Parents as Teachers is an organization that supports parents as the first and most important teacher in their child’s life. I was pleased to be invited to attend the PAT Conference for Early Childhood Professionals as a blogger and PAT program coordinator/parent educator. Many thanks to PAT for providing me the opportunity to attend an amazing and informative conference; and to my school district for providing professional leave and travel.
Please allow me to share some of the resources I discovered and highlights of the conference!
My favorite session was presented by Jan Tedder of HUG Your Baby. Jan is a sweet little lady from North Carolina. She is president of Hug Your Baby. She is a family nurse practitioner and lactation consultant who researched and developed the award-winning HUG Your Baby concepts and resources. She taught us how to read the body language of newborns and premature infants, so that we can teach new parents. I purchased her video and am very interested in studying her program. I will have more to share about her in another future post.
Temple Grandin provided an excellent keynote address. If you haven’t heard her speak and you have the opportunity, she is a must see. The next best thing would be to see her movie Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin has a PhD animal science. She is a professor at Colorado State University, a bestselling author, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior. She has Aspergers syndrome and has excelled as an advocate for children and families with autism. She describes what it is like to be autistic. She is brillant! If you have a few minutes, you can check out this video from a TED conference:
Hunting for new books and toys in the exhibit hall is always my favorite hands-on discovery mission. I love being able to SEE the books, turn the pages, and then play with toys… for just a few seconds. I didn’t purchase these toys and books, but they are on my wish list:
Frogs! Frogs from the ECHO Communications for counting, sorting, making patterns, game markers, colors, dramatic play, just to begin:
Books for children in 24 languages are from Star Bright Books:
These clever little books from Third Week Books have an engaging, rhyming story on one side, then they teach parents the importance of reading aloud and encourage the use of the local library as a family resource. I will be ordering these little gems!
Toys! I loved the wooden buddy block backyard animal puzzles and wooden “earthworms“.
Another resource and website that I have to plug is the National Fatherhood Initiative. The National Fatherhood Initiative’s mission is to improve the well-being of children by increasing the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible, and committed fathers. You will find a plethora of resources to encourage fathers at the site. It is another must see.
Parents as Teachers is an excellent, researched based model and curriculum for organizations that support parents and families. If you are a parent of young children interested in finding a PAT program near you or if you are an organization needing support and curriculum for the families you serve click on the PAT website here for more information.
Thanks again to Parents as Teachers for an engaging and informative learning experience; and for serving families across the country and around the globe.
