ESC20 ONE Conference 2025

Children have lost opportunities to explore and discover in the communities where they live for numerous, compounding reasons, but Early Learning professionals can compensate by providing flexible and inclusive ‘yes-environments,’ where curiosity, wonder, and problem-solving thrive.

You will leave this session with a deeper understanding of why all children need time and space to direct their own play, and how to design and implement spaces that provide this powerful path to neurological, social-emotional and physical growth.

You will also have time to play! And to reflect using concepts from playwork, a profession initially developed on adventure playgrounds in the United Kingdom, but now used in a wide range of contexts from schools and parks to children's hospitals. Playwork provides a unique set of tools for observing self-directed play, while better understanding when and how to jump in with supports, using “the lightest touch possible.”

Toilet training a child can be challenging for educators and caregivers. Children may have communication deficits, maladaptive behaviors, motor challenges, and sensory issues that interfere with toileting progress and independence. In this session, participants will learn about 1) toileting readiness signs, 2) the importance of data collection before, during, and after the process, and 3) strategies to help troubleshoot specific toileting issues and longstanding challenges. With patience and persistence, a successfully potty-trained child is just a flush away!

Research emphasizes the importance of exposing children to books and the positive outcomes of reading on a daily basis. Do your preschoolers struggle to participate and stay engaged during Read Alouds? When experiences are purposefully planned and contain all five ingredients of Active Learning students are more likely to participate, stay engaged and gain knowledge. This presentation will provide interactive, hands-on examples that participants can take away with them and easily implement.

Children have a drive towards novelty and will independently take on challenges when the environment is conducive to it. In play this can look like jumping from great heights, moving at a fast speed, getting lost, or doing most anything that is new and a bit scary. When play is child-directed, it will involve risk-taking. When play is child-directed in group settings it will involve conflict.

How do we as adults who work with children strike a balance between inviting risk-taking, both physical and emotional, and maintaining the overall safety of our environments? How do we support children and their caregivers through the bumps and bruises that accompany child-directed play? Jill will provide resources and tools to help you hold space for play that empowers.

Participants will become familiar with ways AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) and Assistive Technology can support student access and participation in literacy development. Participants will identify ways in which they can provide a multisensory approach in order to build language and literacy skills.

Empowering Every Voice: Strategies for Supporting Emergent Bilinguals in Inclusive Classrooms aims to equip educators with effective techniques to foster an inclusive learning environment for students who are learning a second language. Participants will explore culturally responsive teaching practices, differentiation strategies, and collaborative learning approaches that cater to diverse linguistic backgrounds. The session will include hands-on learning, case studies, and discussions on leveraging students' native languages to enhance their academic engagement and language proficiency. Educators will leave with practical tools and strategies to support emergent bilinguals, ensuring that all students thrive in a supportive and inclusive classroom setting.

Early literacy skills are critical for a child’s educational success, for it lays the foundation for developing essential language skills such as vocabulary, comprehension, and phonological awareness. The research shows that reading to young children helps increase these skills, but what if you have a child that doesn’t show interest in books? The answer: get interactive! This breakout session will focus on activating and maintaining student interest by making stories more tangible, audible, and hands-on. Participants will walk away with simple yet effective strategies to enhance a child’s literacy through active participation, turn-taking, visual vocabulary, using props, and pre-teaching emotions and other abstract concepts.

Play is an engaging, developmentally appropriate approach to early childhood instruction. This session will show how developing play through play patterns will help guide student-led discovery and leverage our youngest learners toward standards-aligned learning. We will explore how SEL can be easily integrated with the school day using multi-modal activities and make learning through play fun!

Children have a drive towards novelty and will independently take on challenges when the environment is conducive to it. In play this can look like jumping from great heights, moving at a fast speed, getting lost, or doing most anything that is new and a bit scary. When play is child-directed, it will involve risk-taking. When play is child-directed in group settings it will involve conflict.

How do we as adults who work with children strike a balance between inviting risk-taking, both physical and emotional, and maintaining the overall safety of our environments? How do we support children and their caregivers through the bumps and bruises that accompany child-directed play? Jill will provide resources and tools to help you hold space for play that empowers.