It’s hard to imagine anything more heartwarming than happy,
learning children. But
sometimes it’s hard to imagine anything harder than keeping them
happy or learning.

For the people who try, the Early Childhood Institutes have
been offering bright, new
ideas for more than a decade now. The three institutes offered
in
September will carry on
that tradition.

“The institutes help
caregivers learn new and
exciting ways to help young children grow and learn,” said
Diane Bales, a University
of Georgia human development specialist who coordinates the
program. “They also give
caregivers opportunities to network and share stories and ideas
with other child-care
professionals.”

The ECIs provide training for child care providers who work
with infants, toddlers,
preschoolers and school-age children. They help caregivers
discover new ideas to share
with the children and families they work with.

Three Institutes in
September

The three institutes offered this fall will be in Tifton
Sept.
9, Atlanta Sept. 16 and
Macon Sept. 30. Child-care professionals will receive 5 hours of
DHR-approved training.
CEUs will be available.

Each site offers four concurrent sessions and 12 workshops.
Each also offers tracks of
workshops ranging from infants to school-agers and from
administrators to new providers.
There’s even a track of topics “of interest to
everyone.”

Many of the workshops are active, hands-on programs with the
opportunity to try out new
materials and learn new activities to use with children. All
sites will include workshops
on stress management and time management.

To sign up for an ECI, call (912) 386-3416. People who
preregister can select the workshops they want
most. They will be assigned
on a first-come, first-served basis.

Each site offers hot lunches and plenty of free parking. The
fee for each is $35 if
postmarked by Aug. 11. It’s $55 after that. The fee covers the
workshops, lunch, breaks
and a copy of the proceedings.