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A
Unique Pathway for Early Childhood Professional Development
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"It has been a great reward to see how my influence, through what I have learned in these 4 modules, has changed children. Those children who were once standing against a wall without playing or finding anything that would catch their attention are now blooming flowers in spring." "Being with children is now the amazing experience I always dreamed it would be." |
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"Once children have the elements they need to develop, it’s like seeing a flower blooming. I just sit and observe the beautiful moment when they open up and show their petals." "My greatest wish would be for all teachers and parents in the world to take Connecting to Children." |
| Tom
Drummond says... |
This is the fundamental, cooperative experience for learning to be with children in a way that is best for them. I invite you to spend a few moments to explore this site and see for yourself the amazing things people do when they are in control of their own learning. |
A quick overview:..
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Four 10-week modules address effective leadership |
D1
— Expressing Warmth to Children enables adults to develop
ways of being genuinely warm and positive to all of the
children. D2 — Playing Responsively enables adults to open new ways of being, especially for the most difficult to reach children, through one's responsive playfulness. D3 — Talking Informatively studies habits of talking that place demands upon children and enables adults to influence children by informing, not directing, and to enhance children's language development. D4 — Attending to Initiative, Cooperation, and Perseverance studies these qualities of children's dispositions and fosters children's development into being effective learners. |
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Connecting to Children works |
After 20 minutes of unstructured sharing, where partcipants talk about what comes to mind and react to the sharing of others, the Guide (the name for the leader who calls the group together) asks the participants a question, such as, "What did you discover?" The Guide records the groups thoughts exactly and then hands them a copy of the next investigation assignment. At the end of a series of 6 investigations in each module, the participants are assigned a Performance of Understanding to document their ability to apply their learning in their work with children to prove they can enhance children's lives. |
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Enhances program quality |
Directors and supervisors have long sought a professional development program that truly changes performance. Many are tired of buying trainings and workshops that make surface changes but do not affect relationships and actions. |
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Constructivist education in action |
Connecting to Children is the solution to providing fundamental growth in the abilities of all those who work with children. It is a year-long, site-based educational experience that develops warmth, happiness, and mutual respect among teachers, children, parents and other staff. The four modules do not provide lectures, readings or indoctrination. They provide carefully sequenced experiences for people, of all cultures and backgrounds — they have an opportunity to talk together, focused on the realities of their children, to construct their own understanding, define their values, and develop new ways of being with children. It is led by a local leader, or Guide, who can be anyone with senior experience with children. No outside "expert" is needed. After five years of testing, Connecting to Children is now available, in one comprehensive, self-contained package. |
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An
invitation to find
out how it works |
This site displays the work of past participants, so one can begin to see the power of the transformation that can occur. We invite you to poke around and see bits of the program and view what participants have done developing, in concert with others, a new understanding of how to enhance the lives of children. |
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D2 