Past Conferences

2023 Conference

“2023: Thinking, Exploring & Rebuilding Together“

Online
Friday, March 3 from 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM ET
Saturday, March 4 from 10:30 AM – 3:30 PM ET

Find your spark and collaborate with a community of educators focused on kindergarten! Think together about how children learn. Explore how to create a rich curriculum that reflects the interests of the children, meets academic expectations, and plants the seeds of social justice. Rebuild your practice with tools and resources that will inspire you and remind you why you do this work and that it’s worth it!

“There is nothing like seeing children’s eyes spark when they make new connections and discover something for themselves.” — M. Martinez, kindergarten teacher in an urban public school

“Kindergarteners are the best of humanity! They keep me hopeful about the future of our world.”— M. Walker, kindergarten teacher in a rural public school

Keynote Speakers:

  • Catherine Steiner-Adair, clinical psychologist and research associate at Harvard Medical School
    The Art and Craft of Teaching Kindergarten: “Neuro-sculpturing” with Play
  • Emily Meisner, Director of the National Dance Institute (NDI) Collaborative for Teaching & Learning
    Sparking Joy: Dance &  Music in the Kindergarten Classroom
  • Denisha Jones, Executive Director of Defending the Early Years
    Centering Freedom Through Play: Free to Develop, Free to Learn, Free to Teach
  • Matt de la Peña is the #1 New York Times bestselling, Newbery Medal-winning author of seven young adult novels (including Mexican WhiteBoy and We Were Here) and seven picture books (including Patchwork and Last Stop on Market Street)
    Inventing Stories & Connecting with Young Children: An Author’s Perspective

Workshops:

  • Show and Tell Becomes a Classroom Museum | Grace Attanasio Shickler
  • Strengthening Hearts, Minds & Imagination Through Live Storytelling | Laura Simms
  • The Productive and Enjoyable Reading of Math Storybooks with Kindergartener | Herbert P. Ginsburg
  • Trees, Squirrels & Playgrounds: A Year of Inquiry | Lauren Monaco
  • Adding Mindfulness to Your Classroom: Why & How? | Robin Thomas
  • “Wanna Play?” Turning Favorite Books into Class Plays | Ariane Durham
  • Kindergarten Artists at Work: Creating a Rich Interdisciplinary Curriculum Through Art | Paulo Cesar Arango and Winnie Chan
  • Observing Children’s  Self-Portraits with Descriptive Review | Cara Furman and Hillary Post
  • Empowering Young Children to Create Math “Story Problems” | Jane Parkes and Kelly Peters
  • Story Seeds: Growing an Anti-Racist Classroom Library | Kharissa Kenner and Susie Rios
  • Choice Time: Promoting Inquiry-Based Play | Renée Dinnerstein
  • Bringing Kindergarten Home: An Authentic Family Study | Bryan Andes and Rowena Hurst
  • Storytelling/Story Acting: Children’s Original Stories Come Alive | Kristin B. Eno and Shariffa Martinez
  • Persistence, Gratitude, Acceptance, and More: Transforming Classroom Culture through Intentional Words | Annabelle Baylin and Karen Levenberg
  • Organizing Beyond the Classroom: Kindergarteners as Agents of Change | Elise “Lee” Sommers and Carly Zurcher