Author: Fetesha N. Downs, Manager of Digital Brand Experience, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

On an early Saturday morning at the College of Lake County, YWCA Metropolitan Chicago's Early Childhood Services team setup for their inaugural Lake County Spring Symposium. The nonprofit merged with sister association, YWCA Lake County, just a few years ago and is working hard to further enhance child care provider services in this community. With expert staff and well-established providers, some of which have been serving children and families for decades, this event was as much of a celebration of talent as it was further professional development for those in the early childhood sector. 

Seeing some familiar faces travel over an hour for this event, there was a sense of excitement and camaraderie from the moment registration and networking began. Collaborations like this take a lot of work and it speaks to the expertise of everyone involved that it went so smoothly and stayed on time. One of my greatest joys as a marketer is the opportunity to meet more of the individuals that are helping to enrich our children’s future. Every provider I was able to take a moment to speak with had nothing but positivity around their work and this event. You could tell session selections were taken very seriously as everyone rushed to their first pick of breakouts. 

Breakout Session—Building Positive Social Emotional Skills for All Children: Introducing the Pyramid Model Framework

Casey Craft-Cortes was the presenter. Attendees were introduced to our Educator Navigators by A’riel Pennix before the heart of the content kicked off. For those unfamiliar with Education Navigators, this team of amazing individuals work with early childhood professionals to continue their education—associate degree and beyond. There is even an opportunity to receive scholarships to pay for tuition and board. Click here for more details on that program.Focusing back on the breakout session, there were immediate moments of note. Getting to hear the vast knowledge of the providers in the room was humbling. From a home-based provider who’s been in the industry for 30 years to a College of Lake County early childhood student completing her degree, it made me so happy to be with them for a few hours and just take everything in. Being someone with a young toddler at home, I want to stay informed about the strategies early childhood providers are using today. We all know that child care is not simply dropping your child off at a home/center and picking them up. There is a lot of trust in that relationship and it needs to work both ways. So, what can I, as a guardian, do to build a team with those impacting my young one's life?The pyramid model is about understanding how each child and family should be included in their years of early development. Casey, our Infant-Toddler Specialist, led the discussion on this newer model. Providers had the opportunity to share their experience and goals for the ideal day in their home/classroom—and what are the steps needed to make that their new normal. Or, at least, as close as one can get to that scenario.Behavior issues are an expected, but sometimes challenging, part of the job. With the experiences of the pandemic, our children are struggling a bit more than usual. The CDC has even removed/changed some of the milestone estimates because of it. How do early childhood professionals address this?“We have to make these milestones attainable for children. The pandemic brought out a lot of traumas.” - Casey Craft-CortesThere are moments in your child’s life that you do not get to see—especially in terms of the early learning environment. Rather than being envious of those moments, what are the ways we can inform the providers (or have them inform us) of these small victories? A great point that was brought up was how families must be the advocate for their children and how different it could be if parents and providers went through the same education—especially in terms of behavioral issues. Figuring out the why is just as important as the how. If everyone involved does not have consensus on success, troubleshooting, etc., the child loses out. “Children have two main goals for behavior: to escape or to obtain. Our work must shift to teaching alternatives from those still using punishment. ‘At my program, this is how we address challenging behavior’.” - Casey Craft-CortesYou will see that this approach addresses the full scope of those involved in your child’s early development. What stands out to you the most and how do you see this playing out in your own life? 

Breakout Session—Executive Function: What’s All The Buzz About?

Cheryl Hazek, our Children’s Mental Health Manager (Center Based Programs), was the presenter. Education Navigator Carly Teeling did her introduction. Outside of Cheryl's vast expertise in the field, she is also a parent. Much like Casey in the first session, she can share both sides of the early development journey. So, what does it mean when we are talking about Executive Function? How is it disrupted, and what are useful intervention strategies?  Your brain’s ability to adapt to new information is an essential skill in life—no matter what age we are talking about. There are constant, competing stimuli and we need to understand how to multitask and recall at the same time. Our frontal lobe is where executive functioning skills live, and they are not fully formed until our mid- to late-20s. What does this then look like when we are dealing with children so early in their developmental journey? How do we step back with that reminder when we are in a situation that does not always promote calm? Executive function areas include working memory, flexible thinking, and impulse control. Executive function really is there to help us with goals—establishing them, planning to achieve them, and completing them. Preparation/Scaffolding is key, and we can, even if by mistake, model skills that do not help the situation out. As providers took the time to start sharing their stories, all sorts of memories came up. “How do we integrate the importance of these skills—with families and other teachers?” -A'riel Pennix, Education NavigatorThe pandemic has been a societal example of executive function in action. We have had to learn so differently, live so differently, and that continues now with the “new” normal we’re in. “A takeaway for me is that we have to be intentional teachers.” – Jan Munday (FCC) Treating lower executive function skills as delayed vs. just problematic behavior is important. To demonstrate this further, Cheryl walked through using games (not paying attention to the standard rules) and figuring out how early educators can use the tools as interventions for executive function skills. I would be lying if I said it was not fascinating to observe how each person approached this activity. Even as an adult, I feel like this activity is a good exercise just to status where we are in our own lives. This session is such a great highlight as we are now in Mental Health Awareness Month and Children's Mental Health Awareness Week.

Closing Keynote—Putting H.O.PE. Into Action

Frank Kros was the keynote speaker for this event and truly lived up to the hype. Early Childhood Professionals were excited to meet him as I watched everyone line up for photos and share a little bit about themselves. If you are not familiar with his work, here’s a quick bio.  The discussion was all about strategies—no matter how simple or extensive. The pandemic’s impact continued to be highlighted. This does not mean it is unchangeable, just that we must move slower alongside them and return to simpler approaches.“What is the best toy for your child? Your face…It is consistent enough for attachment but can change for learning as well...Watch your face.” - Frank KrosYoung children read faces and body language, not our words. Even those that never got the virus experienced stress from all of us adults during the most trying times of the pandemic. More attention on the screens, introduced by us adults, also factors in. Children have spent more time in stress regulation than play or learning—that is a significant impact on continued development.  “The environment you are providing means EVERYTHING...Connectedness for us adults means not conditioning acceptance in exchange for their ‘correct’ behavior.” - Frank KrosThis makes kids dependent on outside approval for confidence and confirmation. You can do it in a way that does not condition them to only see certain parts of themselves as worthy and loving. That scenario is created by those around us that we grant trust with our personhood. Strategies are fundamental, effective, and fun. Activities for each age group - infant, toddler, and beyond - included examples like  showing a big (expressive) face, baby talk/parentese, maintaining a reliable structure, and deep breathing exercises. Again, not something one needs to spend a lot of money on. Instead, these are activities that put everyone involved in a state of calm and focus on each other. If the keynote had to be summarized in one quote, it would be this: "It is not the circumstances; it is the adults that were present at the time for any generation." - Frank Kros

Final Thoughts 

Being a full-time marketer, I do not get to experience the daily, direct services executed by my coworkers on the program side of our organization. That is why I look forward to covering events like this. Having the bias of now being an aunt, I’m more focused on understanding not just the early childhood field—but what role I need to play in my nephew’s upbringing. Attending just a few of today’s sessions meant I am a little more knowledgeable about what early educators are working on and how "normal" some of my caregiver moments are with others. Whether you are a parent/guardian or an early childhood professional, I highly recommend attending a future conference.  From an education perspective, I learned a lot of industry jargon, met some of our community collaborators (like Birth to Five and College of Lake County’s Early Childhood degree program), and observed how educators train each other. Please look out for more content around the subject matter shared, staff experts who presented, and community partners that made this inaugural Lake County Symposium possible!