UA’s Child Development Resources Hosts Conference

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s Child Development Resources is hosting its first Early Learning Child Development Conference “Building a Good Foundation” later this month.

The conference, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, at the Bryant Conference Center, is open to UA faculty, child care providers, students and anyone who works with children. The cost is $15, which includes lunch.

“The goal of the conference is to provide info on building a good foundation for children using developmentally appropriate practice,” said Dr. April Kendrick, director of Child Development Resources, which is housed in UA’s College of Human Environmental Sciences. “We hope participants are better cemented in their knowledge and learn new ways to prepare children for success in school as well as in life (physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, and verbally).”

The conference will feature Dr. Lillian Katz and Erin Ramsey, as well as retired UA faculty member Jean Gordon.

Katz is professor emerita of early childhood education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she is also principal investigator for the Illinois Early Learning Project, a contributor to the Early Childhood and Parenting Collaborative and editor of the first online peer-reviewed early childhood journal, Early Childhood Research & Practice.

Ramsey will speak on behalf of Mind in the Making, which is a national initiative to share scientifically-based research and applicable strategies for promoting the seven essential life skills based on executive functions of the brain, which include focus and self control; perspective taking; communicating; making connections; critical thinking; taking on challenges; and self-directed, engaged learning.

Those interested can register at https://register.ua.edu/jsp/course.jsp?courseId=UAELDEV. Six hours of DHR credit will be issued to child care providers attending the conference, as well as .60 Continuing Education Units.

For more information, contact Kristy Brown at 205/348-4280 or kbrown@ches.ua.edu.