May 27, 2009 – The halls of higher education at the St. Croix campus of the University of the Virgin Islands turned into halls of early childhood education at the Best Beginnings conference Tuesday and Wednesday.
The campus was abuzz with preschool educators, day care workers, Head Start workers and parents learning how to get little ones off to their best beginnings at the 11th Annual Early Childhood Conference. The participants had many breakout workshops that they could choose to attend.
"The workshops have been very helpful to me," said Rut Ruiz, mother of a 3-year-old daughter. "I came on my own to get to know how my toddler develops and what level she should be at."
Ruiz was able to take home information from the Learning Language Through Everyday Activities and Literacy workshop presented by Kristi Coonrod, speech and language pathologist. Coonrod gave information on normal language development levels and how language is developed. She shared tips for developing language and encouraged participants to read and talk to children.
"The number one thing is to talk to kids to get them to talk," said Coonrod. "Reading and speech are all linked, so read to your kids." She suggested and showed age-appropriate books and props that can be used to keep children interested in reading. She said studies show 75 percent of drop outs have difficulty reading.
A panel discussion was held on developmentally appropriate curriculum used by local schools. Sylvia Sullivan discussed the science behind Montessori learning. Ana -Soto-Brown of Kids Are Us Group Daycare and Home discussed the Creative Curriculum program. Sarah Cole of the Stone House Preschool presented information on Waldorf Education, an approach that emphasizes the imagination and creative, analytical thinking. Miguelina Neptune discussed Head Start programs and active learning.
"We use the High Scope Curriculum with interactive learning," said Neptune. "Kids learn best when they are engaged in adult and child interaction. The instructor talks about activities to stimulate thinking."
Ellie Hirsh, director of the Family Connection, a program of the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, gave a presentation on why early learning matters and how children learn.
"Learning happens everywhere, everyday, wherever the child is," said Hirsh. "It happens at grandma's house, the grocery store and in the car. Everyday moments are learning moments." She said children are born learning and experts know children learn from observing and participating with adults and other children.
There were workshops on raising moral children, early math, healthy meals and childhood illnesses.
Camille Catlett presented the keynote address, "Shift Happens: Supporting Quality for Every Young Learner." Catlett is from the University of North Carolina's Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.
Free childcare service was available, so even babies and toddlers were at the conference, watched over by teens from the St. Croix Educational Complex child care class.
A model preschool class room was set up in the Great Hall with bright primary colored educational toys and games, dress-up and make-believe clothes and pink cooking utensils at a child- sized sink and stove.
Maureen Moorehead, district coordinator of special education at the Department of Education, said it was wonderful that each year they get more exciting workshops.
"We have more resources each year taking the conference to a different level," said Moorehead.. Last year in the two days on St. Croix and two on St. Thomas they had more than 1,300 participants, so organizers this year planned for at least that many. She added they had 400 participants on St. Croix Tuesday.
"We tested the water with a $5 registration fee and still got a good response," Moorehead said. "Some of the agencies even paid for parents to attend." The conference will be held on St. Thomas on Thursday and Friday at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center
The conference was sponsored by the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, Lutheran Social Services, UVI and the Departments of Human Services, Health and Education.
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