TRACTION 2012!

Join Early Connections for a Super Saturday of Teach Training where you will learn techniques to help you go forward in 2012. Tracts for the Conference are as follows. If you would like to personalize your training by choosing courses from different tracts, contact Early Connections at (770) 594-6566.

The Required Basics

Child Abuse: Recognition & Reporting –

Learn the warning signs of child abuse and neglect; the legal reporting requirements for teachers, directors, and owners, and how to protect yourself from being accused of abuse.  

Safety and Injury Control
Keep the little ones in your care safe and reduce liabilities by discovering these "safety musts" for the classroom, the playground and field trips. Participants in this class will also leave with a better understanding of the DHR reporting requirements for accidents and injuries.  

Infectious Diseases:  Recognition & Prevention
Proper hand washing and diapering procedures are just a few of the sanitary practices addressed in this course to help early childhood professionals learn how to reduce the risk of spreading illnesses in child care.

For Experienced Teachers Only!! (for teachers with 3+ years of experience and/or CDA and higher credentials)

 From the Rut to the Less Traveled Road – Blending experience with creativity, energy, and excellence to stay fresh as a seasoned teacher

 Staying on top of your game takes focus, work, and reflection..  As experienced teachers, we have to keep growing in order to stay out of the proverbial rut.  Laugh your way through this workshop, as you look at the “signs you might be in a rut” and solutions for staying on the road less traveled – the path to excellence in education for young children. 

Beyond the Basics of Bad Behavior – Disorders that impact children’s behaviors and strategies that work to minimize disruptions from them.

Attachment disorder? OCD? ODD? Borderline Personality Disorder? Today’s classroom teacher is often faced with behaviors outside the realm of normal “misbehavior”  that require different  classroom management strategies.  Learn what works and what doesn’t with  the most common childhood  disorders that disrupt our classrooms.

Supporting Children with Special Needs -  From developmental delays to autism to ADD/ADHD,  preschool teachers often find themselves facilitating care and education for children with atypical development alongside normally developing peers. This workshop provides a look at how inclusion issues can be reduced by adapting the environment, the materials, and the curriculum to meet the needs of children with disabilities, while retaining the interest of the rest of the classroom.

Guidance/ Classroom Management

Banning Bully Behaviors: Helping Children with aggression and impulsivity – Research shows that patterns of aggressiveness can be recognized as early as two, and suggests that early intervention can break bully patterns by decreasing aggression and impulsivity.   Learn what the experts are recommending and go back to your classroom armed with strategies to keep behaviors on track.

Classroom Management – Circle Times that Rock and Transitions that Roll -  Keep your classroom running smoothly with great large group times that kick the day off right, and tips for managing the transition times that often cause disruptive behaviors to emerge.

Dealing with Diva’s and Difficult People - From parents to peers, everyone knows at least one drama-driven diva who creates chaos with dysfunctional communication.  Learn to deal with grown up misbehavior quickly, and to use communication techniques to  encourage quick change and maximum cooperation.

Management

What’s New in Child Care?  Join this discussion of new programs, new curriculums, new requirements, and QRIS in Georgia.  Stay on the cutting edge of your industry with updates from the areas that touich yoyur center (For center owners, directors, and managers.)

Traction 2012 for Managers: Take inventory of your growth potential in 2012 and get traction for moving ahead by looking at where you are in the 8 areas of director competency.  You’ll leave with info designed to help you move to the next level in your professional growth.

Tug of Peace: Activities That Promote Team Spirit  - Tired of the constant “tugs-of-war” between staff that rob your time and drain your emotions? Turn your next staff meeting or professional development day into a team building extravaganza! This workshop will offer some “tricks of the trade” for developing a team spirit through playful, noncompetitive games and activities while cultivating cohesiveness between coworkers.