Madison Area YMCA Kirby Children's Center Holds "New Directions" Conference

The Madison Area YMCA F.M. Kirby Children’s Center in conjunction with Cornerstone Family Programs and Morris County Child Care Directors’ Association held its “New Directions” Conference.

The all-day event, held at the end of the summer, exemplifies the Kirby Children’s Center’s commitment to providing programming excellence for the families it serves as well as establishing itself in a leadership capacity for sharing professional development seminars with teachers and educators in supervisory roles.

Polly Eberhardt, Early Childhood Education Specialist and Master Trainer at Kirby Children’s Center, led “Challenging Behaviors.” Attendees learned how to better understand what drives the behaviors seen in classrooms and effective ways to channel the behaviors to positive outcomes.  

The conference provided four workshops dedicated to working with children that have special needs.

Anne Toolajian, Speech Therapist and Co-Director of Pediatric Therapeutics, discussed “Supporting Children with Speech Delays in the Typical Classroom.” Toolajian shared strategies on how to recognize early warning signs and how to adapt classroom routines and activities to support a child’s ongoing therapy.

Certified Occupational Therapist Jerzie Ann Coppola led a workshop “Sensory Processing Disorders.” Coppola explained what sensory integration disorder means, how to recognize early warning signs in children from birth and offered strategies for making classrooms more sensory friendly.

Rebekka Murphy discussed the “Working with Children with Differing Abilities—Having the Tools” workshop. Murphy outlined the characteristics and behaviors of children with developmental delays and spectrum disorders. The workshop provided simple strategies and modifications to meet special needs, identify red flags, speak with parents and adapt materials to use in classrooms.

Although autism can only be diagnosed by a specialist, teachers are often the first to notice when something just doesn’t seem right. During the workshop “Working with Children on the Autism Spectrum,” Karen Sikes, Lead Teacher at Kirby Children’s Center explained how to recognize the early signs of spectrum disorders. They learned how to structure and modify typical classroom activities that allows children on the spectrum to succeed in an early childhood environment. Teachers also learned how to effectively communicate with parents.  

Harriet McCarter, F.M. Kirby Children’s Center Executive Director, led a “Difficult Conversations” session that addressed how to handle painful, complex issues with staff, parents and colleagues. Guidance was provided for what is considered appropriate language, how to keep emotions under control and strategies to keep conversations on point.

Linsey Cozewith, Associate Marketing Director at the Madison Area YMCA led “Making the Most of Social Media.” The workshop covered how to get started in social media and how to effectively use it to reach and retain parents and attract enrollment.

For professionals on the supervisory track, Early Childhood Specialist June Trueax of Cornerstone Family Programs held two workshops that provided instruction on how to appropriately supervise, support and build a strong and productive team.

Other workshop topics included “Period of Purple Crying,” “The Role of Active Play in Childhood”, “Fine Motor Skills in A Box”, “More Music, Please!” and “Super Science-On A Shoestring!”

The Madison Area YMCA F.M. Children’s Kirby Center will hold its second annual Kirby Staff Development Conference in February. The F.M. Kirby Children’s Center distinguishes itself by providing staff members with professional development through regularly scheduled extensive in-service training with break-out sessions. Leading experts in their field are also brought in to educate the staff.

The F.M. Kirby Children’s Center of the Madison Area YMCA is state-renowned as an early childhood development center and provides exceptional quality in childcare and curriculum-based early childhood education. As a former elementary school, the F.M. Kirby Children’s Center facility is specifically designed for children. It is situated on almost 3-acres of property, boasts a full-size gym and five state-of-the-art playgrounds to serve all age groups.