Early Childhood Summer Institute Day 1

This FREE event consists of TWO sessions.

Session 1 – Culturally Responsive Self-Care for Early Childhood Professionals
Dr. Julie Nicholson and Dr. LaWanda Wesley
This training begins by discussing why self-care should be understood as a central component of quality and ethical work in serving young children and their families and the importance of culturally responsive self and community care practices. We introduce culturally diverse beliefs about the ‘self’ and explore how culture influences our individual and collective perceptions and experiences of stress, trauma, resilience and healing. With these ideas in mind, we guide participants to learn about different culturally informed restorative activities that reflect a diverse range of cultural beliefs and traditions. Participants are guided to identify the specific culturally responsive practices they can use regularly to reduce stress and to increase daily opportunities to experience joy, love and wellness both personally and professionally.

Session 2 – The Critical Role of Play in an Equity-Centered Early Childhood Environment
Dr. Julie Nicholson and Jonathan Iris-Wilbanks
Participants in this training will learn why play is central to an equity approach in early learning given its critical role in children’s learning and their healthy emotional, social, cognitive, and physical development. Given the stressors and impacts of COVID this past year, a significant part of the presentation emphasizes how early childhood professionals can create trauma-responsive play-based environments that reduce stress for children, support their capacity to learn and to strengthen coping and resilience during this critical time for their brain development. Specific strategies and practices along with authentic examples and valuable resources are introduced throughout the training so all participants will leave with accessible and actionable ideas to bring back to their classrooms and/or early learning programs.

A link to join the virtual Institute will be emailed two days prior to the event.