Workshops

Date: Thursday April 25 (6:30pm – 9pm), Saturday May 4 (9am-1pm), and Saturday May 25, 2024 (9am-1pm).
Cost: $115 
Total PD hours: 10.5 hrs 
Location: IN PERSON 
Presenters: Shari Ridgewell & Denise Stone

Description:   In this fast-paced environment of early learning & care, leaders are often challenged to adhere to & make decisions that are in the best interest of young children. This workshop series will provide program leaders (e.g. Directors, Board members, pedagogical leaders, inclusion coordinators), the opportunity to reflect on ethical decision making which supports action, duties & obligations that respect the rights of children, families & communities.
Participants will work on identifying ethical dilemmas they experience & use tools identified in the session to problem solve from an 'ethical perspective'. They will learn how to identify 'root causes' of the issues, applying either current or new skills to create possible solutions, & practice leadership proficiencies in applying ethical decision making between workshop sessions. Participants will review their current policies, & draft, or revise, a child -centered policy(s) for use within their organization.
Keeping children in the fore front of all decision making, participants will explore how ethical practice demonstrates respect for others, enabling leaders to be courageous & to act with integrity when confronted with ethical dilemmas,
Objectives:
To understand ethics & the need for ethical leadership in early childhood programs.
To explore ethical decision making & practices across diverse cultures & social contexts.
To identify common ethical dilemmas that arise from caring for young children.
To explore how ethical leadership respects diverse opinions & supports positive outcomes for children & families.


Presenter Biographies: Shari Ridgewell, M.Ed. is an early childhood educator with 40+ years’ experience in the field. She has worked with all age groups; as child care administrator; an early childhood education consultant; a trainer of early childhood students; professional development provider & as an advocate for high quality inclusive child care. She recently retired from the Nova Scotia Government after 22 years working in licensing, program consulting, & policy development. In her last 5 years of public service, she coordinated the initial implementation of the Pyramid Model in Nova Scotia & continues as a member of the Provincial Pyramid Model Leadership Team. Shari continues to support the social emotional development & well-being of all young children in her consulting work with the Pyramid Model Consortium.

Denise Stone is an early childhood professional with over 40 years of experience working in the early learning & child care sector. Some of her experiences include, early intervention, child care management, licensing, & post secondary course delivery & workshop facilitation. Prior to her retirement from the provincial government in 2021, Denise held several positions during her 20 years as a civil servant. Over the course of her career, Denise’s focus has always been to ensure the provision of high quality early learning & child care experiences for children & their families, & supporting professionalism within the sector.

Date: Saturday April 27 (9am-3 pm) AND Monday May 6, 2024 6:30-8:30 
Cost: $85 
Total PD hours: 8 PD hours
Location: INPERSON & ONLINE 
Presenter: Blair Hill

Description:  Join Early Childhood Education Faculty & former Childcare Director Blair Hill for this custom-designed workshop: “Difficult Conversations for Leaders”.

As Directors & Leaders, you are often in the position of having to initiate sensitive conversations with staff & parents. In fact, having these discussions is a critical part of your role.
Goals of Workshop

• Understand why having difficult conversations is important to the success of your program?
• Gain tips for having difficult conversations with employees
• Gain tips for having difficult conversations with parents

Presenter Biography: Blair Hill has worked in the field of early childhood education for over 38 years & holds diplomas in Early Childhood Education & Adult Education. As a life-long learner he continues to take courses to further his education & stay current in the field. He is the Lead Faculty for the Early Childhood Education Program at NSCC, Marconi Campus. He also is a faculty & Subject Matter Expert for the NSCC Early Childhood Education Advanced Certificate Program. Blair has been facilitating workshops for the ECE sector for over 25 years & is a Provincial Facilitator for Capable, Confident, & Curious: Nova Scotia’s Early Years Curriculum Framework. He has also been involved with the SHEY (Sexual Health in the Early Years) committee since its beginning. Blair lives with his cat Max & enjoys travelling & spending time in the outdoors.

Date: Wednesdays May 1, 8 & 15, 2024 Time: 6:30 pm—8:30 pm Cost: $75 Total PD hours: 6 hours Location: ONLINE Presenter: Kathy Black

Description:  All children, youth & adults benefit from participating in daily physical activity. This 3-part series will review why physical activity is important for young children, & the role of the educator or care provider to plan daily opportunities. A variety of activities & materials for young children will be discussed to promote active play through-out the day in the indoor & outdoor environments. Participants are encouraged to share photos of their active play opportunities to showcase during session 3.
Session 1: Information provided on how much physical activity is recommended for young children from birth to school age. Movement skills for each developmental stage will be reviewed, with suggestions on how to keep chil-dren physically active throughout the daily routine.
Session 2: Discussion regarding the common play patterns & how to support children during play.
Understanding the adult’s role in encouraging & guiding daily indoor & outdoor active play opportunities for the children in their care.
Session 3: Review the importance of child lead & risky play opportunities for young children.
Examples of how educators & care providers successfully provide materials, space, & time throughout the day.
Photos of physical activity ideas from the participants will be shared.
Goals: Participants will understand why physical activity is important for young children & the movement skills for each developmental stage. Participants will learn how to support children during different types of play. Participants will share & observe a variety of indoor & outdoor physical play experiences to incorporate into their early child-hood settings.

Presenter Biography; Kathy Black has been supporting children, families, and educators for over 35 years. Through-out her career in early childhood education, she has enjoyed various roles as an educator, consultant, licensing officer, faculty, and facilitator. Kathy currently works at Edward Jost Childrens Centre, fulfilling the role as Inclusion Coordina-tor. Meeting children, families, and educators where they are at has been a practice that continues to guide Kathy throughout her career.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.”  This is certainly true of images on documentation panels or those used to market your program online.

 In this three-session, online workshop, you will:

1.      Learn the basics of composition and what goes into creating an interesting image (Week 1)

2.      Develop ideas to incorporate photography and visual storytelling into your program (Week 2)

3.      Learn the ethics and best practices of using photographs in documentation and marketing. (Week 3)

Participants may also take part in an optional “photo walk” to get hands on help and practice with your camera. (April 6th, 10:00am, Kentville. Details TBC during the first session based on participant feedback.)

Each session will be followed by homework—a practical activity with feedback from the facilitator and fellow participants. 

Facilitator: Justine MacDonald

Fee: $70

Deadline to register: March 28th, 2024

4 April 2024 – Intro to Photography – 6:30 – 8:30 pm

6 April 2024 – Photo walk – Kentville, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm(Optional – participants receive an additional two hours of PD)

18 April 2024 – Visual Storytelling – 6:30 – 8:30 pm

2 May 2024 – Documentation – 6:30 – 8:30 pm

When I am not working at the ECDSC Kingstec as Sara's Administrative Assistant, a position I've held since 2006, I am a mixed media artist and photographer with a focus on travel, landscape, and abstract art. In addition to being the official photographer for Wolfville’s Broken Leg Theatre, my work has appeared in group and solo exhibitions and several online and print publications, including my book "Remembrance Road", published in 2018."

Please Note Our new payment process (September 2023)

1. Credit card or VISA Debit payment
2. Cheque
3. Cash
(Instructions below)

- Registration form AND payment are to be received by us at least TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE (unless otherwise noted), not simply postmarked by the deadline.
- Registrations cannot be processed, nor spaces held, until both registration form and payment are received.
- Cancellations must be processed before the workshop occurs. Please contact us at least 1 week prior to a workshop if you are unable to attend.

Please contact  sara.graves@nscc.ca or justine.macdonald@nscc.ca  for more details.

*please keep our workshop guidelines in mind* https://www.nscc.ca/ecdsc/professional-development/kingstec-guidelines.asp

To Register: https://bit.ly/ecdscws

Date: Thursday April 25 (6:30pm – 9pm), Saturday May 4 (9am-1pm), and Saturday May 25, 2024 (9am-1pm).
Cost: $115 
Total PD hours: 10.5 hrs 
Location: IN PERSON 
Presenters: Shari Ridgewell & Denise Stone

Description:   In this fast-paced environment of early learning & care, leaders are often challenged to adhere to & make decisions that are in the best interest of young children. This workshop series will provide program leaders (e.g. Directors, Board members, pedagogical leaders, inclusion coordinators), the opportunity to reflect on ethical decision making which supports action, duties & obligations that respect the rights of children, families & communities.
Participants will work on identifying ethical dilemmas they experience & use tools identified in the session to problem solve from an 'ethical perspective'. They will learn how to identify 'root causes' of the issues, applying either current or new skills to create possible solutions, & practice leadership proficiencies in applying ethical decision making between workshop sessions. Participants will review their current policies, & draft, or revise, a child -centered policy(s) for use within their organization.
Keeping children in the fore front of all decision making, participants will explore how ethical practice demonstrates respect for others, enabling leaders to be courageous & to act with integrity when confronted with ethical dilemmas,
Objectives:
To understand ethics & the need for ethical leadership in early childhood programs.
To explore ethical decision making & practices across diverse cultures & social contexts.
To identify common ethical dilemmas that arise from caring for young children.
To explore how ethical leadership respects diverse opinions & supports positive outcomes for children & families.


Presenter Biographies: Shari Ridgewell, M.Ed. is an early childhood educator with 40+ years’ experience in the field. She has worked with all age groups; as child care administrator; an early childhood education consultant; a trainer of early childhood students; professional development provider & as an advocate for high quality inclusive child care. She recently retired from the Nova Scotia Government after 22 years working in licensing, program consulting, & policy development. In her last 5 years of public service, she coordinated the initial implementation of the Pyramid Model in Nova Scotia & continues as a member of the Provincial Pyramid Model Leadership Team. Shari continues to support the social emotional development & well-being of all young children in her consulting work with the Pyramid Model Consortium.

Denise Stone is an early childhood professional with over 40 years of experience working in the early learning & child care sector. Some of her experiences include, early intervention, child care management, licensing, & post secondary course delivery & workshop facilitation. Prior to her retirement from the provincial government in 2021, Denise held several positions during her 20 years as a civil servant. Over the course of her career, Denise’s focus has always been to ensure the provision of high quality early learning & child care experiences for children & their families, & supporting professionalism within the sector.

Date: Saturday April 27 (9am-3 pm) AND Monday May 6, 2024 6:30-8:30 
Cost: $85 
Total PD hours: 8 PD hours
Location: INPERSON & ONLINE 
Presenter: Blair Hill

Description:  Join Early Childhood Education Faculty & former Childcare Director Blair Hill for this custom-designed workshop: “Difficult Conversations for Leaders”.

As Directors & Leaders, you are often in the position of having to initiate sensitive conversations with staff & parents. In fact, having these discussions is a critical part of your role.
Goals of Workshop

• Understand why having difficult conversations is important to the success of your program?
• Gain tips for having difficult conversations with employees
• Gain tips for having difficult conversations with parents

Presenter Biography: Blair Hill has worked in the field of early childhood education for over 38 years & holds diplomas in Early Childhood Education & Adult Education. As a life-long learner he continues to take courses to further his education & stay current in the field. He is the Lead Faculty for the Early Childhood Education Program at NSCC, Marconi Campus. He also is a faculty & Subject Matter Expert for the NSCC Early Childhood Education Advanced Certificate Program. Blair has been facilitating workshops for the ECE sector for over 25 years & is a Provincial Facilitator for Capable, Confident, & Curious: Nova Scotia’s Early Years Curriculum Framework. He has also been involved with the SHEY (Sexual Health in the Early Years) committee since its beginning. Blair lives with his cat Max & enjoys travelling & spending time in the outdoors.

Date: Wednesdays May 1, 8 & 15, 2024 Time: 6:30 pm—8:30 pm Cost: $75 Total PD hours: 6 hours Location: ONLINE Presenter: Kathy Black

Description:  All children, youth & adults benefit from participating in daily physical activity. This 3-part series will review why physical activity is important for young children, & the role of the educator or care provider to plan daily opportunities. A variety of activities & materials for young children will be discussed to promote active play through-out the day in the indoor & outdoor environments. Participants are encouraged to share photos of their active play opportunities to showcase during session 3.
Session 1: Information provided on how much physical activity is recommended for young children from birth to school age. Movement skills for each developmental stage will be reviewed, with suggestions on how to keep chil-dren physically active throughout the daily routine.
Session 2: Discussion regarding the common play patterns & how to support children during play.
Understanding the adult’s role in encouraging & guiding daily indoor & outdoor active play opportunities for the children in their care.
Session 3: Review the importance of child lead & risky play opportunities for young children.
Examples of how educators & care providers successfully provide materials, space, & time throughout the day.
Photos of physical activity ideas from the participants will be shared.
Goals: Participants will understand why physical activity is important for young children & the movement skills for each developmental stage. Participants will learn how to support children during different types of play. Participants will share & observe a variety of indoor & outdoor physical play experiences to incorporate into their early child-hood settings.

Presenter Biography; Kathy Black has been supporting children, families, and educators for over 35 years. Through-out her career in early childhood education, she has enjoyed various roles as an educator, consultant, licensing officer, faculty, and facilitator. Kathy currently works at Edward Jost Childrens Centre, fulfilling the role as Inclusion Coordina-tor. Meeting children, families, and educators where they are at has been a practice that continues to guide Kathy throughout her career.