SAN MARCOS — The “Literacy Through Learning” child-care provider conference will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 26 in the Family and Consumer Sciences Building at Texas State University in San Marcos.
The conference, sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, is designed for professional and paraprofessional child-care providers and others involved in the child-care industry, said Dr. Connie Sheppard, AgriLife Extension agent for family and consumer sciences in Bexar County and conference coordinator.
“Program topics will focus on how providers can create literacy and reading development experiences for the children in their care,” Sheppard said.
Conference presenters will be from AgriLife Extension, Texas State University, San Antonio’s East Central Independent School District, the Texas State University Child Development Center and the Texas State Family Literacy Center.
Registration and welcome will take place from 8-8:30 a.m. From 9-11:45 a.m. there will be four breakout sessions for which participants will be divided into groups to attend three of these on a rotational basis.
“The morning breakout sessions will cover extending reading to the home, indoor child-care environments, reading styles with kids and bullying,” Sheppard said.
Sheppard said from 9 a.m. to noon there will be a child-care director’s track session on financial issues for staff members and families in tough economic times, plus human resources considerations for child- care providers. This session will provide three clock hours of management training for directors.
The conference’s afternoon activities will begin at noon with lunch and opportunity to view child-care displays at the venue. From 12:30-3:30 p.m., “Character” will be the topic of a presentation by Dr. Beverly Chido, a business educator at Texas State University. Closing remarks, evaluations and distribution of certificates will follow from 3:30-4 p.m.
Participants receive a total of six clock hours of training for the full day’s attendance.
The cost for the program is $30 for early registration through March 1 and $40 for registration after March 1. On-site, at-the-door registration will be $50.
Registration can be completed at the Texas AgriLife Extension Conference Services website, http://agrilifevents.tamu.edu. More information on the program can be found on the conference services site or by contacting Sheppard at 210-467-6575 or c-sheppar@tamu.edu.
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