Part One Tuesday, Oct 15
Part Two Tuesday, Oct 22
7 - 9 PM    $85
Inquiry, play-based, and emergent learning all provide wonderful opportunities for children to engage with their environment, each other, and you. As educators in this type of environment, it's essential that we notice what children are doing, think through what they may have in mind, and then intentionally respond.

How do you take notes about what is happening in your setting, so that you can respond? How does the cycle of observation/reflection/response work for you? How can you find time in your busy day for this type of practice?

In this 2-part series, we will explore Sketch-Notebooks, a tool for quickly taking brief notes 'on the spot,' We will record our questions, draw quick diagrams or sketches, and highlight what we feel is important about what's going on around us.
Sketch-notebooks have been around for hundreds of years, and have been used by scientists, philosophers and artists. You don't have to be an artist to use a sketch notebook; you just need a curious mind! In our field of ECE, they are ideal for on-the-spot note taking, recording our wondering and our delight about what children are doing.

In week one, we will learn about how sketch notebooks can be used (there are many options) and practice using them. We will leave with some reflective questions to help uncover children's ideas, thinking, and strategies during the next week.

In week two, we will use our notebooks to find threads that weave through children's play, connect those threads, and make decisions about what to do next. These actions tie align with the new NS curriculum framework and the Reflective Planning Cycle.

Come join us, play with creative thinking, and discover a tool which will help you bring observation, reflection and response to life in your work. Please bring one or two printed photos from your classroom to use as inspiration. Your first sketch notebook is on us!

Presenter: Susan Stacey is a teacher educator who supports both experienced educators and student ECEs on their journey through emergent curriculum, inquiry-based practices, and pedagogical documentation. She enjoys incorporating the Arts, Invitations, and Children’s Literature into her work with teachers. Susan’s books include Emergent Curriculum in Early Childhood Settings; Unscripted: Emergent

Curriculum in Action; Pedagogical Documentation in Early Childhood; and Inquiry-based Early Learning Environments all published by Redleaf Press. Susan currently teaches curriculum courses at NSCECE and consults with educators in Nova Scotia and around Canada. Her website can be found at www.suestacey.ca.

Follow the link to register

More Details to come

Session 2 (for leaders) Keating Centre Conference Room A

Module 3: Exploring our Early Years Practices and Connecting them to Capable, Confident and Curious: Nova Scotia’s Early Learning Curriculum Framework.

Early years practices vary widely across our province, and yet we all have something in common: A desire to provide the best programs possible for all our children. What does the Framework say about putting our good intentions into practice? What does this look like in our everyday work?
In this module, educators will examine six aspects of the Framework: Responsiveness to Children, Intentional Teaching, Relationships with people, materials and the world, Connecting our Image of the Child to what we actually do, Play as a way of Learning, and the Role of Families, Community and Culture. All of these aspects can be tied in concrete ways to our everyday work with children, and we will use activities and dialogue – including the Reflective Planning Cycle - to assist with making these topics come to life.
Leaders will also engage with these topics, but in addition will have the opportunity to consider how to support such practices in the workplace, how to bring families into decision-making processes, the development of communities of practice as a support system, and the role of pedagogical leadership as our classroom practices begin to shift and adjust.

Module 4: The Learning Environment and how it Supports Children’s Thinking, Ideas, and Engagement

This module will examine not only the physical environment (i.e. materials, furniture and space) but also the ‘non-visible’ aspects of the spaces where we work with children. How does an environment help to build relationships? Include all children and their interests and diversities? Encourage innovative thinking, for both children and adults? How does it make our philosophies visible?
Educators will consider all these questions with the goal of adjusting both indoor and outdoor environments in response to children, providing invitations that scaffold their thinking and learning, considering the role of beauty in our environments, and developing inquiries with children where the environment plays the important role of ‘third teacher,’ along with their families and their communities.
Leaders will consider the same topics, while also considering ‘whole centre’ aspects of the environment, how to include families and community, and how to develop an environment that supports a culture of reflection and innovation for their staff.

This session is being hosted by the Early Childhood Development Support Centre Cumberland Campus. Please contact [email protected] or (902) 597 4406 for more details.

9:00 to 4:00 both days; light lunch provided


Pedagogical Leadership (Module 1) Day 1

‘Pedagogical Leaders demonstrate credible knowledge of the teaching and learning process and draw on those principles to guide individuals and groups.’ (Coughlin and Woodburn, 2016)

This module, designed for any type of leader in our field who is working in a regulated child care setting or Pre-primary Program, will focus on how pedagogical leadership supports educators in reflecting upon, and learning more about, their practices with children.

We will address - through experiences and dialogue – the questions: What is an effective pedagogical leader? How do we work through growth and change in positive ways? How do we encourage innovative practices?

Participants will:

•     develop an understanding of the role of a pedagogical leader, how this role can be improved through reflection, and how this type of leadership can support the vision and goals of their setting.
•     explore ideas around leading others through change and growth, while making connections to the framework, as they practice motivating, coaching, and mentoring skills.
•     reflect upon what it means to be a leader in terms of curriculum decisions; how we develop programs that are play-based, intentional, and connected to the practices described in the framework.

The Image of the Child (Module 2) Day 2

‘A person’s Image of the Child….is influenced by that person’s experiences, culture, values and beliefs’ (N.S Early Learning Curriculum Framework, p11).

This statement about the Image of the Child from the curriculum framework is foundational for the practices described within the document. In this module, we will use reflection and dialogue to work through our own images of children and how these are made visible in our day to day interactions, routines, decision-making, and responses to children.

We will address – through experiences and dialogue -  the questions: What is your ‘Image of the Child’? Why does this image matter? How do our images and practices align with the Framework? What difference does it make to our daily practice? How does the Image of the Child affect the role of an educator or leader?

Participants will:

•     articulate their Image of the Child, taking into account their own centre’s philosophies and values.
•     understand how their own childhood experiences, family background, spiritual and cultural values, as well as experiences as an adult and educator, influence their images of children.
•     improve awareness of what they see and understand in their approaches with children, and recognize how their images of children shape their ECE practices.

Register Here

Kingstec Early Learning Conference

Featuring Diane Kashin

More Details to Come

In this 1-day session, ECE program staff explore how observation and reflective practice help build meaningful learning opportunities.

Observation for Decision-Making Purposes (Module 5)

In our daily work, we observe children all the time – but how are we observing, and for what purpose? Knowing what to look for, and the possibilities for responding to what we see and hear, is a crucial part of inquiry-based curriculum, play-based practice, and the building of responsive and meaningful teaching and learning.

In Module 5, educators and leaders will:

• Learn about ‘ways of noticing’ that are useful and usable during our daily work, together with varied methods of taking notes and photos.

• Think through what we are looking for, and how to use the information that we have collected.

• Connect these approaches to the framework in natural and authentic ways, using our relationships with children as one of the cornerstones of our work.

Reflective Practice and How it Applies to Daily Practices with Children (Module 6)

In Module 6, participants will explore how reflective practice connects to the curriculum framework, how to use the Reflective Planning Cycle as a useful tool in our daily lives with children, as well as how to include families in this cycle.

Educators and Leaders will:

• Work through the Reflective Planning Cycle in order to understand its practicality as a tool for reflection in our everyday lives with children

• Reach an understanding of the difference that Reflective Practice can make in the quality of our programs.

This module is being hosted by MSVU.

To register:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/msvu-eycdc-capable-confident-curious-program-staff-session-3-tickets-70663784281

9:00 to 4:00 light lunch included


The Image of the Child

It is an exciting time in the N.S. early childhood field! Our new curriculum framework is here, ready to be used in ECE settings around the province. Are you familiar with it, and the many ways in which it might be used? This module - Using Your Image of the Child in Your Daily Practice - will uncover the possibilities for using the first part of the Framework, and the "whys" of being able to use your Image of the Child in practical ways. Join us for this interactive session that will be the foundation for the rest of the Framework.



Register Here

Must attend part one on Oct 15

Friday October 25 9:00-4:00
Saturday October 26 9:00-4:00
Lunch Provided

Session 2 (leaders)

Module 3: Exploring our Early Years Practices and Connecting them to Capable, Confident and Curious: Nova Scotia’s Early Learning Curriculum Framework.

Early years practices vary widely across our province, and yet we all have something in common: A desire to provide the best programs possible for all our children. What does the Framework say about putting our good intentions into practice? What does this look like in our everyday work?
In this module, educators will examine six aspects of the Framework: Responsiveness to Children, Intentional Teaching, Relationships with people, materials and the world, Connecting our Image of the Child to what we actually do, Play as a way of Learning, and the Role of Families, Community and Culture. All of these aspects can be tied in concrete ways to our everyday work with children, and we will use activities and dialogue – including the Reflective Planning Cycle - to assist with making these topics come to life.
Leaders will also engage with these topics, but in addition will have the opportunity to consider how to support such practices in the workplace, how to bring families into decision-making processes, the development of communities of practice as a support system, and the role of pedagogical leadership as our classroom practices begin to shift and adjust.

Module 4: The Learning Environment and how it Supports Children’s Thinking, Ideas, and Engagement

This module will examine not only the physical environment (i.e. materials, furniture and space) but also the ‘non-visible’ aspects of the spaces where we work with children. How does an environment help to build relationships? Include all children and their interests and diversities? Encourage innovative thinking, for both children and adults? How does it make our philosophies visible?
Educators will consider all these questions with the goal of adjusting both indoor and outdoor environments in response to children, providing invitations that scaffold their thinking and learning, considering the role of beauty in our environments, and developing inquiries with children where the environment plays the important role of ‘third teacher,’ along with their families and their communities.
Leaders will consider the same topics, while also considering ‘whole centre’ aspects of the environment, how to include families and community, and how to develop an environment that supports a culture of reflection and innovation for their staff.

This module is being hosted by Jane Norman College / Early Years Support Centre.
Please contact [email protected] for more details.

9:00 to 4:00 each day, light lunch provided


Observation for Decision-Making Purposes (Module 5) Day 1

In our daily work, we observe children all the time – but how are we observing, and for what purpose? Knowing what to look for, and the possibilities for responding to what we see and hear, is a crucial part of inquiry-based curriculum, play-based practice, and the building of responsive and meaningful teaching and learning.
In Module 5, educators and leaders will:

•     Learn about ‘ways of noticing’ that are useful and useable during our daily work, together with varied methods of taking notes and photos.
•     Think through what we are looking for, and how to use the information that we have collected.
•     Connect these approaches to the framework in natural and authentic ways, using our relationships with children as one of the cornerstones of our work.

Additionally, leaders will learn how to support this type of observation, develop systems that work, and model the development of responsive programming.

Reflective Practice and How it Applies to Daily Practices with Children (Module 6) Day 2

In Module 6, participants will explore how reflective practice connects to the curriculum framework, how to use the Reflective Planning Cycle as a useful tool in our daily lives with children, as well as how to include families in this cycle.

Educators and Leaders will:

•     Work through the Reflective Planning Cycle in order to understand its practicality as a tool for reflection in our everyday lives with children
•     Reach an understanding of the difference that Reflective Practice can make in the quality of our programs.

Additionally, leaders will learn how to develop and support this type of practice within their settings through modeling and scaffolding.

Register Here

In this 2-day session, Saturday October 26 AND Saturday November 16, 2019 ECE program leaders explore how observation and reflective practice support the building of meaningful learning..

Early years practices vary widely across our province, and yet we all have something in common: A desire to provide the best program possible for all our children. What does the Framework say about putting our good intentions into practice? What does this look like in our everyday work?

Day One - Observation for Decision-Making Purposes (Module 5) October 26, 2019

In our daily work, we observe children all the time – but how are we observing, and for what purpose? Knowing what to look for, and the possibilities for responding to what we see and hear, is a crucial part of inquiry-based curriculum, play-based practice, and the building of responsive and meaningful teaching and learning.

In Module 5, educators and leaders will:

• Learn about ‘ways of noticing’ that are useful and usable during our daily work, together with varied methods of taking notes and photos.

• Think through what we are looking for, and how to use the information that we have collected.

• Connect these approaches to the framework in natural and authentic ways, using our relationships with children as one of the cornerstones of our work.

Additionally, leaders will learn how to support this type of observation, develop systems that work, and model the development of responsive programming.

Day Two - Reflective Practice and How it Applies to Daily Practices with Children (Module 6) November 16, 2019

In Module 6, participants will explore how reflective practice connects to the curriculum framework, how to use the Reflective Planning Cycle as a useful tool in our daily lives with children, as well as how to include families in this cycle.

Educators and Leaders will:

• Work through the Reflective Planning Cycle in order to understand its practicality as a tool for reflection in our everyday lives with children

• Reach an understanding of the difference that Reflective Practice can make in the quality of our programs.

Additionally, leaders will learn how to develop and support this type of practice within their settings through modeling and scaffolding.

Thismodule is being hosted by MSVU.

To register:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/msvu-eycdc-capable-confident-curious-program-leaders-session-3-tickets-70662624813