National child development experts to gather at SU for 26th annual Quality Infant/Toddler Caregiving Workshop

National child development experts to gather at SU for 26th annual Quality Infant/Toddler Caregiving WorkshopMay 25, 2002Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu

In its 26th year, the Quality Infant/Toddler Caregiving Workshop, hosted by Dr. Alice Sterling Honig, Professor Emerita of Child and Family Studies, will be offered June 17-21 at the Schine Center. This national child development workshop provides participants with the latest techniques, training and education in caring for infants and toddlers.

Based on research and theory in the areas of social-emotional, cognitive, motor, sensory, and language development by Dr. Honig and leading faculty and childcare experts from around the country, this workshop emphasizes the importance of loving, intimate, language-rich interactions with very young children. Participants learn ways to use daily routines as opportunities for providing creative and nurturing learning experiences.

“Over the years, folks wanting to learn everything about children zero to about 38 months have participated in this workshop, including childcare providers, professors, social workers, nurses, childbirth educators, psychologists, parents, teachers, midwives, medical personnel, and students of child development,” said Dr. Honig, who directs this five-day intensive workshop annually.

“The last few years, because of exciting new developments in brain research, knowledge about the rich neurological potential for learning in the earliest years has been added to the wide array of topics covered, along with presentation of important new findings on the creation of secure emotional attachment of infants and toddlers.” Videos and demonstrations of songs to sing with and books to read with babies add vividly to the QIC experience. Practical topics include toilet learning, biting, feeding, and sleep issues.

Dr. Honig’s latest book, Secure relationships: Nurturing Infant/Toddler Attachments in Early Care Settings (published this month by NAEYC), will be available to this year’s workshop participants along with several of her other books, including : Behavior guidance for infants and toddlers, (with H. Brophy); Talking with your baby: Family as the first school, (with J. R. Lally); and Infant caregiving: A design for training.

Dr. Honig and other experts will direct sessions on a variety of childcare topics, including positive discipline techniques, dealing with separation and attachment issues, helping children develop language powers, working with parents, and becoming a better observer of babies. Tips from a pediatrician and demonstrations of developmentally appropriate toys and games are also among the topics covered.

This year’s guest faculty include: David Olds, Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Director of the Prevention Research Center for Family and Child Health at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Thomas V. Fiscoe, C.P.A., Partner, Dannible & McKee Accounting Firm; Anne Sveen, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Upstate Medical University; Susan Snyder, Ph.D., Sexuality Educator and Coordinator of Family Therapy Services, Onondaga Pastoral Counseling Center; Nan Songer, Chair, New York State Early Intervention Coordinating Council; and Mary Anne Theiss, R.N., M.S., J.D., Nurse Attorney practicing in Syracuse. She will discuss legal responsibilities in daycare.

Dr. David Olds will offer insight from his research on outreach home visitation programs for low-income, low- education families with infants.

Complete workshop and registration information can be found at: http://suce.syr.edu/programs/conference/nqic/index.html