Here to make complicated topics simple (and fun)!
Here to make complicated topics simple (and fun)!
My goal is to get you excited about new research, deepen your understanding, and challenge you to expand your thinking.
And, of course, to become even more fascinated by the super nerdy side of early childhood education!
Supporting young children is joyful, rewarding, and… sometimes complicated. That’s where I come in. My goal is to make research and best practices clear, practical, and fun so you can bring fresh ideas back to your classroom, program, or practice with confidence.
Whether you’re an early childhood educator, childcare provider, therapist, or related professional, I create professional development experiences that are interactive, inspiring, and easy to implement.
What You’ll Gain
Fresh Insights
Practical Strategies
Confidence & Clarity
Community & Collaboration
Current Offerings
How To Use Music Purposefully Throughout the Day (And Stop Hiding the Basket of Instruments)
Drawing on the latest research in music therapy, attachment theory, and Polyvagal Theory, this workshop will challenge your understanding of how and why to incorporate music into a classroom setting.
Focusing on the physiological effects of music and the effects on social and emotional development allows you to deepen your understanding of music’s purpose and use throughout the day.
After exploring the academic side of this information, we will begin applying this knowledge by sharing ideas and activities, all while increasing your confidence to be more musical.
Designed for Parents/Families, Educators, Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered virtually or in person
MSDE Approved COK (Child Development/1.5 Curriculum/1.5)
How Other People Do It: Unlocking Our Implicit Biases Regarding Parenting Practices To Deepen Relationships With Families
Explore parenting practices from cultures worldwide, and which of these practices trigger our implicit biases. Develop a deeper understanding of the “why” behind various parenting practices to better understand the diverse families entering your program. Learn strategies to help build relationships with families while embracing cultural differences and helping families understand your program’s expectations better.
The main take-home message from this presentation is the importance of acknowledging the parenting beliefs and biases we each bring into interactions with families from different cultural backgrounds. With more understanding and respect for the “why” behind various beliefs and practices, participants will be able to lead better conversations with families regarding the practices and expectations of your program. In this way, families’ home culture will not only be more included in their child’s daily experiences, but they will also gain a deeper understanding of “why” the program has specific beliefs and expectations, too.
Designed for Parents/Families, Educators, Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered virtually or in person
MSDE Approved COK (Community/3)
Polyvagal Theory 101: Rethinking Behaviors From A Trauma-Informed And Sensory-Based Lens
This training is designed to help providers move past traditional ways of viewing children’s behaviors by rethinking from a trauma-informed lens.
Using the Polyvagal Theory as a guide, participants will gain an understanding of how our bodies perceive sensory information, how our nervous system processes this information into physiological responses, and how these processes ultimately result in behaviors.
Participants will spend time understanding their own need for self-regulation before assisting children in co-regulation with trauma-informed and sensory-based strategies.
Designed for Parents/Families, Early Childhood Educators, Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered Virtually Or In Person
MSDE Approved COK (Child Development/3)
Easy Ways To Improve Social Media Presence For Marketing Purposes
Growing a successful childcare business relies on continuously increasing your brand’s awareness.
The more families in your community are familiar with you, the more referrals you will receive.
In this training, I’ll break down the basics of social media and other forms of marketing into easy-to-implement ideas.
Designed for Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered Virtually
MSDE Approved COK (Professionalism/2.5)
ACE Interface: Understanding Adverse Childhood Experiences
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic or stressful experiences, such as abuse or neglect, that occur during childhood or adolescence.
ACEs can harm a child’s brain and their development, which can lead to long-term negative health and social outcomes.
Armed with powerful new insights into how toxic stress changes the physiology of early brain development, we can begin to find sustainable solutions to childhood trauma by empowering resilient, self-healing communities.
Designed for Parents/Families, Educators, Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered virtually or in person
MSDE Approved COK (Child Development/2)
Pyramid Model Infants And Toddlers Classroom (Multiple Modules)
Introduction to the Pyramid Model– Learn about the Pyramid Model, how this model can work for your infant/toddler room, and the basics for implementation.
Module 1: Introduction & Understanding Social-Emotional
Development– Learn about the basics of social-emotional development for infants/toddlers and the important role caregivers play.
Module 2: Focusing On Relationships– Learn how attachments and relationships build over time and how culture and family factors influence the role of the caregiver in these relationships.
Module 3: Responsive Routines, Schedules, & Environments-Learn about the importance of caregiving routines and strategies to support social-emotional development, using the physical environment to support development, and working with families to use similar strategies at home.
Module 4: Understanding Behavior– Learn how behavior is a child’s way of communicating with meaning while continuing to use a variety of strategies to increase capacity in supporting the social-emotional development of infants/toddlers.
Module 5: Teaching About Feelings– Learn about emotional literacy and strategies to teach identifying and naming emotions with real-life scenarios.
Module 6: Promoting Positive Peer Interactions– Learn how to facilitate positive peer interactions while supporting the development of social and friendship skills.
Module 7: Individualized Teaching – Learn how to identify when a child may need individualized teaching to develop social-emotional skills, plan embedded learning opportunities, and monitor the child’s progress.
Module 8: Challenging Behavior – Learn how to identify challenging behavior in infants and toddlers, understand how implicit bias affects our responses to behavior, learn how to meet a child’s needs while preventing challenging behavior, and provide replacement skills.
Designed for Parents/Families, Early Childhood Educators, Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered Virtually Or In-Person. Can Be Taken Individually Or All Together.
MSDE Approved COK (Child Development/2-3 Per Module)
Relationship-Based Care For Infants And Toddlers (Multiple Modules)
The Foundations- Learn the basics of the Program for Infant/Toddler Care’s (PITC) Six Essential Program Practices for Relationship-Based Care.
Primary Care– Learn about the importance of primary caregiving, which helps to promote essential program practices and ensures quality in Family Child Care and Center-Based Care programs.
Continuity of Care– Learn about the importance of continuity of care, which helps promote essential program practices and ensures quality in Family Child Care and Center-Based Care programs.
Small Group Care– Learn about the importance of continuity of care, which helps promote essential program practices and ensures quality in Family Child Care and Center-Based Care programs.
Individualized Care– Learn about the importance of individualized care, which helps promote essential program practices and ensures quality in Family Child Care and Center-Based Care programs.
Culturally-Responsive Care– Learn about the importance of culturally responsive care, which helps promote essential program practices and ensures quality in Family Child Care and Center-Based Care programs.
Inclusive Care– Learn about the importance of inclusive care, which helps promote essential program practices and ensures quality in Family Child Care and Center-Based Care programs.
Designed for Parents/Families, Early Childhood Educators, Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered Virtually Or In-Person. Can Be Taken Individually Or All Together.
MSDE Approved COK (Various Amounts Of Hours In Different Domains Depending On The Module)
Strengthening Better Business Practices (Multiple Modules)
Module 1- The purpose of this training is to strengthen childcare providers’ foundational knowledge of fiscal terms, concepts, and practices. It encourages providers to realize the importance of fiscal planning to the sustainability of their business operations. It provides tips and best practices to help break down fiscal processes into manageable steps. Learning goals: ♦ Learn the value of developing a budget and how to use it for decision-making throughout the year. ♦ Understand how to project business costs, generate additional income, and plan strategically for future goals.
Module 2– The purpose of this training is to strengthen childcare providers’ foundational knowledge of fiscal terms, concepts, and practices. It encourages providers to realize the importance of fiscal planning to the sustainability of their business operations. It provides tips and best practices to help break down fiscal processes into manageable steps. Learning Goals: ♦ Understand financial reports and their use in fiscal management. ♦ Identify internal controls and how they can strengthen the fiscal health of a family child care program.
Module 3– The purpose of this training is to strengthen childcare providers’ foundational knowledge of fiscal terms, concepts, and practices. It encourages providers to realize the importance of fiscal planning to the sustainability of their business operations. It provides tips and best practices to help break down fiscal processes into manageable steps. Learning Goals: ♦ Strengthen child care providers’ understanding of marketing tools, audiences, and elements necessary to develop a marketing plan.♦ Encourages providers to tailor marketing practices to the audience they are trying to reach and to develop effective communication strategies to promote their services.
Module 4- The purpose of this training is to strengthen childcare providers’ foundational knowledge of fiscal terms, concepts, and practices. It encourages providers to realize the importance of fiscal planning to the sustainability of their business operations. It provides tips and best practices to help break down fiscal processes into manageable steps. Learning Goal: ♦ Strengthen child care providers’ understanding of staff recruitment tools, organizational staff support systems, and elements necessary to support the retention of talented staff.
Designed for Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered Virtually Or In-Person
MSDE Approved COK (Professionalism/3 Each Or 12 Total)
Including All Children and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Participants will identify the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applicable to child care settings, demonstrate an understanding of inclusionary practices and accommodations based on research-based best practices and national standards for child care settings, identify appropriate accommodations based on children’s individual needs, and demonstrate awareness of appropriate resources.
Designed for Parents/Families, Educators, Supervisors, Directors, and other Early Childhood Professionals
Offered virtually or in person
MSDE Approved COK (Special Needs/3)