Recently over 300 early child hood educators and school age professionals came together at the Educating the Heart: Behavior and the Brain conference conducted by Professional Development Dimensions and supported by Lakeside Educational Network and Montgomery County Community College. Participants were exposed to a variety of sensory experiences, including a drumming group, a band, brain breaks, fidgets, breathing exercises as well as the opportunity to interact and connect with professionals who are experts on brain based learning which directly leads to the development of social and emotional competence.
Several of the participants walked away having gained a new understanding of how important early brain development is and how supporting children’s social and emotional development can impact future academic success:
“Children don’t intentionally come in to be disruptive.”
“I have a greater understanding of how the brain function dramatically affects learning and behavior.”
“Teachers need to work on where they are before dealing with an angry, upset child.”
“How the way I was raised influences my teaching style but it doesn’t have to be absolute.”
One participant stated: “If I could go back in time, I would with the raising of my son, because of the information I have now.” But we don’t need to go back in time.
We need to continue to learn ourselves and teach what we have learned. We don’t spend time beating ourselves up for past mistakes but instead, make a conscious effort to move forward and make the changes in our classrooms and programs that will support our children and their families.
Participants, presenters and promoters walked away from the event ready to take what they had learned and apply it to their work with children, families and other educators. The challenge now becomes how do you stay motivated when you are the minority? How can we stop testing, and pushing our children to become academics before they can walk or talk? How can we stop the need for immediate gratification when it comes to behavior management in our classrooms? Do we have the ability to teach children strategies and skills before we medicate, mediate and discipline? How do we battle an entire society when we know what they ask of our children is not helping but in fact harming them?
To learn more about how to communicate the messages and lessons learned at the Educating the Heart: Behavior and The Brain Conference check out important information about The Need for Social and Emotional Education in Early Childhood Classrooms.
Two programs will have the opportunity to participate in the Emotionally Healthy Classrooms Initiative to help support these efforts. Stay tuned to hear how their journey impacts the children and families in their programs.