The Child Development Institute’s Workshop and Speakers Bureau takes our work off campus to connect directly with groups committed to facilitating lifelong learning. Our programs take place in venues across the county, state, and country. They are designed for educators, school administrators, child care providers, children’s librarians, parents, community coalitions, organizations serving children and families, and others engaged in the complicated, rewarding process of promoting children’s creativity and healthy development.
We address a wide range of topics and issues around children, childhood, and education, including the importance of play, the diverse foundations of early literacy, the promise of teaching and modeling ethics, and the essential relationship between children and nature. Many programs are designed to explore the developmentally informed, child-centered messages embedded in The Learning Child documentaries. Showing these films creates an immediate shared experience in the room, which our expert speakers then build on in a facilitated dialogue that explores the substantive topic at hand and encourages meaningful learning, communication, and collaboration. Workshops and presentations focus on reflection, mutual support, and strategies for advancing child-centered practices, as well as on the critical role parents, educators, and other adults can play in the lives of children.
The Workshop and Speakers Bureau is funded in part by the generous support of Abigail Angell Canfield, Carol B. Hillman, John C. and Elizabeth Duncan Jenkins, the Marilyn M. Simpson Charitable Trust, and the Wallace Global Fund.
Past Sessions
A sampling of the groups we have worked with since 2008:
- Parents League of New York (New York, NY): In November 2012, CDI facilitated a workshop on the importance of play for parents
- White Plains Public Library (White Plains, NY): In October 2012, CDI served as a child development resource for parents and caregivers as part of the Parent-Child Connection Program
- Hendrick Hudson Library (Montrose, NY): In October 2012, CDI facilitated an environment of free play for parents and preschool children
- Borough of Manhattan College (New York, NY): In May 2012, CDI screened Finland Phenomenon: Inside the World's Most Surprising School System and facilitated discussion with education students
- NYC Nanny Training Day (New York, NY): In April 2012, CDI screened When A Child Pretends and facilitated discussion with participants
- Riverdale Neighborhood House (Riverdale, NY): In February 2012, CDI conducted workshops for Riverdale Neighborhood House early childhood staff
- JCY Westchester (Yonkers, NY): In January 2012, CDI screened Reading with Meaning for JCY Westchester mentors and facilitated discussion on tutoring strategies and foundations of literacy
- Ben Franklin Elementary School (Meriden, CT): In November 2011, CDI screened When A Child Pretends and facilitated discussion for parents of children at Ben Franklin Elementary School
- JCY Westchester (Yonkers, NY): In October 2011, CDI screened From Pictures to Words for JCY Westchester mentors and facilitated discussion around foundations of literacy
- 14th Street Y Preschool (New York, NY): In September 2011, CDI conducted a workshop for 14th Street Y Preschool staff
- Tewksbury Arbor Day Program (Tewksbury, NJ): In April 2011, CDI gave a presentation titled "When Learning Comes Naturally: Discovering the Natural World at Your Feet and all around You" to around 100 third graders at Tewksbury Elementary School as part of the district’s annual Arbor Day celebration. CDI also met with teachers to discuss When Learning Comes Naturally and some of the ways they might incorporate the natural world into the curriculum.
- Blue Rock School and Nyack Library (Nyack, NY): In April 2011, we screened When Learning Comes Naturally and facilitated a discussion about "Why Our Children Need Nature" for parents, teachers, and community members.
- Rockland 21C Educational Symposium (Stony Point, NY): In April 2011, we screened When a Child Pretends and presented a workshop titled "Understanding Play and How It Is Important to a Young Child's Development" as part of the annual symposium organized by Rockland 21C for parents, teachers, administrators, child care providers, social workers, and others who work with children and youth.
- The Long Ridge School (Stamford, CT): In November 2010, we screened When Learning Comes Naturally for parents and community members and participated in a panel discussion with educators from The Long Ridge School.
- Beczak Environmental Education Center (Yonkers, NY): In November 2010, presented When Learning Comes Naturally to 25 early childhood educators and parents and facilitated a discussion with colleagues from Beczak.
- Tov Ba Teva – Discovering the Good in Nature (Rockville, MD): In October 2010, we were invited to present the keynote screening and panel discussion of When Learning Comes Naturally and to facilitate two smaller workshops for approximately 680 teachers and administrators at the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning Early Childhood Jewish Education Conference.
- Teaching the Hudson Valley (Hyde Park, NY): In October 2010, we screened When Learning Comes Naturally and facilitated a discussion with a small group of environmental educators, teachers, and parents as part of the Fall 2010 Workshop Series.
- North Rockland High School (Thiells, NY): In May 2010, we screened When Learning Comes Naturally and facilitated discussions with two sections of a high school child development course.
- In Defense of Childhood: Play and Active Learning in Urban Schools (New York, NY): In March 2010, we were invited to present a screening of When Learning Comes Naturally and facilitate a panel discussion as part of the closing session at this conference for approximately 300 educators at The City College of New York.
- Keep Rockland Beautiful (Rockland County, NY): In March 2010, we presented When Learning Comes Naturally at the 2nd Annual School-to-School Symposium on Environmental Education for approximately 100 teachers, parents, administrators, and other community and health professionals connected to schools in Rockland County.
- Pembroke Town Library (Pembroke, NH): In January 2010, we presented a screening of When Learning Comes Naturally and facilitated a discussion with a small group of formal and non-formal educators in New Hampshire.
- Brooklyn Children’s Museum (Brooklyn, NY): In October 2009, we facilitated a workshop about observing children at play for museum staff and interns.
- Stepping Stones Museum for Children (Norwalk, CT): In October 2009, we led a discussion about the importance of play for the Parents Zone program.
- National Coalition for Campus Child Care conference (Phoenix, AZ): In April 2009, we previewed When Learning Comes Naturally for an audience of about 250 child care providers.
- Manhattan Country School (New York, NY): In April 2009, we previewed When Learning Comes Naturally and facilitated a discussion with teachers and administrators.
- Cornerstone Learning Community (Tallahassee, Florida): In March 2009, we previewed When Learning Comes Naturally and facilitated a discussion with teachers and administrators.
- Hendrick Hudson Free Library (Montrose, NY): In March 2009, we facilitated the creation of an environment for free play for parents and preschool children.
- KaBOOM!: In November 2008, we facilitated a Webinar called “Why Play Matters.”
- White Plains Public Library (White Plains, NY): In November 2008 and April 2009, we answered questions about child development for parents and caregivers as part of the Parent-Child Connection program.
- Scarsdale Public Library (Scarsdale, NY): In October 2008, we did a session on early literacy for parents and babies.
- Westchester Library System (White Plains, NY): In September 2008, we presented “The Importance of Play: The Learning Child and the Engaged Adult,” with a screening and discussion of When a Child Pretends for 50 children’s librarians from around the county.