Photo above from ECM director, Rebecca Walsh’s “Sensory Integration in the Classroom” teacher workshop at Beth El Nursery School.
ECM has a long running history of teaching parenting workshops and teacher training in Bay Area preschools.
Email info@earlychildhoodmatters.org to find out how we can help your school.
Please find below some examples of preschool-specific offerings from Early Childhood Matters.
Each class/workshop is 1.5 hours in length. Some can be tailored to an hour if needed.
parent education Course EXAmples
Your Willful Preschooler - Our most popular parent workshop!
Workshop for parents/caregivers with children 3-5 years old
Full info here.
Other Positive Discipline Classes/Topics (each topic is a 1.5 hour class):
- Staying calm during times of conflict. Helping children and parents to use non-violent
communication, "I feel___________ when__________" language at home.
- Avoiding the trap of over-parenting-how do we love and nurture our children while
avoiding being overly anxious or doing too much?
- Strategies from "How to talk so children will listen and listen so children will talk" by
Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlisch
- Helping children with sibling, cousin or playmate rivalry
- Sensory integration and other tools to build up self-regulation toolkit
- Calm down area ideas
- Helping children communicate their feelings
Ooey Gooey and other sensory ideas (discovery bottles, etc)
Strategies to avoiding parental burnout as we rev up for a new school year.
Building resiliency, coping skills and "disappointment muscles" through setting healthy limits in a healthy way.
Helping children with sibling, cousin or playmate rivalry part ll
- How to change habits, yell less and connect more! Create your parenting toolbox, and
each month we will "fill" it with a new tool, and a review of an old tool!
Curiosity Questions and Using Active Listening to Help Children Talk More About Their Days, Feelings, and Problems at School.
What is the single most important thing we can do to help our children see us a confidants in this challenging process of growing up? How do we move beyond the answers like "it was fine," or help our children share more about what is really behind statements like "I hate school (my teacher, my friend, gymnastics) etc.?" Surprisingly, it doesn't involve explaining the other side of the coin, how children in other countries are much worse off (guilty and guilty by the way!), or jumping in to solve the problem for them. While there are certainly times for us to share our ideas and perspectives (and we will discuss those), what children really need and want from us in order to be ready to hear that other side and begin to find their own solutions is what researchers call Active Listening.
"Active Listening is the single most important skill you can have in your parenting “toolbelt.”
It is a specific form of communication that lets another person know that you are “with them,” aware of what they are saying, accepting of their perspective, and appreciative of their situation.
Really listening to your children is the best way to create a caring relationship in which they see you as being “in their corner” and as a base to which they can always return when they need support. Having this secure relationship is one of the strongest factors in helping your children to become resilient, responsible, and caring people who are open to your love and your guidance."-Center for Parenting Education
We will draw on strategies from Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish's How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk, as well as current research on the topic.
This class is geared toward parents of preschoolers and early elementary school students, but the skills will carry you through High School and can be applied to any age-group (even co-workers!)
The Importance of Nature and Sensory Play
Early Childhood Matters’ founder and director, Rebecca Walsh, will discuss the importance of
nature and sensory play, focusing on strategies and engagement for children ages 18-36 months.
Rebecca will provide calming strategies, working with the brain’s receptors (Proprioceptive,
Vestibular, etc.) and give examples of sensory activities to calm your child.
Strategies Discussed:
· Honoring the impulse instead of just saying no
· Engaging the child in the process when you need their cooperation through making it fun,
turning it into a game, breaking down and describing each step of the process
· Identifying the feeling or desire, especially during a tantrum, screaming, etc or when hitting
· Stopping the behavior before it starts/becomes a pattern
Other Major Concepts:
· Finding the middle ground between too permissive (too much freedom) and too Authoritarian
(too little freedom)
· Middle ground is authoritative parenting (flexible with feelings, firm with behavior or freedom
with limits)
· Safety and self care as guidelines for setting limits
· Preventative strategies like changing the environment, having routines, practicing floor time,
I love you rituals, and self-care for parents.
Responsive Caregiving: Nurturing Curious, Connected Children from Zero to Three
The first three years of life are when your child's most dramatic brain development occurs. During
these early years, parents have the amazing opportunity to nurture their child’s growth and
development through connected, responsive caregiving. Join Rebecca Walsh of Early Childhood
Matters and learn more about your child's rapidly developing brain, developmental milestones in
early childhood, and positive parenting approaches to navigate challenging toddler behaviors.
Topics will include:
· Responsive caregiving: how to create opportunities for bonding, learning, and growth through
everyday caregiving tasks
· The value of routines and rituals for young children, and ideas for implementing them in your
family’s daily routine
· Using Floortime and parental engagement strategiesto develop the limbic brain and reduce
challenging behaviors
Tiger Moms or Attachment Dads?
Tiger Moms, Attachment Dads and Helicopter Parents? Sorting Fact from
Friction: What Science Tells Us About Raising Healthy, Confident, and
Independent Children
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
The role of the parents has evolved drastically from the turn of the
century to modern day. From a parenting philosophy of having children
simply obey, being seen and not heard, and/or being dependent on
children for an important economic function to modern child-centered
approaches to parenting. Early Childhood Matters' founder and director,
Rebecca Walsh, will discuss the evolution of parenting roles and
pitfalls associated with the perceived persona of "Tiger moms,
Attachment dads, and Helicopter Parents.” She will further discuss how
these fit into what researches have been learning over the past four
decades about parenting styles and child outcomes. Time for Q&A and
audience participation will be allotted.
Teacher-Specific Course EXAmples
1) Positive Discipline in the Classroom
-Strategies for conflict resolution, learning to share and problem solving
-Developmental expectations and applications with 2, 3, and 4s
2) Establishing Routines and Classroom Expectations
-Class meetings and other strategies for getting children involved and invested in creating and
following rules and expectations
-Problem solving when children test these rules and limits
3) The Connected Teacher: Reducing challenging behavior through responsive caregiving
-Connected caregiving routines,
-1:1 Floor time, I Love You Rituals, Greeting and Departure Rituals
-Strategies for easing separation anxiety
4) Environment and Viewing Challenging Behaviors through a Sensory Integration Perspective
-Understanding Sensory Integration and Zones of Regulation-
-Tools to help children self regulate
-Setting up your environment, materials, and activities to help children regulate
Email info@earlychildhoodmatters.org to find out how we can help your school.