Events

This workshop provides early childhood educators with practical, evidence-informed strategies to support neurodiverse children in inclusive learning environments. Grounded in current research, autistic perspectives, and neuro-affirming practices, participants will explore autism, neurodiversity, emotional regulation, sensory processing, communication, and engagement. Participants will learn how to understand behaviour as communication, build trusting relationships, and create environments that support regulation, participation, and learning. The session explores practical strategies for addressing sensory needs, supporting executive functioning, using visual supports, and adapting routines and environments to meet diverse learning needs. Educators will leave with a toolbox of strategies to foster communication, engagement, play, and inclusion while supporting each child's unique strengths and interests. This training is ideal for childcare professionals, preschool educators, kindergarten teams, and others who support young children in early learning settings.     Facilitator Bio: Children's Autism Services (CAS) is a leader in family-centred autism services, providing individualized support for autistic children and their families. Founded in 2004, CAS offers multidisciplinary programs that are developmentally grounded, relationship-focused, and tailored to the unique needs and goals of each child and family. Guided by the SCERTS® framework, CAS emphasizes social communication, emotional regulation, and relationship-based supports that help children build meaningful skills across home, school, and community settings. Through direct services, education, training, and community partnerships, CAS supports children, families, professionals, and the broader community in fostering learning, development, inclusion, and meaningful participation.   Participation and Free Session Policy: A reminder as this is a free session, ECDA has a payment policy for this-- Failure to attend will result in a $20 Admin fee being applied to your account, and you must pay this prior to attending any future free sessions. This policy has been implemented due to many no-shows at events. We value our facilitators and their time, and we often have to cap session capacity so not showing up for an event impacts others who may have wanted to attend.  Participants will be given the link to the video and are required to participate in one of two ways-- with a microphone/built in speaker or through the chat. In addition there will be a log tracking which members contribute and which do not, and those that do not contribute will not receive PD hours. We ask that you leave your camera on for the session.

This workshop looks at discussing the importance of dramatic play and ways to encourage and expand on it within the classroom. We will explore ideas around materials and set-up for dramatic play areas both indoors and outdoors as well as conversations around children’s engagement in rough & tumble dramatic play (such as superhero play), and how we as educators can create an environment rich with socioemotional development.   Facilitator Bio:  Ashleigh Davies is an early childhood educator with her bachelors in ECCE and has worked with children in a variety of roles over the last decade. Ashleigh has worked as a post-secondary instructor, leading ECE post-basic courses and currently is North Shore Community Resources CCRR assistant manager and municipal consultant. Ashleigh presents her workshops throughout Canada, bringing her passion for ECE into every session.   Participation: Participants will be given the link to the video and are required to participate in one of two ways-- with a microphone/built in speaker or through the chat. In addition there will be a log tracking which members contribute and which do not, and those that do not contribute will not receive PD hours. We ask that you leave your camera on for the session.

Let’s be honest: we spend our days helping toddlers manage big feelings, remember the steps to wash hands, and resis grabbing that one toy… but who’s helping us build those same skills? Executive functioning isn’t just for kids! It’s the behind-the-scenes system educators rely on every single day to plan lessons, juggle transitions, manage a room full of tiny humans, and stay calm when chaos hits at 10:47 a.m. In this interactive, practical session, we’ll explore what executive functioning actually is (spoiler: you’re already using it constantly), identify your own strengths and stretch areas, and walk away with simple, sustainable strategies to strengthen skills like working memory, flexible thinking, and self-regulation.   Facilitator Bio: Terri is an assistant professor at the University of Prince Edward Island. As an educator with over twenty years' experience across diverse educational roles, including classroom teaching, resource support, post-secondary instruction, and academic research, her personal and professional experiences shape her work. Her career has been shaped by a deep commitment to inclusive, equity-oriented education, and this commitment informs the lens through which she engages in scholarly inquiry. Much of her work in K-12 education focused on creating responsive, inclusive classroom spaces for learners with diverse needs. As a new scholar in the field of inclusion, her work endeavors to build teacher capacity with the aim to improve outcomes for all learners. As a neurodiverse person, she recognizes that her positionalities influence the questions she asks, the data she interprets, and the conclusions she draws and is cognizant of the privileges she enjoys as a white woman. 

The School Age Supervisor's Network Meeting will take place on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Based on your feedback, we're now offering a hybrid option for this session. This network is open to all supervisors, directors, and administrators of licensed school-age programs. Our goal is to foster open conversation and collaboration to improve quality practices related to human resources, policies, pedagogy, and leadership. We welcome you to attend as you are, whenever you can, if you are in a supervisor position. During each meeting, we will share insights, support one another in our professional and pedagogical roles, delve into topics of interest and current trends, and address daily practices. Together, we will focus on solutions and engage in lively, respectful discussions. We would love to see representatives from every school-age center as we continue to support each other. Please feel free to bring a colleague—we look forward to meeting you or welcoming you back.

The Director Network Meeting gathers on the third Wednesday of each month from 9:30 am - 12:00 pm. We are happy to provide a hybrid meeting space, with the option to meet in-person at the ECDA Boardroom or via Zoom, to help with travel house ratio i.e., if you're cooking lunch. This network is open to all supervisors, directors, and administrators of licensed early learning and childcare programs. The intention of the group is to encourage open conversation and collaboration to enhance quality practices, such as human resource practices and policies, pedagogy, and leadership. We have an open-door policy for all network meetings, we invite you to come as you are, when you can, if you are in a supervisor position! We will share and support each other in our professional and pedagogical roles. Each meeting we will spend our time together thinking more deeply about topics of interest, current trends and daily practice. We will approach problems from a solution-based lens together and have lively and respectful round table discussions. We would love to have someone from every centre join us as we continue to support one another through the journey! Bring yourself, invite a friend, and we can't wait to meet you, or see you again :)