With big reactors, “gentle parenting” often doesn’t work. These children tend to reject calming tools. As one six-year-old put it, “I remember the tools before; I remember them after; I just don’t remember them in the middle.” They often find it intrusive and overwhelming when parents validate and talk about their emotions. This can lead to outbursts like, “Stop talking to me! Stop telling me that! I’m not sad!” When their brains and bodies are flooded with big emotions, the more parents, teachers, and caregivers try to convince them to cooperate, the less likely they are to do so.

This workshop—based on Claire Lerner, LICSW’s new book, Big Reactors: Practical Strategies for Parenting Highly Sensitive Children—will present key insights and tools to help anyone supporting a young child’s development. You’ll learn how to thread the needle of being connected, sensitive, and responsive while also setting the firm limits big reactors need to develop self-regulation and thrive.

If you care for a child(en) who goes from 0 to 100 in a nanosecond when things don’t go their way; who seems laser-focused on being in power and control; who can’t tolerate correction and blames others for everything; and with whom few, if any, conventional cooperation strategies work—this webinar is for you.

Drawing from decades of work with these complex and often confusing children, Claire will share detailed case examples and reveal the “detective work” process she uses to help parents, teachers, and caregivers uncover the root causes of challenging behaviors and develop sensitive, effective, real-life strategies that work—not just in theory.

Participants will learn to:

1. Identify the key traits of highly sensitive children (big reactors)

2. Understand the root causes behind many of their challenging behaviors

3. Apply effective strategies to help big reactors manage big emotions

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Enrollment isn’t just paperwork—it’s the foundation of your program’s culture, finances, and family relationships. In this session, we’ll explore how the right policies and procedures can streamline the enrollment process while building trust with staff and families.

You’ll learn how to design staff and parent handbooks that set clear expectations, foster engagement, and reflect your values. Then, we’ll dive into practical strategies for enrollment: collecting the right information up front, structuring fees and deposits, and automating tasks like emails and forms to create a smooth experience for families.

Finally, we’ll look at how predictive enrollment, reviews, and referrals can keep your pipeline full—helping you plan capacity with confidence and sustain your program’s growth.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Craft policies that shape a positive culture and strengthen staff and family trust.
• Build handbooks that support compliance while boosting engagement and retention.
• Implement streamlined enrollment systems that reduce friction and prevent churn.
• Use predictive enrollment and referrals to sustain growth and meet financial goals.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Early childhood leadership shouldn’t require self-sacrifice. In this energizing and interactive session, we’ll move beyond surface-level self-care tips and dive into what it truly takes to lead thriving teaching teams. Using the H.E.A.R.T.™ framework (Healing Environments for Aligned and Regulated Teams) and the ECE Wellbeing Survey, participants will explore the science of stress, embodied leadership practices, and community care strategies that promote long-term well-being—for both staff and students.

Join the Founder of Rooted: A Wellness Collective, Monica Rollins for hands-on activities, developing small-group connections, and practical shifts you can implement right away.

What you’ll learn:

• Examine the limitations of traditional self-care and discover strategies for cultivating aligned, collective care within early childhood teams.

• Practice embodied leadership techniques, including recognizing nervous system cues, resetting stress responses, and leveraging co-regulation to support staff and students.

• Take aligned action by creating one to two goals that enhance team well-being and foster sustainable leadership practices.

  
  

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Compliance Without the Chaos – Inspections don’t haveto be stressful. Learn how to package and practice what you’re already doing into a system that manages risk, closes gaps, and keeps your program inspection-ready every day.

Take control by communicating your proactive processes andprocedures to stay ahead of licensing requirements! This session will show you how to maintain accurate records, document your audits, and demonstrate how you minimize risk.

You’ll gain confidence knowing your program is always inspection-ready and fully aligned with licensing standards ensuring a safe, high-quality environment where both children and teachers thrive.

3 Key Takeaways

1. Do More with What You Have: Turn what you’re already doing into a compliance story that doubles as a risk management best practice.
2. Inspector Myth-Busting: Get the inside scoop on what inspectors really think (spoiler: it’s not all “gotcha” moments).
3. Tame High-Risk Moments: Learn how to manage your riskiest compliance situations with simple, repeatable systems that keep your program—and your sanity—intact.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

You’ve invested in training. You’ve implemented behaviorframeworks. You’ve supported individual classrooms—yet certain patterns persist: chronic dysregulation, staff burnout, uneven implementation, and behavior challenges that resurface no matter how many strategies are introduced.

In this session, you are invited to step back from theclassroom lens and examine what is often overlooked: the adult system itself.

This presentation reframes behavior support as a leadershipand organizational issue—not a child-level problem to be solved in isolation. You’ll explore how adult regulation, leadership alignment, emotional intelligence, and program structures either strengthen or erode a child’s capacity to self-regulate and engage. Rather than focusing on compliance orquick fixes, this session centers on building sustainable adult capacity—the conditions that allow regulation, consistency, and relational safety to take rootacross teams.

Designed for directors, administrators, coaches, and teacher-leaders, this webinar invites you to reflect on your role as a culture builder and systems shaper. You’ll examine how leadership practices, communication patterns, and operational decisions directly influence classroom climate and behavior-support outcomes. Through practical frameworks and real-world examples, you’ll leave with a clearer understanding of how to shift from managing behavior to strengthening the systems that support both childrenand educators.

Led by Rachel Supalla, M.Ed., this session is ideal forleaders ready to move beyond tactics and toward long-term, scalable change—where regulation is embedded, adult capacity is prioritized, and behavior support becomes a shared responsibility across the organization.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

1. Analyze persistent behavior challenges through a leadership and systems-level lens
2. Identify how adult regulation and organizational cultureimpact child behavior and classroom climate
3. Examine leadership practices that either support orundermine regulation across teams
4. Apply capacity-building principles that promote sustainable behavior support in early childhood settings
   

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

In today’s competitive child care market, simply being a “good center” isn’t enough — you need a proven strategy to become the #1 choice for families in your community. That’s exactly what you’ll gain in the Own Your Zip Code Blueprint™ webinar.

Join Bruce W. Spurr, CEO of Grow Your Center, as he reveals the full-funnel marketing strategy used by top-performing centers to turn empty spots into waitlists. You’ll discover how to build unstoppable momentum by mastering both traffic (paid ads, organic marketing, and brand building)and conversion (capturing leads, booking tours, and enrolling families).

This session will walk you step-by-step through the five stages of a winning enrollment funnel:

• Traffic & Brand – Learn how to balance quick-but-costly ads with long-term organic growth that builds lasting marketing assets.
• Getting the Lead – Understand how parents “vibe check” your website, reviews, and social media before ever reaching out.
• Booking the Tour – Discover why speed-to-lead is everything, and how CRM tools and automation can give you the edge over competitors.
• Tour Show-Up – Use proven automation and reminders to dramatically increase show-up rates.
• Tour & Close – Wow families with a hospitality-focused, five-senses tour that converts visits into enrollments.

Whether you’re struggling to stand out or ready to dominate your market, this webinar will equip you with the clarity, confidence, and tools to finally own your zip code.

By the end of this webinar, you will be able to:

• Understand the five critical stages of a modern child care enrollment funnel.
• Balance paid ads and organic marketing to drive predictable traffic.
• Build a website, review profile, and social presence that earn parents’ trust instantly.
• Use CRM tools and automation to book more tours and boost show-up rates.
• Apply a proven tour-to-enrollment framework that fills classrooms.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Too many child care programs lose money not because of a lack of demand, but because owners and directors aren’t aligned. When leadership teams lack a shared vision, the result can be under-enrollment, inconsistent practices, and financial strain.

In this insightful session, child care program growth experts Kate Woodward Young and Carrie Casey will share proven strategies to bridge the gap between owners and directors so programs can thrive. You’ll learn how to foster alignment that empowers directors to manage profitably, enables owners to lead effectively, and allows entire teams to work toward sustainable success.

Together, we’ll explore three key strategies every program needs to:

• Increase enrollment by building systems that keep classrooms full and families engaged.

• Strengthen leadership by ensuring owners and directors work in sync rather than in silos.

• Boost financial sustainability by putting more money back into your program without sacrificing quality.

  
  

Whether you attend as an owner, a director, or as a leadership pair, you’ll leave with practical tools you can immediately apply to strengthen your program’s operations and bottom line.

As a special bonus, you’ll also be invited to an upcoming three-hour masterclass designed to help you launch your summer programming profitably and set your team up for success all year long.

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by toddler screams, food-throwing, or frustrated outbursts? You’re not alone—and there are effective ways to turn those challenging moments into opportunities for connection and learning. In this engaging session, led by toddler expert, Raelene Ostberg, you’ll discover practical techniques that foster both verbal and nonverbal language skills, helping children replace ear-shattering screams with meaningful phrases and gestures.

You’ll also gain insight into how infants and toddlers develop the critical language skills that reduce negative behaviors and learn the typical developmental expectations for expressive and receptive language in the first two years.Through entertaining real-life stories and engaging videos, you’ll see strategies in action and leave inspired with numerous evidence-based tools to build harmony in your early learning environment. Join us to transform everyday challenges into joyful breakthroughs—reducing stress, strengthening connections, and unlocking the magic of early learning.

Objectives: Adult learners will be able to:

• Identify effective techniques that promote communication skills in infants and toddlers

• Explain how adult interactions influence the development of executive function and learning skills

• Apply prompting cues to support young learners during behavioral challenges

RESOURCES

• Watch the full webinar here
• Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software