Celebrating 35 Years of
Enriching the Lives of Young Children
March 6-8, 2008 Tan-Tar-A Resort | Osage Beach, Missouri
Sponsored by:
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
in cooperation with the MU Conference Office
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Lilian G. Katz is an international leader in early childhood education. She taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for more than three decades and directed the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIC/EECE) for more than 30 years. She also was one of the founders of the Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children and served as its first president. In addition, she served as vice president of NAEYC from 1986 to 1990 and later was elected president of NAEYC, serving from 1992-1994. Dr. Katz has authored more than 150 publications about early childhood education, teacher education, child development, and parenting. She wrote a monthly column for several years for Parents Magazine on parenting 3- and 4-year-olds. Dr. Katz founded two journals: Early Childhood Research Quarterly and Early Childhood Research & Practice, which began publication in early 1999 as the first peer-reviewed, internet-only, journal in early education, and recently became fully bilingual. Dr. Katz is currently Principal Investigator for the Illinois Early Learning Project and lectures and consults around the world.
Thursday, March 6, 2008 ~ 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. General Session Keynote Address - Overview of the Project Approach Thursday, March 6, 2008 ~ 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Featured Presentation #3004: The Teacher's Role in the Development of Social Competence (MPP Only)
Mem Fox is Australia's most highly regarded picture-book author. Her first book, Possum Magic, is the best selling children's book ever in Australia. Time for Bed and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge are American favorites. Time for Bed is on Oprah's list of the twenty best children's books of all time. Mem has written thirty picture books for children and five non-fiction books for adults, including the best-selling Reading Magic, aimed at parents of very young children. Mem Fox was an Associate Professor in Literacy Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, where she taught teachers for twenty-four years until her early retirement in 1996. She has visited the United States ninety-seven times, mostly in her role as a literacy expert although she is also a well-known author in America. She is an influential international consultant in literacy, but she pretends to sit around writing full time.
Thursday, March 6, 2008 ~ 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Welcome General Session Keynote Address: My Life as a Writer and an Advocate of Reading Aloud to Young Children
Dr. Joshua Sparrow is a board certified child, adolescent, and general psychiatrist. He is the Associate Director of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC), an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard School of Medicine, and a supervisor in the Department of Psychiatry at Children's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Sparrow's work with the BTC has included consultation on child development and parenting to the Harlem Children's Zone and to American Indian Early Head Start Programs. He worked with parents and schools in New York City in response to the 9/11 disaster. He has also served as a consultant to the Fox Family television show Brazelton on Parenting, the I Am Your Child Foundation video on discipline, and other children's educational programs. Dr. Sparrow and Dr. T. Berry Brazelton are the co-authors of four books: Touchpoints Three to Six: Your Child's Emotional and Behavioral Development, Calming Your Fussy Baby the Brazelton Way, Discipline the Brazelton Way, and Sleep the Brazelton Way. They also collaborate on a weekly New York Times syndicated column entitled “Families Today.” Dr. Sparrow has also provided his expertise to a wide range of media, including ABC World News, Prime Time Live, Newsweek, Time, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Child, and Parents, among many others.
Friday, March 7, 2008 ~ 2:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. Opening General Session Keynote Address: Children and the Media: Strategies for Commercial-Free Children Friday, March 7, 2008 ~ 4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Featured Presentation #84:Touchpoints of Emotional Development in the Early Years and Through the Lifespan
Sonia Manzano is a first-generation American of Latino descent. Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, she has become an influential and positive role model for millions of children since the 1970's, when she was offered an opportunity to join the ethnically expanding production of Sesame Street. Within a year of being in New York, Manzano was cast as “Maria” on Sesame Street. She recently had the pleasure of writing for the Peabody Award winning children's series, Little Bill, for Nickelodeon. Manzano also wrote a parenting column for the Sesame Workshop web site called “Talking Outloud.” Manzano has received awards from The Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington DC and The National Hispanic Media Coalition. She also was the recipient of The Hispanic Heritage Award for Education in 2003. Her children's books include No Dogs Allowed and A Box Full of Kittens. She is currently working on a memoir.
Friday, March 7, 2008 ~ 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Banquet Keynote Address: Sesame Street and the Role and Responsibility of Children's Television
Dr. Thomas Moore's ten recordings for children are used in classrooms and homes nation wide. His books include Humpty Dumpty Dumpty, a children's book, and Where is Thumbkin?, a resource book for teachers. Moore is a contributing author of the Wright Group/McGraw-Hill curriculum, DLM Early Childhood Express. Moore is a columnist for Children and Families, the magazine of the National Head Start Association. His articles last year included cover stories for Early Childhood Today and Parent and Child. Moore has also written for Young Children, the journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and has been quoted in Parents Magazine, New York Daily News, and others. In his varied career, Moore has given a solo voice recital at Carnegie Recital Hall, hosted a children's television show, taught preschool, directed a children's choir, and composed two symphony pieces for children. He has been a university associate professor of early childhood education and coordinator of the North Carolina Head Start Collaboration Project. Moore earned his Bachelor of Music from Manhattan School of Music, and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in early childhood education from Indiana State University.
Friday, March 7, 2008 ~ 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Banquet Maestro Saturday, March 8, 2008 ~ 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. Closing General Session Keynote Address: What We Learn from the Children We Teach
Featured Speakers
Isabel Baker started The Book Vine for Children over twenty-five years ago. Armed with master's degrees in education and library science, experience as a librarian, and a passion for getting good books into the hands of children, Isabel consulted with preschool teachers and presented book fairs throughout Chicago. She maintains active membership in many professional organizations such as NAEYC, National Head Start, American Booksellers Association, and Zero to Three. Isabel is a committed supporter of organizations dedicated to the betterment of children such as Voices for Illinois Children; Big Brothers, Big Sisters; and Southern Poverty Law Center. As an avid reader of children's literature, Isabel has contributed book reviews to Early Years: The Journal of the Texas AEYC and consults on recommended book lists for various organizations. As of 2005, she writes children's book reviews for “The Reading Chair”, a regular column in Young Children, a NAEYC publication.
Friday, March 7, 2008 Featured Presentations #18 & #64:Choice New Children's Books: Selecting Books Intentionally
Dr. Brad Mears is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at the University of Central Missouri. He teaches courses in child growth and development and primary teacher education. Brad focuses much of his time on brain research, and he is an expert in brain development and brain-based learning practices. His work has been published internationally, and he was recently recognized by the National Association for the Application of Neuroscience in Education as one of the world's top five presenters in this area of study. Prior to his current teaching position at the university level, Brad taught kindergarten and early childhood special education in the Warrensburg School District. As a father of four young children, he not only does research and teaches in the field of early childhood development, he lives it every day.
Friday, March 7, 2008 Featured Presentations #14: Introducing the Brain: Understanding What We Are Shaping in Children
#30 The Most Important Lesson: What the Playground Teaches That No One Else Can
#45 The Neurology of Autism: Bridging the Gaps between the 4 Keys of Research
Jill Mollihas the uncanny ability to help people laugh and learn at the same time. Her position for ten years in a Title I elementary school offered her opportunities to apply Dr. Becky Bailey's Conscious Discipline® model in a school setting, and her own young children offer ongoing real-life experiences to share with audiences. Jill was selected as a Loving Guidance Associate because of her no-nonsense ability to get to the heart of a situation and her commitment to living the Loving Guidance principles at school and at home. Jill is an entertaining, motivating, and heart-felt presenter.
Saturday, March 8, 2008Featured Seminar #104: Consequences that Teach Responsibility
Willy Wood was a language arts teacher for 14 years before serving as the Communication Arts Consultant for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) from 1995 to 2000. During his time at DESE, Willy oversaw the development of Missouri's Curriculum Frameworks for communication arts and the state's communication arts assessment, the MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) test. He also founded the state's first K-3 reading initiative, the Missouri Reading Initiative (MRI). Willy left DESE in July, 2000 to become a full-time educational consultant and presenter. He now serves as President of Open Mind Technologies, Inc., an educational consulting firm. For the past six years, Willy has been deeply involved in the brain-compatible teaching field. He has trained with respected leaders in the field such as Eric Jensen and Rich Allen, and has presented numerous workshops in school districts and at national and international conferences on the brain and teaching.
Saturday, March 8, 2008 Featured Seminar #108: Movin' and Groovin' in the Preschool Classroom
Dr. Lilian G. Katz is an international leader in early childhood education. She taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for more than three decades and directed the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIC/EECE) for more than 30 years. She also was one of the founders of the Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children and served as its first president. In addition, she served as vice president of NAEYC from 1986 to 1990 and later was elected president of NAEYC, serving from 1992-1994. Dr. Katz has authored more than 150 publications about early childhood education, teacher education, child development, and parenting. She wrote a monthly column for several years for Parents Magazine on parenting 3- and 4-year-olds. Dr. Katz founded two journals: Early Childhood Research Quarterly and Early Childhood Research & Practice, which began publication in early 1999 as the first peer-reviewed, internet-only, journal in early education, and recently became fully bilingual. Dr. Katz is currently Principal Investigator for the Illinois Early Learning Project and lectures and consults around the world.
Mem Fox is Australia's most highly regarded picture-book author. Her first book, Possum Magic, is the best selling children's book ever in Australia. Time for Bed and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge are American favorites. Time for Bed is on Oprah's list of the twenty best children's books of all time. Mem has written thirty picture books for children and five non-fiction books for adults, including the best-selling Reading Magic, aimed at parents of very young children. Mem Fox was an Associate Professor in Literacy Studies at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, where she taught teachers for twenty-four years until her early retirement in 1996. She has visited the United States ninety-seven times, mostly in her role as a literacy expert although she is also a well-known author in America. She is an influential international consultant in literacy, but she pretends to sit around writing full time.
Dr. Joshua Sparrow is a board certified child, adolescent, and general psychiatrist. He is the Associate Director of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC), an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard School of Medicine, and a supervisor in the Department of Psychiatry at Children's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Sparrow's work with the BTC has included consultation on child development and parenting to the Harlem Children's Zone and to American Indian Early Head Start Programs. He worked with parents and schools in New York City in response to the 9/11 disaster. He has also served as a consultant to the Fox Family television show Brazelton on Parenting, the I Am Your Child Foundation video on discipline, and other children's educational programs. Dr. Sparrow and Dr. T. Berry Brazelton are the co-authors of four books: Touchpoints Three to Six: Your Child's Emotional and Behavioral Development, Calming Your Fussy Baby the Brazelton Way, Discipline the Brazelton Way, and Sleep the Brazelton Way. They also collaborate on a weekly New York Times syndicated column entitled “Families Today.” Dr. Sparrow has also provided his expertise to a wide range of media, including ABC World News, Prime Time Live, Newsweek, Time, Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Child, and Parents, among many others.
Sonia Manzano is a first-generation American of Latino descent. Born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, she has become an influential and positive role model for millions of children since the 1970's, when she was offered an opportunity to join the ethnically expanding production of Sesame Street. Within a year of being in New York, Manzano was cast as “Maria” on Sesame Street. She recently had the pleasure of writing for the Peabody Award winning children's series, Little Bill, for Nickelodeon. Manzano also wrote a parenting column for the Sesame Workshop web site called “Talking Outloud.” Manzano has received awards from The Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington DC and The National Hispanic Media Coalition. She also was the recipient of The Hispanic Heritage Award for Education in 2003. Her children's books include No Dogs Allowed and A Box Full of Kittens. She is currently working on a memoir.
Dr. Thomas Moore's ten recordings for children are used in classrooms and homes nation wide. His books include Humpty Dumpty Dumpty, a children's book, and Where is Thumbkin?, a resource book for teachers. Moore is a contributing author of the Wright Group/McGraw-Hill curriculum, DLM Early Childhood Express. Moore is a columnist for Children and Families, the magazine of the National Head Start Association. His articles last year included cover stories for Early Childhood Today and Parent and Child. Moore has also written for Young Children, the journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and has been quoted in Parents Magazine, New York Daily News, and others. In his varied career, Moore has given a solo voice recital at Carnegie Recital Hall, hosted a children's television show, taught preschool, directed a children's choir, and composed two symphony pieces for children. He has been a university associate professor of early childhood education and coordinator of the North Carolina Head Start Collaboration Project. Moore earned his Bachelor of Music from Manhattan School of Music, and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in early childhood education from Indiana State University.
Isabel Baker started The Book Vine for Children over twenty-five years ago. Armed with master's degrees in education and library science, experience as a librarian, and a passion for getting good books into the hands of children, Isabel consulted with preschool teachers and presented book fairs throughout Chicago. She maintains active membership in many professional organizations such as NAEYC, National Head Start, American Booksellers Association, and Zero to Three. Isabel is a committed supporter of organizations dedicated to the betterment of children such as Voices for Illinois Children; Big Brothers, Big Sisters; and Southern Poverty Law Center. As an avid reader of children's literature, Isabel has contributed book reviews to Early Years: The Journal of the Texas AEYC and consults on recommended book lists for various organizations. As of 2005, she writes children's book reviews for “The Reading Chair”, a regular column in Young Children, a NAEYC publication.
Dr. Brad Mears is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at the University of Central Missouri. He teaches courses in child growth and development and primary teacher education. Brad focuses much of his time on brain research, and he is an expert in brain development and brain-based learning practices. His work has been published internationally, and he was recently recognized by the National Association for the Application of Neuroscience in Education as one of the world's top five presenters in this area of study. Prior to his current teaching position at the university level, Brad taught kindergarten and early childhood special education in the Warrensburg School District. As a father of four young children, he not only does research and teaches in the field of early childhood development, he lives it every day.
Jill Molli has the uncanny ability to help people laugh and learn at the same time. Her position for ten years in a Title I elementary school offered her opportunities to apply Dr. Becky Bailey's Conscious Discipline® model in a school setting, and her own young children offer ongoing real-life experiences to share with audiences. Jill was selected as a Loving Guidance Associate because of her no-nonsense ability to get to the heart of a situation and her commitment to living the Loving Guidance principles at school and at home. Jill is an entertaining, motivating, and heart-felt presenter.
Willy Wood was a language arts teacher for 14 years before serving as the Communication Arts Consultant for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) from 1995 to 2000. During his time at DESE, Willy oversaw the development of Missouri's Curriculum Frameworks for communication arts and the state's communication arts assessment, the MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) test. He also founded the state's first K-3 reading initiative, the Missouri Reading Initiative (MRI). Willy left DESE in July, 2000 to become a full-time educational consultant and presenter. He now serves as President of Open Mind Technologies, Inc., an educational consulting firm. For the past six years, Willy has been deeply involved in the brain-compatible teaching field. He has trained with respected leaders in the field such as Eric Jensen and Rich Allen, and has presented numerous workshops in school districts and at national and international conferences on the brain and teaching.