconsistent, and out of their control. In this timely session, we’ll explore how licensing inspection data is often used by insurers to assess risk—and why approaches based primarily on counting violations can miss the bigger picture of program quality, safety, and consistency.

Participants will examine how these practices can unintentionally penalize providers, contribute to rising liability insurance costs, and create additional challenges for programs already working hard to maintain high standards of care. The session will also introduce a more collaborative and transparent approach to evaluating compliance, one that considers the severity of regulations, applies more consistent scoring practices, and tracks patterns over time to support fairer and more reliable risk assessment.

Designed as a participatory conversation, this session invites providers, administrators, and agency staff to think together about what needs to change. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of the problem, a practical framework for rethinking risk and compliance, and concrete ways to contribute to a growing grassroots effort to improve child care liability insurance outcomes.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Analyze how licensing inspection data is commonly used by insurance carriers and identify the limitations of violation-count-based risk assessments.

• Compare traditional inspection reporting with a weighted, more universal scoring approach to understand how severity and context influence risk interpretation.

• Apply at least one strategy for using compliance data more effectively in conversations with insurers, regulators, or organizational partners.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Join our newsletter! Earn your Professional Development hours with FREE sessions delivered right to your inbox every week
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Shine a light on the magic, importance, and unique needs of infants, toddlers, and twos. Too often, early childhood training focuses on preschool-aged children, leaving educators of children ages 0–2 without the tools and preparation they need to feel fully confident in their practice. That gap can make it harder to choose activities, respond to developmental needs, and build classroom experiences that are truly appropriate for the youngest learners.

This workshop will help educators deepen their understanding of developmentally appropriate practice for infants, toddlers, and twos. Participants will explore key developmental milestones, discuss how to recognize possible delays, and learn how observation and documentation can support early intervention referrals. The session will also focus on how to thoughtfully adapt activities as children grow, so educators can scaffold learning in ways that are responsive, effective, and realistic for everyday practice.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Explain the important role educators of infants, toddlers, and twos play in shaping children’s early development.

• Identify major developmental milestones for children ages 0–2 and use documentation to help inform possible early intervention referrals.

• Use developmentally appropriate practices to adapt activities and support learning as children’s skills emerge and grow.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
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• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Creating a classroom where every child’s voice is heard, valued, and nurtured starts with how we talk, listen, and connect. In this session, Jennifer Adams Oppenheimer, M.A., CCC-SLP, Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and President of SpeakJoy Center for Development, introduces the powerful concept of “language nutrition”—the nourishing blend of words, tone, and intentional interaction that fuels a child’s communication and cognitive development during the critical early years.

You’ll learn how to intentionally embed meaningful language experiences into daily routines, turning ordinary moments into extraordinary opportunities for connection and growth. Through the lens of “language nutrition,” Jennifer will guide you in reimagining the learning environment as a living, breathing space where communication is not only taught but modeled, celebrated, and personalized.

Together, we’ll explore six essential elements that define a language-rich environment, with practical, inclusive strategies to support emerging communicators, multilingual learners, and children with diverse communication needs. Whether during circle time, free play, transitions, or snack time, you’ll discover how simple shifts can lead to lasting developmental impact.

This session is designed for early childhood educators, caregivers, and administrators who want to strengthen children’s linguistic and social foundations while deepening relationships through authentic, everyday interactions.

In this session, participants will:

• Identify at least three evidence-based outcomes of language-rich environments for young children.

• Describe the six key elements that support communication development in a language-rich classroom.

• Illustrate at least three practical, inclusive strategies to enhance everyday interactions and foster rich language development.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
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Imagine discovering that the key to unlocking the interwoven secrets of play, literacy, and even resilience can be found in the whimsical stories of young children—the ones they seem to conjure out of thin air as they transform snack crackers into hungry tigers and twigs into telephones. Guided by professor emerita of Early Education and Child Development Dr. Stephanie Goloway, this workshop invites you to explore how the magic in those flights of fancy builds the foundations for language, literacy, imagination, and more.

Sometimes referred to as representational thinking, a child’s growing ability to construct and play with symbols is one of the core developmental tasks of early childhood. Yet too often, we overlook the power of children’s make-believe as we focus on more concrete milestones on our developmental checklists. Dr. Goloway will help you examine the theory and neuroscience behind the development of representational thinking and reflect on how it emerges in young children’s play. You’ll connect the dots between storytelling, symbolic thinking, make-believe play, and emergent literacy.

Throughout the session, you’ll explore a variety of ways to wave the “magic wand” of storytelling in your setting—sharing folk and fairy tales, narrating creative movement experiences, and using quick anecdotes to scaffold transitions and routines. You’ll discover how, with each story you tell, you can nurture children’s capacity to transform their experiences into the wondrous web that underpins their play, reading, writing, problem-solving, and interactions with others.

The best part: the wild sense, curiosity, joy, and stories of young children will be truly honored and celebrated as you help them spin narratives and weave meaning into their world.

Participants will:

1. Define representational thinking in the context of early childhood development.

2. Explain the role of representational thinking and the use of symbols in emergent literacy and make-believe play.

3. Identify ways oral storytelling supports the development of representational thinking, literacy, and make-believe play.

4. Investigate how to incorporate different kinds of storytelling into any early childhood setting and schedule.

5. Examine the added benefits of telling folk and fairy tales to support representational thinking, emergent literacy, play, and resilience.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
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You care deeply about nurturing early literacy—but you’re tired of being caught between play and pressure. Maybe you’ve heard about the Science of Reading but aren’t sure how it applies to young children—or how to implement it in a play-based setting. Maybe someone has told you to stop the play and start the worksheets. Or maybe you’re simply searching for a clear, developmentally responsive way to support all your learners as they build the foundation for reading.

In this engaging and practical session, Laura Shea, M.S.Ed., early childhood educator, adjunct-professor, and founder of Little Stories That Stick, will show how the Science of Reading can complement—not compete with—child-led play. With over a decade of experience in literacy development and play-based learning, Laura will unpack what the research truly says, how children build foundational reading skills before decoding begins, and why oral language, storytelling, and play are powerful tools for building brains ready to read.

You’ll walk away with ideas you can implement right away—whether you work with toddlers, preschoolers, or pre-K students. Expect a balance of relatable classroom examples, real-world analogies, and actionable takeaways. You'll leave feeling more confident in your approach and more equipped to speak to families, administrators, and peers about how and why play supports reading.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand how play-based experiences support key components of the Science of Reading, including oral language, phonological awareness, and vocabulary development.

• Identify the difference between developmentally appropriate literacy learning and early reading instruction.

• Explore ways to support emergent reading and writing through storytelling, storyacting, and incidental teaching.

• Gain language to explain and advocate for play-based literacy practices with families and administrators.