These pre-conference sessions are longer, more hands-on and designed to provide early childhood practitioners with information to take home and use immediately. Led by the Council for Early Child Development Community Fellows, they are the first opportunity at the conference to “put science into action.” 

1. The Big “C”:  Community Engagement
Do you have great ideas for your community but are unsure of where to begin? The Communities Achieving Responsive Services process (CARS) is a tested community engagement tool for both new and seasoned activists. Experience the excitement of mobilizing communities based on consumer participation, ownership, partnerships and the celebration of victories.

Facilitator: Carol Gott | Rural Voices for Early Childhood Education and Care

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2. Tools for Change 
Can increasing the understanding of children in your community lead to real change? Using the newly published Toolkit for Action, developed by the Human Early Learning Partnership, this workshop helps participants understand population-level measurements of children’s development, including the Early Development Instrument (EDI) and socio-economic and community asset data. Discussion of the EDI initiative provides examples of community actions taken in response to its findings. Participants will leave with their own copy of the Toolkit. Presentation coming soon...

Facilitators: Wendy Church | Child Parent Coalitions, Healthy Child Manitoba; Joanne Schroeder | Council for Early Child Development

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3. Getting it Right at 18 months
Eighteen months is a key stage in development. Children are starting to speak so it is possible to detect early signs of communication problems. They are becoming more independent and assertive, and parents may start to experience difficulties managing their children’s behaviour. Importantly, it is an age when identification of physical, behavioural and mental health challenges or detection of environmental risks including second-hand smoking, abuse or family violence can make a significant difference in children’s lives. This workshop provides an overview of the models being developed in Ontario and Alberta to build a system of developmental surveillance at 18 months.
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Download 'Growing the 18 month strategy'** and video of Sophie>>
Download OMCYS 'Enhanced 18 month visit'>>**

Facilitators: Anne Biscaro | Niagara Region Public Health Department; Jean Clinton | Hamilton Best Start Network; Michelle Craig | Preschool Health Services, Alberta Health Services

4. Child Development and Parenting Centres: Demonstrating the Possible
The Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Foundation is working with provincial governments in Atlantic Canada to develop community-based, integrated early childhood programs to model possibilities for system-wide delivery. This workshop is available to those involved in Foundation-supported integration efforts. It explores start-up strategies and orients those involved in the selected demonstration sites to the research, program development and communication expectations.

Facilitator: Jane Bertrand | McCain Family Foundation

5. Youth Interested in ECD
The Council for Early Child Development is looking for
youth interested in learning more about the Council and early
child development research, policy and practice. Interested individuals will have the opportunity to meet during
a pre-conference session at Putting Science Into Action in Sackville, NB. For more information, please read our flyer.

**All presentations are posted in Adobe PDF format to reduce file size and to prevent editing of the slides. If you require a PPT version of a slide, please contact Allison Black at ablack@councilecd.ca to request permission of the speaker.