This presentation will offer fundamental, daily strategies designed to support early childhood development. Grounded in responsive caregiving and experiences, the content will illustrate how everyday interactions — talking, exploring, playing, and sharing books—build a child's cognitive, emotional, and physical foundation. Additionally, it will highlight the essential role of caregiver self-care, demonstrating that a calm, supportive caregiver is vital for creating the secure environment young children need to thrive and grow.

KEYNOTE: Salon ABCDEFGH: Dr. Christy Brown (Kaplan)

This interactive session offers a framework in thinking through emergency preparedness plans in a developmentally appropriate and trauma informed context to further the social emotional development of infants and young children. Participants will gain an understanding of why relationships are key to supporting emotional regulation before, during, and after emergencies; types of responses children and adults may have during an emergency; how to support young children during emergency drills; how to communicate and reassure children and families during and after emergencies; how to recognize stress and trauma responses; and the importance of self and community care after emergencies.

Salon ABC: WVITMHA (Michelle Rollyson)

Play builds a solid foundation for learning and development, giving purpose and context for language, pre-math, creative skills, and scientific concepts. Our role is to set the stage and guide families in their understanding the opportunities to support their child’s development each day.

Salon D: Kaplan (Laura Wilhelm)

Children come to us each day bundled up with all their love, ideas, experiences, worries, and energy. Careful planning for the day’s activities can address children’s hopes and fears through outdoor play that provides opportunities to build social skills and work through the range of emotions while interacting with nature.

Salon E: Kaplan (Jennifer Kesselring)

Board-certified music therapist, Patricia Senderak, will explore how music can be intentionally used with infants and toddlers to support communication, cognitive, social-emotional, and motor development. Participants will examine how rhythm, melody, temp, repetition, and musical interaction connect to early childhood development and learn practical ways to incorporate music into routines, transitions, play, and learning experiences. Participants will leave with specific music-based strategies they can use immediately and understanding of how different musical elements target developmental skills, and new ideas for adapting familiar songs and activities to meet individual developmental needs.

Salon FGH: (Patty Senderack)

During this session, Infant/Toddler Specialists and Infant/Toddler Coaching Specialist will take you through the model room and discuss each developmental area and why it is important.

Salon ABC: ITSN/TRAILS (Jennifer King/Ashley Jobes)

This will be a split session (half the group will go in model room and half in Salon ABC, then they will switch midway)

Infants will show us what they need if we are paying careful attention. Toddlers and twos are learning to test limits. Our role as educators is to provide consistent responsive care and supervision to keep them safe and help them learn to get along with other children. In this session, we’ll practice serve and return techniques to provide engaging, responsive guidance and care for our youngest citizens.

Salon D: Kaplan (Dr. Christine Brown)

Engaging activities set the tone for learning but take a step back and look at the walls, floor, and ceiling. Children working together need open-ended learning activities that will be self-leveling to each child’s individual needs. Let’s examine our classroom, common spaces, outdoor settings, and the world beyond to find creative possibilities and discover minor changes that lead to more engaging learning spaces.

Salon E: Kaplan (Laura Wilhelm)

Discover how classroom materials can inspire complex thinking as participants design and build kinetic sculptures that move, balance, spin, and transform. Through stories from the classroom and playful experimentation with engineering, art, and design, educators will explore open-ended provocations that cultivate creativity, scientific inquiry, persistence, collaboration, and joyful problem-solving in learners of all ages.

Salon FGH: Kaplan (Jennifer Kesselring)

This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of USDA CACFP infant feeding guidelines for child care providers. It covers required meal patterns for age groups (0–5 months and 6–11 months), recognizing developmental readiness for solid foods, supporting breastfeeding and handling infant formula, and maintaining required paperwork for program compliance and reimbursement.

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Salon ABC: CACFP (Tracy Sayre)

This session encourages supportive connections with families, children, and coworkers to become more responsive to traumatic experiences. We’ll emphasize High-quality teacher-child interactions and mindful practices to renew emotional attunement.

Salon D: Kaplan (Dr. Christine Brown)

We are all designers of our spaces. Each design decision increases or decreases accessibility and inclusiveness in our classrooms for the divergent needs of special populations. We will practice making spaces more responsive to the rights and needs of every child. What is required for one may benefit all.

Salon E: Kaplan (Laura Wilhelm)

Step into the rich possibilities of mud kitchens and potion stations as spaces for inquiry, imagination, and scientific exploration. Participants will investigate how natural materials, loose parts, and open-ended invitations encourage sensory discovery, storytelling, collaboration, and early scientific thinking while designing meaningful experiences that honor children’s curiosity, creativity, and wonder.

Salon FGH: Kaplan (Jennifer Kesselring)

Steve Gross is the Founder and Chief Playmaker of The Life is Good Playmaker Project, a nonprofit dedicated to demonstrating how the power of play can build healing, life-changing relationships. When energy is low and teams feel disconnected, it affects more than just morale. Culture weakens, retention declines, and results suffer. However, play unlocks a spark: a spark filled with creativity, optimism, and authentic connection, which sets the foundation for high-performing, inspired teams. 

For over 30 years, Steve has pioneered and led movements for innovative, play-based, trauma interventions for communities around the world. His work has been celebrated by international trauma experts and was featured as an example of how play can be used in therapy in the longtime #1 New York Times Bestseller,?The Body Keeps the Score. 

Join Steve in his mission to transform children’s lives by investing in the professionals who serve them. Learn more at playmakerproject.org.

Salon ABCDEFGH: Life is Good (Steve Gross)

Every year, thousands of infants die suddenly and unexpectedly — and the sleep environment is one of the few risk factors we can control. This interactive session gives early childhood professionals the knowledge and confidence to make every nap a safe one. Expect myth-busting, real data, and a clear walkthrough of the WV supervision and safe sleep regulations you're accountable for — plus practical guidance on sleep equipment and routines for infants and older children alike. You'll leave able to spot an unsafe sleep setup in seconds and explain the "why" to families and coworkers. Who should attend Infant and toddler caregivers, center directors, family child care providers, and anyone responsible for supervising sleeping children.

Salon ABC: Chrissy Lafferty, WV Child Care Health Educator

As Albert Einstein famously notes, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” What intentional choices can we make to encourage children’s curiosity while being a partner in play? In this workshop, we will learn how to intentionally engage children to cultivate curiosity through play.

Outcomes: As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Create a safe learning environment that is conducive to curious play

• model and foster curiosity in children through play

Salon D: Lakeshore (Elda Perez)

In a world where burnout is normalized and self-sacrifice is expected, healing is no longer a luxury — it’s a necessity. This keynote disrupts the dangerous narrative that hustle equals purpose and challenges educators to redefine what it means to "show up."

“Healing Is the New Hustle” will ignite a mindset shift: from striving to sustaining, from surviving to aligning, and from pouring out to being

filled first.

Salon E: The Healing House (Nakia Austin)

In this session, using formal and/or informal assessment data, we will learn how to intentionally differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all children. We will learn how to modify and adapt activities to meet the needs of children. We will also discuss how to use observations to determine the instructional needs of children to drive our lesson planning and instruction. Through collaborative discussion and hands-on activities, we will determine developmentally appropriate activities and instructional strategies to help scaffold children toward mastery of skills.

Outcomes: As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• utilize data to determine the needs of children and to drive planning and instruction

• utilize effective strategies to differentiate instruction and activities to meet the needs of all children.

Salon FGH: Lakeshore (Ron Mohl)

This presentation will explore the foundations of toddler behavior (i.e., 12-36 months old) with a focus on emotion regulation, communication, attachment, and the emerging capacity for self-control. Participants will gain practical, evidence-based strategies for responding to challenging behaviors while promoting healthy social-emotional development, strengthening adult-child relationships, and fostering toddlers’ emerging skills in emotion regulation and positive behavior. Behavioral strategies and components of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy-Toddlers will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on understanding challenging behavior within a developmental context and transforming everyday struggles into opportunities for connection, learning, and growth.?

Salon ABC: Marshall University (Jennifer Kirby Ph.D.)

In this session, we will dive into the components of high-quality interactions with infants including the importance of building connections and being sensitive to infants. We will also learn how to support infants’ development during daily routines and play while utilizing effective strategies to promote early language development.

Outcomes: As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• increase the number of high-quality interactions with infants throughout the day.

• utilize effective strategies to assist learning and promote early language skills.

Salon D: Lakeshore (Elda Perez)

This presentation will explore how prenatal substance exposure may influence infants’ and toddlers’ development, behavior, self-regulation, sensory processing, relationships, and learning. Participants will examine developmental differences that may be readily apparent, as well as more subtle signs that can easily be overlooked or misunderstood. The presentation will also consider how challenging behaviors may be connected to underlying developmental and regulatory needs. Most importantly, participants will gain practical, trauma-informed strategies for creating supportive environments and responding to the unique needs of infants and toddlers with a history of prenatal substance exposure

Salon E: Marshall University (Melissa Atkins Ph.D.)

In this session, we deepen our understanding of appropriate math concepts for infants and toddlers. We will explore strategies and activities to support the development of emergent mathematical thinking. We will focus on incorporating math language throughout the day.

Outcomes: As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• identify appropriate math concepts for infants and toddlers.

• intentionally incorporate math language throughout the day

Salon FGH: Lakeshore (Ron Mohl)

 A lively, back-to-basics session that helps childcare providers understand their essential role in promoting oral health for young children. We’ll explore how cavities really start (and how to stop them), simple daily strategies to support healthy smiles in the classroom, and fun ways to engage parents in building strong oral health habits at home.

Salon ABC: WV Oral Health Coalition (Gina Sharps)

In this session, we will dive into the components of a high-quality supportive environment to promote child engagement and active supervision. We will reflect on current practices for active engagement and supervision to create a safe environment. We will assess learning environments and explore strategies to enrich them to meet the highest quality standards. We will take the time to evaluate their own earning environment and plan for any needed changes.

Outcomes: As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• utilize best practices for active engagement and supervision to keep a safe learning environment.

• plan for and implement changes to improve the quality of the learning environment.

Salon D: Lakeshore (Elda Perez)

This presentation explores the role of big body play in supporting the healthy development of infants and toddlers. The session emphasizes that big body play an essential component of high-quality early learning environments. Through discussions and real-world classroom examples, participants will explore how children learn through climbing, jumping, balancing, pushing, pulling, and other forms of purposeful movement. The presentation will highlight the educator's role in creating environments that encourage appropriate risk-taking, problem-solving, collaboration, and confidence while maintaining safe and inclusive learning spaces.  Participants will also examine practical strategies for embedding big body play throughout the day using both indoor and outdoor environments.

Salon E: Child Development Academy (Marshall) – Gracie Graves

Research shows that shared reading helps infants and toddlers learn new words and understand the language they hear. These learning benefits are stronger the earlier that shared reading is started and the longer it continues. In this session, we will discuss effective strategies to make shared reading a meaningful experience to support the development of language, literacy, and vocabulary to build a strong foundation for school readiness skills.

Salon FGH: Lakeshore (Ron Mohl)

This 2-hour session equips childcare workers and directors with practical, evidence-based strategies for supporting young children with autism in everyday classroom routines. Participants will learn to recognize early signs of autism, understand common sensory and communication needs, and apply simple, effective techniques for supporting engagement, transitions, and behavior. The session emphasizes collaboration with families and inclusive practices that benefit the whole classroom community.

Salon ABCD: Marshall University: Clarissa Wade

This training explores how the physical environment functions as the "third teacher" in infant and toddler classrooms, directly shaping social-emotional development, self-regulation, and behavior. Participants examine the connection between classroom layout, brain science, and secure attachment while learning practical strategies to design calm, predictable spaces.

Salon EFGH: BC: Maxann Weese

One of the most important tasks for childcare providers is to take precautions to prevent the spread of germs in the environment. This training will provide you with basic information about infection control in the childcare environment.

Agenda:

Pathogens and how they are transmitted.

Environmental cleaning

Standard Precautions/Use of gloves

EPA information and disinfecting/sanitizing solutions

Exclusion

Salon ABC: (Nurse Health Consultant) Allison Taylor

Join WV STARS Project Manager EmmaLee Griffith for a guided refresher on using WV STARS. During this one-hour session, you will learn how to update your profile, review your earned STARS hours, register for courses, check your certificate expiration date, and find helpful resources. You will also have opportunities to ask questions and watch step-by-step process demonstrations. By the end of the session, you will be better prepared to manage your professional development and explore opportunities to advance your career in the early childhood field.

Salon D: WV STARS: EmmaLee Griffith

You see your classroom every day. What do you see when you look at it through an evaluator’s eyes? Explore the health, safety, and environmental details that can be easy to overlook in the everyday classroom. Using practical strategies, attendees will learn to spot environmental blind spots, see the classroom from a child’s perspective, and support staff in creating spaces where children can safely learn, explore, and thrive.

Salon EFGH: ECQ Evaluators (Erica Fetty)