Events

“Courageous conversations mean having the courage to show up when you can’t control the outcome.” ~ Brené Brown The ECDA is excited to host ECE Sharing and Networking sessions. These are open door meetings that welcome anyone working as a front-line educator. These meetings will provide space to gather with other early childhood educators to share what is on your heart or to seek support. The meetings are a place to listen, provide encouragement, share resources, and connect with your colleagues across the province. We would love to welcome at least one ECE from every Island centre to the network, and we realize some meeting dates will work better than others - so come when you can! The agenda for these sessions will be very flexible and will build over time based on the interest of those participating. Recently we have discussed things such as Dual Language Learners, Behaviours, PD wishes and many other! Come join us this month to see what comes up:) Registration for network meetings is required. This meeting will run with a minimum of 4 participants. These will be held once a month, so come when you can! Based on feedback we have flipped these to be entirely virtual:)

In educational settings we often encounter tough topics, such as death, divorce, global warming, racism, sexism, colonial histories, disability awareness, and LGBTQ2S+ topics. How do we respond when tensions around tough topics arise? This workshop addresses why it's important to critically engage with children, how to have conversations with families, and ways to engage with tough topics. We will look at what it means to embrace the tensions in our educational settings and what can grow from engaging with said tensions. The goal of this workshop is that educators will leave feeling more confident in their abilities to engage with tensions and tough topics within their settings.   Facilitator Bio: Ashleigh Davies is an early childhood educator with her bachelors in Early Childhood Education & Care and has worked with children in a variety of roles over the last decade. Ashleigh is the current head coordinator of the ECE program with Burnaby Continuing Education. In the last decade she has worked in a variety of roles including support worker, lead ECE, post-secondary instructor, CCRR assistant manager, and municipal child care consultant. Ashleigh presents her workshops throughout Canada, has presented a TEDx talk, and published articles relating to her passions in ECE. She can be found online as PedagogyandChill.   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.

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.

Please take note that this series is a reoffering of the sessions hosted by Learning Through Active Play in March 2025. Learning Through Active Play empowers Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) with practical tools to seamlessly integrate Active Play into daily program planning. Guided by two core principles—Creating Active Play Habits and Active Play Enhances Everyone’s Day—this workshop offers strategies to help ECEs adopt an Active Play lens throughout their day. Participants will learn how to foster inclusivity, design engaging play spaces, and build stronger relationships with children and colleagues - all of which supports the development of self-regulation skills in children. With hands-on guidance and ongoing support, educators will gain the confidence and skills to successfully embed Active Play into daily routines for long-term impact. During this series, facilitated by Angelina Mighty Osborne, participants will explore the following guiding principles:Session 1: Guiding Principle #1: Creating Active Play Habits - January 28th, 2026Session 2: Guiding Principle #2: Active Play Enhances Everyone's Day - February 25th, 2026 ---- Angelina Mighty Osborne is an inspiring leader deeply dedicated to social impact and community empowerment. With over 12 years of experience in the non-profit sector, she has collaborated with organizations to conduct research, identify service gaps, and craft strategic plans to meet organizational needs. Driven by a passion for social justice and equity, Angelina focuses on providing resources and opportunities to historically underserved communities. Drawing on her expertise in psychology and her extensive field experience, she works to address root causes, dismantle barriers, and create meaningful, long-lasting change. Her mission is to foster a more just and equitable society for future generations.   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. 

A 6-hour professional development workshop exclusive to directors of licensed child care centres on PEI. Spend the day with Jennifer Nangreaves and Megan Drummond delving into the Onboarding Toolkit - A Guide for Directors. The ECDA has created this ready-to-use resource and workshop training through funding from the Government of Canada and the Government of Prince Edward Island.  This workshop is designed to support Island leaders in implementing and enhancing a robust employee onboarding process. We will spend the day reviewing the Onboarding Toolkit - A Guide for Directors and practical processes within it. If you are curious about onboarding and why it is integral to creating a culture of excellence in your centre, this workshop is for you!