76th Annual SECA Conference

This session will start with a welcome and ice breaker activity, using types of art works to create table groups (Brown Bear, Brown Bear-connection)
The group will reflect on their personal experiences with art and exposure to art works. Time for sharing in small groups and a few whole group comments will help to establish commonality and possible new insights.
The objectives will be reviewed to help participants gauge if the content is what they expected. there will be post-it notes on tables for participants to write down questions for discussion at the end of the presentation. I will review the agenda for the session.
Teaching Points- What the typical toddler art experiences looks like (input form participants)
Common definition of "art" for our purpose today- It is not crafts or "make -it like this one."
PowerPoint examples of types of art works, how and where they can be integrated into the environment and some routines.
Exploration- time for participants to review samples of art and think about how they might appeal to children, where and how they can be made accessible.
Application- some examples and then time for participants to revisit the exploration samples and identify potential learning goals.
Implementation- make a plan for how you can start! Include type of art, materials you will need, how you will introduce it, where it will "live" in your room, and a timeline. Share ideas and hopefully have time for those questions.

This interactive session equips early childhood educators with the foundational knowledge of sensory processing in young children. Led by an occupational therapist with 27 years experience in pediatric field, the session explores how children experience the world through their senses. Participants will gain a practical understanding of sensory processing challenges and discover how to recognize signs in their classrooms.

Through engaging activities and real-life examples, educators will learn simple strategies to create supportive environments that cater to diverse sensory needs. The session will cover topics such as:

*The sensory system and its impact on learning
*Identifying signs of sensory over- and under-stimulation
*Adapting the classroom environment to promote sensory regulation
*Easy-to-implement activities that cater to different sensory preferences

By the end of this session, educators will feel empowered to create classrooms where all children can thrive and learn comfortably.

This training session focuses on the critical role of open-ended play in early childhood development and the importance of intentionally designing play spaces to support this type of exploration. Participants will learn how open-ended play fosters creativity, problem-solving, and social-emotional growth in children. The session will provide practical guidance on setting up play environments that are developmentally appropriate, flexible, and conducive to self-directed learning. Educators will also explore strategies for observing and facilitating play without interrupting its natural flow. By the end of the training, participants will be equipped with the tools and insights needed to create intentional, supportive environments that encourage children to explore, imagine, and learn through play.

Research indicates that writing in early childhood offers numerous developmental and educational advantages. Early educators are crucial in fostering emerging literacy among young children by providing regular chances for them to engage in writing activities. Through consistent opportunities to write, children improve fine motor skills, develop alphabet knowledge, enhance phonemic awareness, and acquire a variety of other skills. During this interactive session, we will trace the journey of Isabella, a pre-kindergarten student, over the course of a school year, examining samples of her writings and exploring how current HCS leadership team teachers, guide and support students' exploration of writing. Join us to learn supporting brain research and many developmentally appropriate activities to foster growth in your classroom.

This session creates space for early childhood education practitioners and future practitioners to engage in activities and conversations centered around intentional and purposeful planning of opportunities and activities aimed at helping young children grow and develop a variety of math skills, processes and thinking.

In this session, we will share basics of coding in early childhood, computational thinking, and engineering. We will discuss methods of integrating literacy with these STEM disciplines. We will share methods that we used in our preschool classroom to integrate literacy with computational thinking and engineering, through lessons that included storytelling, problem solving, coding, and constructing. From activities ranging from coding a classmate to reach the Three Little Pigs house, sequencing familiar stories and creating our own, and engineering a boat for the Gingerbread Man that would float, students were able to explore STEM concepts through a literacy lens.

Imaginative Small World Play
Educators will investigate the benefits, materials and skills to create small world play for young children. Young children will engage in using their imagination, creativity, building, sensory and language skills through small world play experiences. Imagination is nurtured with small world play experiences, let's imagine some small worlds for your students.

Meaningful planning is an essential practice to support optimal development for young children. This session will help participants plan and create activities that are meaningful. Participants will learn ways to extend learning through their interactions by implementing the CLASS tool. Participants will engage in hands-on activities to discuss ways to extend learning opportunities in meaningful ways.

In the last five years, extreme weather events in Louisiana have become more common as the rate of occurrence rose from 2.2 events per year to nearly 6 events per year (5.8; NCEI, 2024). The result is that young children under the age of 5 years old are growing up in a region where extreme weather events are commonplace. Yet, it is rare for early childhood curricula to address climate change (CC). Young children play an important role in the future of our environment because they frequently experience and will inherit the ongoing consequences of the increased incidences of extreme weather events.

This presentation shares the story of a 25-year-old female art teacher working at a school with students who identify as 50.5% Black, 28.4% White, 12.7% Hispanic, 6.9% Asian, and 1.5% Native American. The teacher began a lesson on CC by introducing a graphic text featuring an otter and his family in an extreme weather event requiring them to move their home. To promote dialogue with the children and gain an understanding of their experiences, she circulated around the room and asked children to discuss their drawings (i.e., “Tell me about your drawing” and “What happened?”). Results show that young children related to the displacement of the otter and relayed their own stories. Further, adults make attempts to insulate children to protect them from the stress of CC events. However, despite these efforts, children and adults in New Orleans face the stress of an uncertain future.

The science of reading has created motivation to examine early literacy practices at every level. This session will explore the important pillar of phonemic awareness in the science of reading and how it applies in the early years. Participants of this session will explore developmentally appropriate ways to ensure this skill is integrated into the early learning classroom through the vehicle of play.

"Apples, Alligators, and All That" will be a jam-packed fun and entertaining session! In the session we will gain knowledge of phonological awareness and its importance. We will sing and dance and learn new alphabet songs to use in the classroom to help your students to be strong in early literacy with definite letter recognition and confidence in letter recognition and letter sounds. Many door prizes and giveaways! Come join us!!

What makes a natural scientist? Wonder, curiosity, a sense of purpose, and PLAY! We know that children learn best through a hands-on playful environment, but isn't that too much work to set up? When there is so much on teachers' plates, how can we connect science, STEM, literacy, and executive function in a playful, seamless way? In this workshop, participants will learn how to take a playful approach to integrating experiences across the curriculum -- while maintaining their own joy and ease. Join us as we develop a toolbox of practical ideas for connecting storytime STEM curriculum experiences that organically harness play to create opportunities for reading, writing, math, science, and executive function throughout the day. The workshop experience is hands-on and encourages active and engaged participation throughout.

Classroom teachers make awesome music teachers! Supercharge your music time with techniques to enhance student engagement and receive a free library of music and movement activities to take home with you. We will have fun with some great music, while also getting into educational content by comparing music education to language immersion and focusing on getting family members on board as partners in your teaching. Also like a language program, we will consider music vocabulary and how exposure to a large variety of musical styles and elements at this critical time in development is essential for children to understand and enjoy music of a variety of styles and from different cultures.

In our preschool classroom, children engaged in a project on recycling, tackling the question: "How can we throw away less trash?" Through this project, they were able to engage in a project with a community and environmental impact, utilize critical thinking and problem solving skills, all while addressing the early learning standards. In this session, we will share about the important components and phases of project work in a preschool classroom, exploring the topic through our own implementation of a project with the children. We will explore the seven essential project design elements, how to determine if a project topics meets all these elements, and ways in which to make learning integrated and meaningful. Through project-based learning, teachers can cover important standards, teach valuable skills, all while giving children opportunities for agency, allowing them to be at the helm of their own learning. By looking at a project that we did with our children, participants will be able to see what a project looks like when put into practice.

Literacy doesn’t start with children decoding and encoding text; rather it begins as children engage in functional and playful conversations and oral storytelling experiences supported and facilitated by their teachers and other caregivers. In this session, participants will better understand the role of oral language and storytelling in young children's literacy development. Session participants will learn effective ways to prompt children for language success and learn storytelling activities such as story acting, storymaking, and creating oral mentor texts. This interactive session will help participants plan playful, and developmentally appropriate learning experiences designed to build a literate foundation in young children.

You don’t have to be an artist to promote artistic expression by children. Books written for children provide a practical avenue for introducing young learners to artists, works of art, and art media. Integrating the visual arts with language development and early literacy allows children to learn about themselves and others in a creative, collaborative environment.

Consider how artists portray human figures, families, and nature. It is important to make connections with children’s funds of knowledge gained through their experiences of home, family, community, and culture. Using children's books as a starting point, teachers can provide young learners with opportunities to manipulate art tools and materials, represent their perspectives, express their personal interests, and build conceptual knowledge.

As teachers, we provide models of art talk. Terminology such as color, shape, texture, lines, patterns, and designs can be components of conversations about art processes and products. In addition, teachers can use open-ended questions to elicit children’s thinking and decisions about art making. Take a few minutes to practice art talk before or after you contribute to a group art project during the session.

You will come away with a list of recommended list of read aloud storybooks, art series for children, biographies for featured artists, and relevant resources for teachers. We hope that you will be inspired to plan creative explorations for children that will promote inquiry and investigation through hands-on activities and lively conversations.