Selection of Fall & Winter Professional Learning Opportunities for Early Learning & Childcare Educators

The Maine Department of Education Office of Teaching and Learning, Early Learning Team, along with our partners at Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services and Maine Resilience Building Network (MRBN), are hosting several professional learning opportunities for childcare and public-school educators working with children this fall and winter. These opportunities are funded through Maine’s Preschool Development Renewal Grant.

1. Supporting Children, Families, and Communities to Thrive: Promoting Positive Childhood Experiences and Resilience – a series of free virtual (via ZOOM) professional development sessions for PK-3 public-school educators to learn about how childhood experiences impact children’s development, including strategies for supporting positive experiences, in addition to tools for educators in addressing self-resilience.
2. Empowering Early Childhood Educators to Foster Resilience and Positive Childhood Experiences: A Train the Trainer Opportunity—this program is designed to equip early childhood educators with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to promote Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) and resilience in your early care and education environment by facilitating workshops on these topics.

Find more information on each opportunity below.

Supporting Children, Families, and Communities to Thrive: Promoting Positive Childhood Experiences and Resilience

The Maine Resilience Building Network will be hosting a series of free virtual (via ZOOM) professional development sessions in partnership with Maine DOE and Maine’s Office of Child and Family Services throughout the fall and winter. These sessions will focus on:

• how adverse and positive childhood experiences impact children’s development,
• ideas for how to support a stronger focus on positive experiences and for building resilience for young children, and
• strategies for how educators can address compassion fatigue and build their own resilience.

Descriptions of all 3 available offerings can be found here. Two contact hours are available for each session. Registration is required and links to each session are provided within the table below. There is no cost to attend sessions.

Additional questions can be directed to the Maine Department of Education’s Early Childhood Specialist, nicole.madore@maine.gov.

Empowering Early Childhood Educators to Foster Resilience and Positive Childhood Experiences:  A Train the Trainer Opportunity

The train-the-trainer program is designed to equip early childhood educators with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to promote Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) and resilience in your early care and education environment. This comprehensive program will empower you to lead training sessions within your own community, ensuring that more children and families across Maine benefit from these vital strategies.

Target Audience

This program is ideal for:

• Early childhood educators
• Pre-K providers
• Public school professionals (serving children ages Pre-K to Grade 3)
• Any stakeholders involved in supporting children ages 0-8 across Maine

Prerequisite

Participants should have experience in facilitating professional development sessions and a strong commitment to promoting PCEs and resilience.

Program Objectives

• Understand the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and PCEs on healthy child development.
• Learn evidence-based strategies to foster resilience in children, families, and communities.
• Master the art of delivering effective training sessions to diverse audiences, including educators, caregivers, and community stakeholders.
• Facilitate engaging discussions and activities that promote PCEs.
• Provide ongoing support and resources to educators and caregivers in your community.

Program Content

Participants will:

1. Build an understanding of the impact of experience by:
   • Exploring the effects of ACEs on early brain development and lifelong well-being.
   • Discovering the latest research on PCEs and their role in fostering positive mental health in adulthood.
2. Strengthen the ability to foster Positive Childhood Experiences by:
   • Learning practical strategies to promote PCEs through the Positive Resilience Development framework.
   • Engaging in cognitive reframing techniques focused on protective factors and strengths.
   • Applying the Positive Resilience Development framework to real-life scenarios through group activities and case studies.
3. Achieve certification as a PCE and resilience trainer:
   • This certification will document your expertise and readiness to deliver impactful training sessions.

Program Duration

• 4 weeks with one virtual session per week (each session is approximately 2 hours).

Timeline and Session Topics

• 10/23 Week 1: Introduction and Overview
• 10/30 Week 2: Understanding the Impact of Experience (Part I)
• 11/6 Week 3: Implementing Positive Childhood Experiences (Part II)
• 11/13 Week 4: Application and Practice Session / Wrap-up and Certification

Total Contact Hours – 12 (8 hours for TTT Program + 4 hours prerequisite training)

Register today to transform your training approach and help children, families, and communities thrive across Maine.

For questions, please email MRBN’s Executive Director, Delvina Miremadi-Baldino at delvina@maineresilience.org