The LEARN Regional Education Service Center (RESC) in Old Lyme hosted a symposium on February 7, 2020 entitled Keep Calm, Keep Learning: helping our youngest students stay in control and in school. The focus of the day was centered on presentations that supported children’s social and emotional development.

Tony Liu from the Yale Zigler Center in Child Development (left) and Meg Formica, LEARN New London School Readiness Liaison (right)

OEC Commissioner Beth Bye provided the keynote address which started the day off on the right foot. The workshops that were offered were all encompassing of the work being done nationally and around the state to further the awareness and practice of social emotional learning.

Topics that were explored were: Mindfulness Education, which taught how Mindfulness practices can reduce stress and anxiety and help to improve interactions with students and colleagues; Introduction to the Pyramid Model in the Preschool Classroom, which discussed how the model leads to an increase in the competence and confidence of teachers in the support of children; The Circle of Security: An Introduction, which is centered around fostering a secure attachment between child and caregiver and how this healthy attachment can positively affect early child development; Emotions Matter: Using the Power of Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood Classrooms, which aimed to build a shared understanding of the ways we can support the social and emotional development of young children through a teacher or caregiver’s own emotional intelligence; Behavior Forum, which focused on responding to challenging behaviors  and developing strategies to best support children in the early childhood classroom; and Conscious Discipline, which is an evidence-based, trauma informed approach that brings together social-emotional learning, discipline, and classroom management with transformational results. A BIG shout out to both Stamford and Old Lyme for providing each of their communities such fantastic opportunities for teachers, caregivers, and parents to learn, network, and grow!

Group photo of event attendees