Basic School Age Care (BSAC) is a 5-hour introductory level training event for school age care professionals that are new to the field. This training is required by the NC DCDEE for school age care professionals working in licensed programs, but is a great training for new staff in any afterschool program setting. This training will take place on April 9th and 11th from 6:30 pm-9:00 pm.

Books are standard materials in most classrooms, but are we getting the most out of them? How intentional is our choice of books, the way we read books, and the way we expand children’s learning through books? In this session we will discuss how building literacy skills (including emotional literacy) is critical for young children, define best practices in early literacy and writing, explore books and “Book Nooks” from the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL), and create expansion activities for additional children’s books that will not only enhance children’s learning in the classroom but will make it fun for you and for them! Discover new books and take home activities that you can immediately begin using!

The objectives of this training are as follow: to explain why cultural competency is important to quality early childhood education; explore how people are culturally conditioned by past socialization experiences; explore awareness as a building block to developing cultural competence; explain how societal assumptions about cultural, ethnic and racial differences impact ourselves, children and families; and explore and discuss implications for teaching diverse children and engaging families.

This TWO-part training will introduce participants to the document North Carolina Foundations for Early Learning and Development. Participants will use the book to learn about the standards, how they are structured, and how to implement them in early childhood settings. Participants will construct the knowledge base necessary to use the standards in supporting children in their learning and development by embedding the standards in daily classroom planning and practice.