Infant and toddler specialists to gather at Purdue

The three-day institute, "Putting Families at the Heart of Relationship-Based Practice," will take place Aug. 23-25. More than 150 infant and toddler specialists from throughout the state will attend.

Keynote speakers will include Jon Korfmacher, associate professor at the Erikson Institute in Chicago who will answer the question, "Where is the heart in relationship-based care?" Carol Trivette, co-director of the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute in North Carolina, will speak about "Family-Centered Helpgiving Practices: Enhancing Parenting Capacity."

Six other Midwest experts will present two-hour workshops on topics including early obesity prevention, developmental assessment, managing illness in child-care programs, cognitive and language development in the first three years and relationship-based supervision.

"The goal of the institute is to provide in-depth, research-based information and networking opportunities for infant-toddler professionals in leadership positions in Indiana programs so they can provide high-quality child care, education and early intervention services for Indiana children and families," said conference coordinator Jim Elicker, Purdue associate professor of child development and family studies and director of the Ben and Maxine Miller Child Learning Center.

"The institute is a major annual event for our new professional state network, the Infant-Toddler Specialists of Indiana. It also is a very rewarding collaboration between Purdue and Indiana universities."

Mary McMullen, Indiana University associate professor of early childhood education and associate dean of graduate studies, is the Infant-Toddler Specialists of Indiana network co-coordinator.

Registration is available online.

The institute is funded by the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children, which uses child-care quality improvement funds from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the federal Child Care Bureau.

Writer: Marydell Forbes, (765) 496-7704, mforbes@purdue.edu

Sources: Jim Elicker (765) 494-2938, elickerj@purdue.edu

Mary McMullen (812) 856-8393, mmcmulle@indiana.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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