ECE Workshops

Cuesta Early Childhood Education instructors Margie Perez -Sesser and Don Norton recently presented workshops at the California Association for the Education of Young Children’s annual conference during Spring Break in Anaheim.

Margie, also the president of the California Community College Early Childhood Educators presided over that organization’s annual meeting. Important topics she addressed included Student Learning Outcomes, continuity of course work, articulation, the new Early Learning Credential and the potential effects of “Preschool for All” on the field of ECE. Under Margie’s leadership CCC/ECE has increase in membership and the organization has become a strong and effective political force for all CD/ECE programs for Community Colleges in Sacramento.

Margie participated in a workshop titled, “Presidents Respond To Preschool For All: What Prop 82 Means To Their Organizations,” Margie the president of CCC/ECE, Eve-Marie Arice, the president of CAEYC, and Luica I. Palacios president of the California Head Start Association shared their thoughts and concerns concerning the passage of Prop 82 / Preschool For All. 

Students in Margie’s ECE 7 - Guidance of the Young Children class that attended the conference were treated to a special Leadership in ECE class presented by members of the CAEYC Board. This intimate introduction to leadership and what it means to be a professional in ECE – including the importance of advocating for children and families will stick with these students long after they take their finals and leave Cuesta.

Don presented two workshops – the first “Guiding Behavior Using the Environment” helped caregivers teach moral autonomy and minimize behaviors problems by revisiting their curriculum and the physical setting of their classrooms. Using digital photos and video of the Cuesta College Children’s Centers to reinforce concepts, participants were able to see new possibilities for their own programs.

“Interactive Music and Movement,” Don’s Saturday afternoon workshop had over 200 attendees participating in activities designed to promote physical fitness, fundamental movement, beat competency and perceptual motor skills. A favorite at the annual CAEYC conference, this workshop brings the theories child guidance and the practical application of a developmentally appropriate movement and moment program to life.

The Cuesta ECE faculty is already preparing workshop proposals for next year’s conference in San Jose.