2021 - 2022 Professional Development Dates
Nebraska Extension’s Early Childhood Team is pleased to be able to offer a variety of on-line classes to meet the needs of the Early Childhood Workforce. If you have any questions, please contact tlc@unl.edu.
Thanks!
| Date | Time | Topic | Description | Cost | Hours |
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| 2021 Dates TBD | Cultivating Healthy Intentional Mindful Educators (CHIME) | 8-week CHIME sessions will be offered virtually in Winter and Spring as part of an exciting research opportunity. Participants will be able to take CHIME FREE of charge, earn 16 NDE approved DHHS in-service hours and will also be eligible for up to $300 for participating in the research study. If you are interested in CHIME, please contact Katie Krause at katie.krause@unl.edu for more information. | |
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Circle of Security Classroom (COSP) |
*** SESSION IS FULL *** Contact Lynn DeVries @ ldevries6@unl.edu to be put on the wait list or for future classes. Early care professionals will benefit from guidance on how to promote secure attachment relationships with the children in their care. Circle of Security Parenting-Classroom (COSP-C) Approach is designed to enhance teachers’ abilities to form secure relationships and offers critical organizing principles from attachment theory to improve teacher confidence and competence in relationship building. Learning Objectives of the Training:
Register in advance for this meeting by August 11, 2021 by emailing Lynn DeVries at ldevries6@unl.edu. Space is Limited to 3 participants only for this virtual training. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the class. Presented by: Lynn DeVries, Extension Educator, Early Childhood |
FREE | 12.0 hrs. |
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Family Engagement Series – Connecting with Families |
Engaging with families in meaningful ways is a crucial component of a quality early childhood program. We are excited to offer a 3-part series on Engaging Families this fall! The classes are designed to build upon each other, but you can take classes individually as well.
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$10 | 1.5 in-service hours |
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Smashing, crashing and dumping: Understanding young children’s behavior through concept of Schemas |
Many activities young children engage in can be classified into 8 different schemas – patterns of repeated behavior which allow children to explore and express developing ideas and thoughts through their play and exploration. Join us in this class to learn about schema theory and how to support children’s learning explorations.
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No cost to participants | 1 in-service hour live online +1 optional hour online at your own pace |
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Family Engagement Series – Communicating with Families |
The second in our three-part family engagement series (participation in first and third class are not required) will focus on how we communicate with families. We will consider traditional forms of communication, as well as how to use newer technologies. The importance of sharing both day to day information, sharing children’s learning, and how we use communication to build relationships with families will be shared.
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$10 | 1.5 in-service hours |
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So Much More than Sticks and Stones: An introduction to Nature Based Learning |
Join us to learn about the concepts of nature-based learning and how to incorporate more nature-based activities into everyday programming in your childcare program, indoors, outdoors and beyond! This class is great for anyone interested in incorporating more nature related play and experiences into their program, and especially for programs that have or are hoping to have a nature based outdoor space. This training is appropriate for people working with children of all ages.
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$15 | 1.5 in-service hour live online +1 optional hour online at your own pace |
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Family Engagement Series - Celebrating with Families |
During the final class in our family engagement series, we will explore the variety of ways you can engage and celebrate with families through a multitude of events and activities. We hope you were able to take our other classes, but if not, you are still welcome to attend just this class!
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$10 | 1.5 in-service hours |
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Stress Less during the Holiday Hustle |
December is a fun, but often a stressful time of the year in early childhood settings. Join us for a short, 1-hour class to help bring awareness to what might be causing stress, learn a few techniques to help reduce stress and share ideas for helping to connect with your community of support.
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No cost to participants | 1 in-service hour live online +1 optional hour online at your own pace |
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Helping Children Cope with Crises and Helping Caregiver Recover |
This training includes 2 parts - 1) Helping Children Cope with Crises and 2) Helping Caregivers Recover: Self-Care. These trainings are linked because children’s reactions are linked to how their caregivers respond and recover from a crisis. Teachers, childcare providers and volunteers working with children following a disaster can be overwhelmed by the emotional toll that a disaster takes on the children they serve, their staff, as well as their own personal lives. While many of those who work with children on a daily basis are experts in supporting children through stressful times, it can be very challenging to support children after a community-wide emergency. This course was designed to help equip child-serving professionals with tools to take care of children and themselves.
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No cost to participants | 2 in-service hours |
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Risk and Challenge in Outdoor play settings |
Adults comfort levels with risky play outdoors has a huge influence in how much time children spend outdoors and what types of activities they engage in during that time. During this class we will discuss the difference between risk and hazard (and how to identify them), talk about the benefits of children challenging themselves and taking risks, and learn how to assess outdoor spaces and activities for risk.
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$15 | 1.5 in-service hour live online +1 optional hour online at your own pace |
| Upcoming classes in 2022! |
Reggio Series – Winter 2022
March 21st – Read for Resilience A wide variety of Nature-based learning classes are in the works! Complete this quick interest form and we will email you when registration is available – https://ssp.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4VhDwpuLrYlCC6G |