The Idaho Early Years Conference is a two-day event for early childhood educators, practitioners, parents, health professionals, library staff, and library trustees. The conference is scheduled for October 24 – 25, 2018 at the Riverside Hotel in Boise. Registration will open soon.

The Idaho Commission for Libraries (ICfL) has two options available for funding assistance to library staff and trustees who wish to attend this conference.

Option A: ICfL pays Registration Fee, $125. ICfL pays for hotel room October 24 if traveling more than 50 miles one way, and October 23-24 if traveling more than 100 miles one way. Travel is not reimbursed. Meals are not reimbursed (breakfast and lunch are provided both conference days).
If you are interested in attending the conference using Option A, you must submit an interest form by September 1, 2018.
The number of scholarships for this conference are limited and applications will be approved on a first-come first-served basis. Selected applicants will be required to participate in, or view a recording of, a webinar relating to Trauma Informed/Sensitive Libraries after the conference (date TBD). Participants will also be required to fill out a short survey after the conference.

Option B: First-Time Attendance CE Grant for the Early Years Conference – ICfL provides Continuing Education (CE) grants to library staff to attend a library-related conference for the first time. The Early Years Conference meets this requirement. To apply for one of these grants, applicants must:

  • live at least 50 miles from the site of the conference (Boise)
  • have travel, registration and hotel costs of at least $250 (max grant amount is $900);
  • agree to submit to a one-month and a six-month follow-up report to ICfL.

This is a reimbursement grant. Grant funds will be reimbursed for allowable travel expenses when the one-month follow up report is submitted. Applicants are responsible for their own registration, travel and hotel arrangements. Applications must be received by September 4. To apply for a First-Time Attendance Grant, please contact Tammy Hawley-House and she will review the process and requirements with you:
tammy.hawleyhouse@libraries.idaho.gov
208.639.4144 or 800-458-3271

Keynote Speakers include:

  •  Dr. Dana Suskind, MD., is the author of “Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain,” published in 2015. Dr. Suskind is Co-Director of the TMC Center for Early Learning + Public Health, Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at University of Chicago, the Director of the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program, and Founder and Director of the Thirty Million Words project.
    The ICfL is sponsoring Dr. Suskind’s keynote address because her work to create system-wide collaborative partnerships that help children develop early literacy skills is timely and relevant to Idaho libraries and their communities.
    Special Note: Each ICfL-sponsored attendee will receive a complimentary copy of “Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain” prior to the conference.
  • Dr. Walter S. Gilliam, Ph.D. co-authored the book, “A Vision for Universal Preschool Education,” published in 2006. His scholarly writing addresses early childhood care and education programs, school readiness, and developmental assessment of young children. His work has frequently been covered in major national and international news outlets, and he actively provides consultation to state and federal decision makers in the U.S. and other countries.
  • Jessica McClintic and Jamie Dix are the founders of Imagination Yoga, a children’s yoga curricula that inspires movement, clam, kindness, and imagination.

Conference sessions of interest to library staff include:

  • Deep Dive into TMW Center’s Public Health Approach to Early Learning: Facilitated by Dr. Suskind, this session will show how to leverage partnerships within your community to help develop school readiness.
    Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in Early Childhood Settings with Diverse Learners: Learn to improve learning outcomes and support the development of children with diverse abilities in a variety of early care and education settings.
  • Pre-K The Idaho Way: Exploring The Community Collaborative Model: Participants will focus on early child development, research, and educational practices that enable young children to reach their maximum potential. They will learn about recent data surrounding the community collaborative model, and utilize a step-by-step toolkit for interacting with communities to increase access to high-quality learning based on this model. Note: ICfL is partnering with all three of this session’s presenters to help support library-led community collaboratives that increase school-readiness.
  • Strong Minds Idaho: Learn how to help children build resilience, regulation of emotions, executive functioning, and academic readiness.
  • Helping Children to Develop Self-Regulation Skills: Participants will learn how to help children self-regulate, practice self-regulation and model appropriate behaviors. Practical and hands-on training during this presentation will prepare participants to put these skills into use in the field.
  • Child Neglect Prevention: It Begins With You: This session, led by ICfL partner Taryn Yates from the Idaho Children’s Trust Fund, will explore child protective factors and how those factors can strengthen families and prevent neglect.
  • TechnoloGEEZs! Screen-Free Early Coding for Pre-Schoolers: Participants will walk through a sample early coding curriculum that engages preschoolers in hands-on activities so that educators are able to go back to their classrooms and immediately apply the basic concepts of early coding. A developmentally appropriate tinker/maker/breaker space will be set up to demonstrate how to encourage innovation in our youngest learners.
  • And many more!!!

See http://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/eyc for more session descriptions and details about the conference.