DENVER, CO--(Marketwire - Jan 22, 2013) - Time is running out to take advantage of reduced registration rates for the 2013 Rocky Mountain Early Childhood Conference (RMECC) coming to the Colorado Convention Center Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2. Early registration discounts are available at www.ecconference.com/registration until February 1, 2013.
The Colorado Association for the Education of Young Children, Colorado Head Start Association, Denver Preschool Program, and Early Childhood Education Association of Colorado are collaborating to sponsor RMECC 2013, which focuses on promoting and advancing early childhood education and the interests of children birth to eight years of age. From high-level discussions to hands-on sessions, the conference's agenda is designed to effectively advance quality early care and education for all children.
More than 150 RMECC workshops will focus on a variety of areas and topics. Some of the themes and subjects to be discussed are:
- Administration - staffing, licensing, financial management, leadership in challenging times, and social media.
- Advocacy/Public Policy - school readiness for all, the Denver Preschool Program, the Colorado early investment model, the Colorado READ Act, and Colorado's innovative plan for professional development.
- Child Health and Development - early development and the brain, Children's Environmental Intervention Training (CEIT), national standards on health and safety, building healthy habits one child at a time, and motor development's key role in school readiness.
- Child Screening and Assessment - the status of school readiness assessments in kindergarten and preschool, using data to support school readiness, helping teachers use assessment information, and the Colorado preschool academic standards.
- Classroom Management - looking at classroom behavior problems through a new lens, positive guidance for all ages, strategies to facilitate decreasing behavior problems in the classroom, picture perfect preschool, and effective cooperative learning in elementary classrooms.
- Cultural Competencies - celebrating diversity in early childhood classrooms.
- Curriculum - bringing books to life, developing 21st century skills in a play-based program, creating a nature-inspired outdoor learning environment, making math an everyday happening in the preschool classroom, and building relationships and literacy skills through storytelling.
- Exceptional Child - low-energy neurofeedback systems for children's brains, lessons learned from 30 years of inclusive services for preschoolers with autism, teaching pretend play to young children with autism, challenges of intellectually-gifted/socially-challenged children, and supporting inclusion and collaboration in preschool classrooms.
- Family Education and Engagement - how to create a father-friendly environment, building culturally-responsive family partnerships in early childhood education, evidence-based early childhood home visiting, overcoming the barriers between providers and teen parents, and families as partners.
- Infant Mental Health - common mental health diagnoses of young children, building emotionally-safe environments, learning about infant mental health endorsement in Colorado, understanding primary caregiving and continuity of care, and translating infant sleep research into policy and practice.
- Quality - the Qualistar Rating™ journey, four steps to NAEYC accreditation, NAEYC portfolios, and what to expect during your Qualistar observation.
- Social Emotional - fostering success through self-regulation, beyond bullying, developing emotional intelligence in children and adults, preventing challenging behavior through the power of relationships, and social emotional development in early childhood.
- Staff Support and Professional Development - creating an effective system-wide coaching structure, engaging adult learners through multiple intelligences, responding effectively and calmly to difficult people and situations, attuning for personal and organizational change, and the emotional intelligence factor.
Visit www.ecconference.com/ for a complete workshop listing and schedule.
Keynote speakers at RMECC 2013 will be Dr. Patricia Kuhl, who is internationally recognized for her research on early language and brain development and for her studies that show how young children learn, and Kathy Buckley, a sought-after motivational speaker billed as "America's first hearing-impaired comedienne," who delivers the inspirational message that anything can be achieved when the heart and the mind work together.