FEL Demonstration Sites

We just finished round two of our Foundation for Early Learning "Train the Trainers" in Huntington this week. Vermont is in the last year of a three year grant to build a cadre of people who can train Early Childhood professionals in Early Literacy and Positive Behavior Supports. Dr. Tweety Yates from the University of Illinois has been the Vermont Trainer from the Center for Social Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) and Allison Jones has been the Vermont trainer from the Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL). 

On Wednesday at the training, Kate Rogers and Maureen Sullivan from the Vermont Department of Education, along with Dr. Yates, announced that Barlow Street Preschool and Highgate Laboratory Preschool will be CSEFEL demonstration sites in Franklin County. These two preschool programs will be implementing the principles of CSEFEL's research-based practices. As more early childhood providers across the region become trained in CSEFEL, they can visit these two sites to see what it looks like when Positive Behavior Supports are practiced program-wide. 

Pictured above from left to right, Maureen Sullivan, Beth Richey (Highgate Laboratory Preschool teacher), Andrea Racek (Barlow Street Preschool Teacher), Dr. Tweety Yates, and Kate Rogers.

One more Reason for the iPad for Teaching

Here is a link my friend in Shelburn shared about how the iPad can be useful for assisting students with special needs.

Vermont FEL Training

A bunch of educators from our team just completed the Foundations for Early Learning (FEL) train the trainers this week. We are now ready to bring the research-based strategies from the Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) and the Center for Social Emotional Foundations of Early Learning (CSEFEL) back to our parents, classrooms, partner sites, and early intervention programs.

CELL will help us teach people who interact with young children as caregivers, teachers, and parents how to build literacy rich environments and play with infants, toddlers, and young children in a way that supports early language and literacy development. These strategies are both in the form of formal teaching and informal, routines-based ideas. The principles of CELL can be used in classrooms, home childcares, and by parents. The website looks at the entire continuum of language and literacy development and shows how it can be supported in practice guides for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.

CSEFEL will help us give strategies to providers, parents, and teachers to promote social competence in young children. The emphasis is on how adults interact with children, rather than "fixing the child," and understanding that behavior is communication. It is based on a pyramid model. The base of the pyramid is about supportive relationships and environments. This is the prerequisite for the next step. The next tier is about systematic and intentional teaching strategies to support social-emotional growth in children. It emphasizes how to teach social skills in order to help children manage their own behavior.

We are excited to be working with the whole of the Franklin County/Grand Isle Region to come up with a plan to train as many early care providers and parents of young children in these wonderful research based models for supporting children's language, literacy, and social emotional development.

Summer Plans

Here's a nice idea for families this summer. The Vermont State Parks is sponsoring a summer program for you and your family to participate in outdoor activities. You document your activities with photos and then you get points for each of them. When you accumulate 250 points, you receive a free "Golden Pass" to the state parks, which includes the rest of this summer and next. 

Here is the website with all of the information:

http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/venturevt.htm

Have fun getting out there this summer!