Childcare Chatter: Early learning, childcare event in city March 30
By Medicine Hat News on January 26, 2019.
It’s a year of celebration in 2019 for the Medicine Hat & District Child Care Association. If you can believe it, this year we are celebrating 30 years of supporting the child care community in southeast Alberta. Our organization has evolved from a small group of daycare directors meeting with one another to advocate for more funding from the government to a full-fledged non-profit organization well connected within the community. We are now charged with being responsive to any needs that come up with the early childhood educators and directors that are working in our local child care centres, preschools, family day home agencies, and out of school cares. This can mean connecting directors with help from professional sources or even toone another as challenges come up. This means building relationships with other community organizations so we can partner to enhance children’s development in Medicine Hat. It means presenting information to families about choosing quality child care and much more. Our work also includes planning professional development for educators. It can be very difficult for our educators to travel to Calgary or Edmonton to access learning opportunities that allow them to keep up with changes in the field. This is a costly enterprise for educators to undertake so we are so lucky to be able to offer workshops and conferences on a regular basis right here in the Hat. This year we are excited to announce our Early Learning and Child Care Conference being held at the Medicine Hat College on March 30. The theme of this year’s conference is Moving Along and Still Going Strong: Exploring Trends in Early Learning. The keynote presenter is Launa Clark from a Calgary company called Motivention. She is coming to speak on why we are still talking about play, superhero play, and connecting with families. Another Calgary presenter in attendance will be Christina Pickles from Connected by Nature, who will be talking about some great ways to get children excited about outdoor play. Local speakers from Alberta Health Services, Be Fit for Life, Neubauer Farms and many more will be presenting. An Early Years Resource Fair will be open from 8 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. in the Centennial Hall (main lobby) of the college. The booths at this fair will be tailored for educators, children and families. Don’t miss out on the play space for the little ones as well. The Medicine Hat Early Childhood Coalition will be on hand with some nature and loose parts play! For more information on the conference and resource fair, please visit our website at http://www.mhdcca.com. Both events are open to educators, directors, other professionals and parents too! We can’t wait to see you there! Jennifer Usher is the coordinator of the Medicine Hat & District Child Care Association (www.mhdcca.com). 8-7
