Educating the Whole — Thinking, Feeling, Moving — Child

Developmentally appropriate practice dictates that we educate the whole child in an integrated fashion. But more than ever the trend is toward the mind and body as separate entities, with children regarded as existing only from the neck up. We have the research that proves how children learn; now we have to implement best practice! Rae’s presentation informs, entertains, and empowers as she explores the possibilities for uniting mind and body.

What If Everybody Understood Child Development?

Early childhood is a unique and special period in the lifespan. Or, as Rae likes to say, young children are “a whole different animal.” But, often, those responsible for making decisions for children’s lives and education – parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers – are unaware of, or have forgotten, this simple fact. Based on her book of the same name, this presentation serves as a reminder, offering research on how children learn best and revealing why “earlier is better” is a myth. Rae invites you to join her as she imagines education in a world where everybody understood child development!

Why Does Sitting Still Equal Learning?

This presentation debunks the myth that the mind and body are separate and unrelated and demonstrates why it’s vital that active learning and physical activity be part of the classroom and the school day, for the sake of both the body and the mind. The research is clear: sitting increases fatigue, reduces concentration, and contributes to behavior challenges. Movement is the solution to all of that!

Become a Champion for Play and Joyful Learning!

Are you tired of policies that replace play and joyful learning with worksheets and arbitrary standards in early childhood education? Does the children’s frustration and anxiety as they struggle to do what they’re not yet developmentally ready to do sadden you? In this presentation, Rae shows you that you don’t have to wear a superhero cape to make a difference! Learn how you can help return play and joy — and sanity — to childhood and to early childhood education!

Active Learning Across the Curriculum:
Teaching the Way They Learn!

The domains of child development — physical, social/emotional, and cognitive — are so intertwined in the early years that a child can’t learn something in one domain without learning something in the others. To truly educate the whole child, we must recognize children as thinking, feeling, moving human beings who learn through all their senses. In this workshop, participants explore activities that will offer children meaningful and long-lasting educational experiences in art, language arts, mathematics, music, science and social studies.

Trouble-Free Transitions:
They’re Possible If We Understand Child Development

If there were a list of things that young children aren’t developmentally ready to do, at the top of that list would be being still and being quiet. Yet those are the two requirements — along with forming an orderly line — we try to impose on young children during most transitions. And rarely does any of it work! But if we handle transitions in imaginative and developmentally appropriate ways — and plan them, as other parts of the program are planned — transitions will be both trouble-free and filled with important learning experiences.

Acting Out!: Avoid Behavior Challenges in the Early Childhood Classroom

Over the course of four decades in the early childhood field, Rae has heard a lot of things from a lot of teachers and caregivers; and all too often lately she hears laments from early childhood professionals about how disruptive the children’s behavior has become. Why are we seeing demanding and disrespectful behavior in young children? Rae believes it’s due in large part to changes in our education system, a failure of policymakers to understand children and child development, and misinformation parents are receiving about childhood. In this presentation, you and Rae will explore how letting children be children can create a friendly and joyful atmosphere in your setting.

Jump into Literacy!

Policy may have changed, but children haven’t; they still need to experience concepts to fully understand them. That includes concepts falling under the heading of literacy and the language arts. This presentation explores the use of movement and music as tools in the promotion of children’s emergent literacy.

Jump into Math & Science!

Policy may have changed, but children haven’t; they still need to experience concepts to fully understand them. That includes concepts falling under the heading of math and science. This presentation explores the use of movement and music as tools in the exploration of and acquisition of knowledge in early mathematics and science.

Physical Fitness & the Early Childhood Curriculum

Should children’s physical fitness be the responsibility of early childhood professionals? Yes! We are responsible for children’s bodies as well as their minds. This participatory workshop explores the concept of developmentally appropriate physical activity, the five health-related components of physical fitness, and ideas for helping young children to become lifelong movers!