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2008 ITSI Institute - Conference Information

Holiday Inn Select, Lafayette-City Centre
515 South Street
Lafayette, Indiana (47901)


Conference Comments

(Click on highlighted titles to view or download handouts or other documents provided by the presenters!)


Keynote Presenters

Dr. Rima Shore

Video games. Television. Music. The Web. Researchers are only just beginning to look into the effects of media exposure on young children. In her thought-provoking keynote, Dr. Shore expanded upon her most recent work, The Power of Pow! Wham! Children, Digital Media & Our Nation's Future: Three Challenges for the Coming Decade, which deals with digital media and young children in general, to discuss the impact of media on infants and toddlers.

Biographical Profile: Dr. Shore is an expert on child development and education, and has authored works such as Rethinking the Brain and What Kids Need. Currently, she is the Adelaide Weisman Chair in Educational Leadership at Bank Street College of Education. There, she heads the Educational Leadership Department.


Barbara Gebhard

People. Perspective. Process. Product. These all must work in harmony for any early childhood system to be its most effective. A high-quality, cohesive system will include children of all ages and promote comprehensive and coordinated services from the start. Barbara Gebhard shared her experience in building early childhood systems that naturally embrace and respond to the needs of infants and toddlers! We learned why the work of providing all young children with healthy growth and optimal development must begin with our very youngest children the infants and toddlers.

Biographical Profile: Barbara Gebhard is the Project Director of State Policy Initiatives at ZERO to THREE. As such, she leads efforts to advance state policy priorities and support states in the development of policies and systems to meet the needs of infants and toddlers.

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Focus Workshop Topics

Indiana Paths to QUALITYTM
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Bureau of Child Care

Paths to QUALITY, Indiana's quality rating and improvement system for regulated child care providers, has begun to rollout across the state. We learned what impact Paths to QUALITY is having on infant and toddler care in Indiana and how WE can be a part of it!

Investigating Attachment Quality: Typical and Atypical Scenarios
ITSI Institute attendees asked for it, and they got it! Terri Swim, assistant professor and program director of Early Childhood Education at Indiana University-Purdue University in Fort Wayne, explored how infants and toddlers form attachments and what happens when they don't.

Other links: Attachment Cases

Spheres of Relationships: Examining the Multiple Systems that Touch the Lives of Infants and Toddlers
The influence of an infant-toddler caregiver doesn't extend just to the child. The relationship between the caregiver and child also has an impact on the home, the care and education setting, the community, and the professional development setting. We learned how all of the environments of a child influence and shape each other!
Presenters were Mary McMullen, professor of Curriculum Studies in Early Childhood Education and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at Indiana University - Bloomington and Susan Dixon from the Early Childhood Center at Indiana University's Indiana Institute on Disability and Community.

Promoting Language and Early Literacy Development for Infants & Toddlers
How do infants and toddlers go from "goo" and "ga" to "kitty" and "doggy"? How do they understand how to put words together into sentences? George Hollich, assistant professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences and director of the Infant Language Lab at Purdue University, unraveled the mystery of infant/toddler language and literacy development.

Other links: Workshop Handout

The Impact of Deployment on Infants & Toddlers
This spring, Indiana will see thousands of families reuniting with loved ones who have deployed in military operations. We received tools that will help infants and toddlers adjust to their new family structure as military personnel return home. Presented Kathy Broniarczyk, director of Outreach at the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University.

The Infant-Mother Tie: Promoting Infant-Mother Relationships
Mother-child relationships, particularly in the first two years of life, have a profound impact on the development of children. German Posada, associate professor of Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University, discussed research-based findings about the development of attachment relationships.

Other links: The Infant-Mother Tie: Promoting Infant-Mother Relationships

Activities for Nurturing the Minds, Spirits, and Bodies of Infants and Toddlers
Get hands-on ideas for providing young children through age two with optimal developmental opportunities related to each domain! We learned techniques for "environmental engineering," which provide inviting experiences for children to learn. Presented by Jane Harvey, supervisor of Field Experience in the Department of Child Development and Family Studies at Purdue University.

We Are the Flintstones: Narrowing the Gap Between What We Know & What We Do in the Realm of Young Children and Digital Media
How can infant-toddler professionals think more critically about the research related to digital media and its impact on children? What kinds of conversations do care and education programs have with parents about digital media and its impact on infants and toddlers? Keynote speaker Rima Shore explored the implications of research on the impact of digital media on infants and toddlers. Infant-toddler professionals gained tools for understanding how the research may influence program design, communication with families, professional development planning, early intervention strategies, and more!

Understanding Mathematical Learning in Infants & Toddlers
How do young children learn math? How can educators teach young children mathematical concepts in a developmentally appropriate way? Sue Ellen Richardson, Ph.D. student at Indiana University, showed us how current research and the FOUNDATIONS to the Indiana Academic Standards for Young Children from Birth to Age 5 can be used to support the mathematical learning of infants and toddlers.

What About the Babies?
While early childhood education has steadily gained momentum across the nation, the momentum is often tied to exclusively to prekindergarten education. But, what about the babies? How can we ensure that improvements in birth to five systems that don't leave infants and toddlers behind? Keynote speaker Barbara Gebhard led participants in exploring how to build on the growing awareness about the importance of quality early childhood education and utilize resources in order to improve the care infants and toddlers receive.

Other links: Common Vision

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Schedule of Events

Thursday, August 21, 2008
10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.Registration & CEU Sign-Up
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.Workshops A – D
12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m.Break
12:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.Lunch
Keynote Address by Dr. Rima Shore
2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.Break
2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.Round Table Discussions
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.Workshops E – H
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.Reception

Friday, August 22, 2008
8:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.Workshops I – L
10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.Break and Networking
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.Workshops M - P
12:00 p.m. – 12:15 p.m.Networking and Break
12:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.Lunch
Keynote Address by Barbara Gebhard
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Questions?

Email: Amy Piper at Indiana University (awpiper@indiana.edu)
 

 
 
Please feel free to link to, print off, redistribute, or reprint any of these materials as long as the original credits remain intact.

Copyright © 2006. Funding is provided through a contract with the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children, provided by the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service - Child Care Bureau., to provide quality early care and educational service to Indiana’s children and families.