The Purdue University North Central 7th Annual Early Childhood Conference, "Local G.E.M.S., guide educate, motivate and support" will be Saturday, April 20.
The conference will highlight the importance of children's early development and feature the local gems that can be located in the nearby communities. The mission of the conference is to provide high quality professional development for the region's early childhood community. Quality teachers are a critical ingredient for strengthening programs, families and children. Promoting quality training for the adults who work with children and families provides necessary support for children.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Janice Englander Katz, a clinical psychologist with 27 years of experience in working to improve the lives of children, families and adults. She is the founder and president of The Child Care Consortium that operates Imagination Station Child Development Center, a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accredited, licensed educational child care center in Michigan City.
Katz is the author of the recently published book, "Guiding Children's Social and Emotional Development: A Reflective Approach." She provides mental health consulting for early childhood programs throughout Northwest Indiana and has taught Child Psychology at Purdue North Central. She is a member of the Indiana Association for Infant and Toddler Mental Health, Infant Toddler Specialists of Indiana Steering Committee and Indiana's Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems initiative and is chair of the Public Policy Committee for Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children.
Her thoughtful and engaging keynote will help audience members to understand what it means to be "intentional" in one's interactions with children. She will reframe how educators think about children's behavior and challenge professionals to explore what inspires their choices.
In addition, there will be more than 20 breakout sessions throughout the day for participants to learn about current research and best practices to address children's development and behavior, family dynamics, developmentally appropriate curriculum and health/wellness considerations. The conference will featur local community gems as breakout speakers.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. and includes a continental breakfast.
The conference concludes with a family event from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. featuring an interactive juggling session with Mike Vondruska. Youngsters as well as grandparents will have the opportunity to learn some juggling skills from Vondruska who has entertained worldwide. His comedy show will include juggling, unicycling and loads of audience participation.
Vondruska is director of the Illinois Juggling Institute, an educational company which presents positive motivational programs in schools and other places of learning.
The conference fee is $60 for those who register before March 29. That includes a box lunch and entrance to the Family Fun Time Event. The first 25 people to register get a free copy of the keynote speaker's book on the day of the conference.
For groups of five or more registering by March 2, the fee is $55 per person
After March 29, registration is $70 each.
Students rates are $25, with $15 PNC students.
Further information about the conference may be obtained by visiting the PNC Graduate and Extended Learning website at http://www.pnc.edu/gel/cel/ecc/.
Registration for individual attendees can be completed online. However, groups cannot register online.
The regular mail-in registration form and the group rate registration form are both available to be downloaded on the above website. These forms can be faxed, scanned and emailed, or mailed in.
Contact the Graduate and Extended Learning office at 785-5200, ext 5343 or mail gel@pnc.edu. The fax number to return completed registration forms is (219) 785-5418.
Persons with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact ext. 5343.