WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE
FROM ECDC

The ECDC is available to facilitate workshops on a variety of topics tailored to the interests and needs of parents and early childhood professionals. If you would like to request a training or have questions, please contact our office.

ECDC services are free and confidential.

Early Childhood Development: The Meaning of Red Flags
This workshop introduces participants to the importance of knowing typical early childhood development. The areas of development that will be briefly highlighted are fine and gross motor skills, cognition, language, and social and emotional development. Participants will practice observation and use a portion of the developmental checklist. The training will also discuss ways to include providers and families when you are concerned about a child’s development and how to access resources.

Positive Guidance and Behavior Strategies
In order to truly understand what appropriate expectations are, parents and providers must have a working knowledge of typical developmental sequence. Understanding typical development and using observation skills offers developmental clues about what a child has mastered, what they are working on and what might be problematic. All behavior is a form of communication. Using observation and matching adult expectations with a child’s strengths and needs supports the creation of meaningful
learning experiences for each child.

What are Early Intervention and Preschool Special Education?
This workshop is designed to introduce the world of Early Intervention or Preschool Special Education services. The workshop will provide information about the process from referral to evaluation to delivery of services. It will also inform participants about what services may include, how an IFSP/IEP is developed and give them an overview of the child’s rights under IDEA.

Moving On: Children and Families
Facing Transition: (Transition from EI to CPSE OR CPSE to CSE): Making a transition easier occurs when families and providers understand the process. It is a time of excitement and anxiety. For families of children with special needs this transition can be even more challenging. This workshop will help participants to understand the transition process to be an active member of the transition team, understand the difference between EI and CPSE or CPSE and CSE, to understand the components of an IEP, and to strategize ways to introduce new providers to the child. Transition is a time of opportunity and growth, celebrate it!

What is an Individualized Education Program (IEP)?
This workshop is specifically designed for providers and parents of children from 3-5 years of age who are receiving special education services. The content will include an introduction to the basic format of IEPs, a guided tour through a sample IEP, and participant problem solving about ways to incorporate IEP goals into daily activities.

Understanding IDEA Regulations and Parent Rights
Understanding special education is overwhelming. Participants of this workshop will review the general principles of IDEA as they relate to Early Intervention or Preschool Special Education services, as well as parent rights. These rights and protections will best help students reach their full potential when parents and schools work collaboratively together.

Writing IFSP/IEP Goals
This workshop will explore the use of the child’s present levels of performance as a foundation for writing realistic and measureable goals and objectives and to identify services. Goals of an IFSP/IEP should generalize across programs and be written to meet the unique needs of the student and not for
specific curriculum or programs.

Making Parent Partnerships
Creating a working alliance between providers and families is key to successful connections between home and school. This workshop will examine principles for teaming with families and providers to communicate what is working, concerns about the child’s development, and strategies to best serve the child with special needs. Both family members and providers are experts and have so much to offer when they work together in the best interest of the child.

Including All Kids
This is an inclusion workshop designed to support children with special needs within their daily classroom or childcare environment. Child care providers are finding that special educators and clinicians are working with children at centers or family child care homes and this means not only working with children but other adults too. This workshop will examine why child care sites are increasingly being viewed as the location of specialized service delivery and ways to enhance the relationships between child care providers, specialists and families so that identified children have the best opportunity for consistent growth and development.

Early Brain Development and Early Literacy
Young children learn by doing; that’s the way their brains work best. This workshop will explore the basics of early brain development and the importance of early literacy experiences to help create lasting brain connections and the foundation for future learning experiences.

Getting Ready for Kindergarten
Starting kindergarten is an important step in the lives of children and their parents. Parents and providers need to take a close look at the child’s development in many areas to help determine whether a child is ready to begin kindergarten whether the child may benefit from another year of preschool. This workshop will review some questions and activities to help prepare for the child and parent for kindergarten.

Sensory Integration
Sensory integration is the ability of our brains to receive information through our senses (touch, movement, body awareness, smell, taste, vision, and hearing) and use this information to respond to the environment to feel comfortable and safe. Participants will explore a general overview of sensory challenges and how they may interfere with a child’s development. Identifying these challenges gives us an opportunity to work with a child and their family as the child’s sensory system matures.

The Importance of Play
This workshop focuses on the importance of play, what it does for children and how we can best support children in play. A simple way to define childhood play is to say that Play is the work, the occupation of childhood, and a cherished part of our early memories.

The ECDC serves all of Central New York, including Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego counties.

Interested in any of the above topics?

Please contact us with the following information by email to ecdc@syr.edu:

Name:

Organization:

Phone:

Email:

Topic(s):

Estimated number in attendance/Audience type (ex: 10 Preschool Teachers and 3 Parents):

Day/Time/Month Options (ex: a Monday 9am-12pm in October):