Calling all bug enthusiasts – Bugapalooza is back! Stop by the bug zoo to get up close and personal with native insects and spiders – don’t forget to visit the petting zoo while you're there! Nerd out with our entomologist, watch insect pinning demonstrations, and learn to dance like a bee. Then grab a net and head outside to discover the insects and spiders that call our prairie home. Ticket price includes museum admission. tickets and information at naturemuseum.org/events

Join us for a musical playdate with Scribble Monster! Jim Dague, AKA Scribble Jim, brings his high-energy show to Glencoe to wrap up our Tots N Tunes summer concert series.

Are you concerned that your child has dyslexia? Did you know that screening can identify students with a dyslexic profile as early as 3 or 4 years old (even before they are expected to begin reading)?

Early warning signs include things such as a family history of dyslexia, difficulty rhyming and delayed speech development.

Being informed about your child’s profile will allow you to advocate for your child and if appropriate get some early support. Early intervention can make an enormous difference in your child’s reading and school trajectory - your child doesn’t have to struggle or wait to fail.

The screening takes approximately 30 minutes and costs $75 per child. It includes a normed phonemic awareness assessment and early reading battery. Results will be shared with parents via email following the screening. Please contact info@threeforthrive.com to secure a time slot.

Join us for Miss Jamie's Musical Storytime Adventure, involving interactive singing and dancing, funny farm puppets, and imaginative play. Children and grownups alike will love singing and dancing with their friends down on Miss Jamie's farm!

Chris Fascione brings children's stories to life with high-spirited performances which are full of energy, humor, and imagination. Chris creates colorful characters through his unique combination of acting, storytelling, comedy, and juggling. • All attendees, 2-years-old and older, must purchase a ticket. • Refunds will not be given. Register Here

Join with The Alliance for Early Childhood and Community Partners, BackYard Nature Center and Cook County Forest Preserves, to engage in creative, imaginative, and child-directed, outdoor free-play as a family in beautiful Erikson Woods.

Registration Recommended

Even babies and toddlers can participate in Summer Reading Club at the library! Pre-readers can earn a free picture book for completing a reading log with their grownups. Pick up a reading log at the library or print one from wilmettelibrary.info to get started.

The Winnetka Farmers' Market brings you fresh produce, supports local farmers, offers unique artisanal products, promotes sustainable choices, and provides a wonderful opportunity to engage with the community while enjoying a seasonal variety of goods. 22 Saturdays, Rain or Shine

Enjoy an interactive story with a naturalist, then engage in the signs of spring in the forest and prairie on a short hike, with hands on nature activities.

Pre-registration required. All participants, children and adults, must register for the program. Children must be accompanied by a paid registered adult. Program is outdoors so please dress for the weather.

Ages: Children 6 months-6 years accompanied by Adult(s)

Price: $6

Stories, songs, and rhymes for the whole family.

Mindful Beginnings is an outdoor meet-up for new and expecting parents that will launch Fall 2024. We'll meet monthly on the third Wednesday of each month from 10-11:30am at different trails to walk together and connect with nature. Bring your baby (carriers encouraged) and join us for a walk led by Kassie Leachman, a certified doula and childbirth educator. This is a great opportunity to connect with other parents and share your experiences. Sign up for meet-up emails here.

Are you concerned that your child has dyslexia? Did you know that screening can identify students with a dyslexic profile as early as 3 or 4 years old (even before they are expected to begin reading)?

Early warning signs include things such as a family history of dyslexia, difficulty rhyming and delayed speech development.

Being informed about your child’s profile will allow you to advocate for your child and if appropriate get some early support. Early intervention can make an enormous difference in your child’s reading and school trajectory - your child doesn’t have to struggle or wait to fail.

The screening takes approximately 30 minutes and costs $75 per child. It includes a normed phonemic awareness assessment and early reading battery. Results will be shared with parents via email following the screening. Please contact info@threeforthrive.com to secure a time slot.

Enjoy an interactive story with a naturalist, then engage in the signs of spring in the forest and prairie on a short hike, with hands on nature activities.

Pre-registration required. All participants, children and adults, must register for the program. Children must be accompanied by a paid registered adult. Program is outdoors so please dress for the weather.

Ages: Children 6 months-6 years accompanied by Adult(s)

Price: $6

Get cozy in your PJs and bring your favorite lovie to enjoy stories, songs, and rhymes before bedtime.

Build sandcastles and play in nature with The Alliance for Early Childhood in partnership with Wilmette Park District and BackYard Nature Center. Bring your sandcastle building tools and sense of adventure and enjoy a morning of play and exploration at The Beach! This year, we'll have one station - at the swimming beach on the north end of Gillson.

Registration Recommended

Explore neurodiversity, the natural variation in how human brains are wired, in this workshop with speech and language pathologist Stephanie Boron. Children ages 4 and older can enjoy a storytime and craft in the Youth Program Room while adults attend the program. Register on Wilmette Public Library's event calendar here.

Children are naturally drawn to various forms of Power Play, such as Rough and Tumble and Superhero play. While these activities come instinctively to children, they often raise concerns for parents. How can we ensure safety without stifling their exploration? In this workshop, we will first reflect on our own experiences and biases regarding this type of play. Then, we’ll explore the learning opportunities children engage in through these games. Finally, we will discuss strategies to support our children in staying safe, having fun, and learning to play collaboratively.

Register Here

Are you concerned that your child has dyslexia? Did you know that screening can identify students with a dyslexic profile as early as 3 or 4 years old (even before they are expected to begin reading)?

Early warning signs include things such as a family history of dyslexia, difficulty rhyming and delayed speech development.

Being informed about your child’s profile will allow you to advocate for your child and if appropriate get some early support. Early intervention can make an enormous difference in your child’s reading and school trajectory - your child doesn’t have to struggle or wait to fail.

The screening takes approximately 30 minutes and costs $75 per child. It includes a normed phonemic awareness assessment and early reading battery. Results will be shared with parents via email following the screening. Please contact info@threeforthrive.com to secure a time slot.

Mindful Beginnings is an outdoor meet-up for new and expecting parents that will launch Fall 2024. We'll meet monthly on the third Wednesday of each month from 10-11:30am at different trails to walk together and connect with nature. Bring your baby (carriers encouraged) and join us for a walk led by Kassie Leachman, a certified doula and childbirth educator. This is a great opportunity to connect with other parents and share your experiences. Sign up for meet-up emails here.

This imaginative yoga class will flow through a sequence of fun and creative poses that embody the story; bringing literature to life. This class provides a medium for families to unplug and bond in the most playful of ways. Children and their grown-ups will interact through moving, breathing, and connecting.Space is limited. BYO Mat. Must register online in advance; no drop-ins. Ticket includes access to all museum exhibits. Register Here.

Join speech language pathologists from Kick Start Therapy Network for a story and craft. Connect with other families, and learn about neurodiversity and ways to support your child. All are welcome!

Are you curious about what your stuffed animal does while you're asleep? Bring a stuffed animal (not the one you need to go to sleep with) to share a fireside story and s’more snack with, and then tuck them into their tents for the night. Our campout counselors will be on the lookout for the mischief your stuffed animals might get into during the night. The next day, come pick your animal pal up from their campout to see what stories and adventures they have to share! Visit pdhp.org for more information and registration.

As an educator, you’ve witnessed the emotional lives of young children play out in their separations, transitions, attention, and peer interactions. You already know that young children tend to have big, messy, loud, feelings that are disruptive, inconvenient and can sometimes screech a classroom to a halt. Because young children don’t fully understand their emotions, they often don’t know what to do with them. They need a caring adult to receive and guide them, but we don’t always know HOW to do that!

This can be especially challenging when things are new. Whether it’s a new age group, a new school or a new role, navigating students’ BIG feelings can add to your own overwhelm. 

How can you teach emotional awareness and regulation in a classroom when there are so many emotions happening at the same time? The answer lies in understanding emotional development, attachment research, and our own self-awareness. During this conversation series, you’ll discover how to set appropriate expectations for yourself and your classroom, while developing trauma-sensitive strategies that promote resilience, confidence, and community-mindedness. 

Set yourself up for a supported school year! These four, 1-hour conversations will lift you up and lighten your load. Join Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant, Molly Pope, in conversations around these very topics and how they are playing out in YOUR classroom. Over the course of the school year, we’ll meet virtually as a small group to learn with and from each other as we tackle the challenges of BIG emotions in the classroom. 

Welcome back to all our returning participants! We’re delighted to see familiar faces eager to continue their journey of growth and discovery. We will build on our previous explorations, offering fresh insights, innovative strategies, and deeper dives into the emotional landscape of early childhood.

Registration for the Early Childhood Enrichment Series is open to educators in all Alliance-member schools. Please sign up using the link in your 2024-2025 Member School Educator Program Guide. Contact us if you need a Program Guide or have questions about individual or school Alliance memberships.

Unlock the key to nurturing resilient, emotionally aware young children in your care with our transformative workshop on Building Emotional Literacy. Emotional literacy forms the bedrock of a child's social and academic success, yet the key role of the educator often goes unrecognized. Join us as we delve into what emotional literacy truly means and discover practical strategies to integrate it into your daily interactions with children.

What is Emotional Literacy? Emotional literacy isn't just about recognizing and naming emotions; it's about feeling the feelings when they arise and having the tools to manage and move through. Within caring relationships in the classroom, children can grow more comfortable with the discomfort of big feelings. In our workshop, we explore how emotional regulation and self-awareness are fundamental to this process, setting children on a path to emotional resilience and lifelong well-being.

Why Attend? As educators, you play a pivotal role in shaping a child's emotional development. Unlike parents, you have a unique vantage point and the professional distance to guide children through their emotional journeys effectively. Drawing from your experience and developmental knowledge, you can decode the unique emotional landscapes of a child and foster an environment where emotions are felt, validated and understood.

What You'll Learn:

• Strategies to nurture emotional resilience, in yourself and your students, through storytelling and shared experiences of triumph and setbacks.

• Techniques to help children understand that emotions are transient and that all feelings are valid.

• Tools for creating supportive environments where children feel safe to express themselves authentically.

• Practical tools like bibliotherapy, storytelling, emotion libraries, and creative activities to aid emotional expression and regulation.

Whether you're a seasoned educator or just starting out, you'll leave equipped with new insights and actionable strategies to enhance your classroom environment.Together, let's move beyond classroom compliance to build meaningful connections that support children's emotional well-being and successful learning.

Registration for the Early Childhood Enrichment Series is open to educators in all Alliance-member schools. Please sign up using the link in your 2024-2025 Member School Educator Program Guide. Contact us if you need a Program Guide or have questions about individual or school Alliance memberships.

Join The Alliance for Early Childhood in partnership with Historic Wagner Farm for a morning of exploration at the farm in spring. Families can explore the 1920’s historic Wagner farmhouse, barter in the Farm Stand, enjoy the Farm Adventure Area playground, and visit the Heritage Center, which includes a 1930s recreated grocery store.

Registration Recommended

Mindful Beginnings is an outdoor meet-up for new and expecting parents that will launch Fall 2024. We'll meet monthly on the third Wednesday of each month from 10-11:30am at different trails to walk together and connect with nature. Bring your baby (carriers encouraged) and join us for a walk led by Kassie Leachman, a certified doula and childbirth educator. This is a great opportunity to connect with other parents and share your experiences. Sign up for meet-up emails here.

We have adapted our 360 Thinking Executive Function Method to the early childhood classroom to support the development of the early building blocks of the executive function skills. Acquiring these fundamental capacities in early learning environments is critical to developing the ability to focus, hold, and work with information in mind, filter distractions and flexibly shift to be ready to succeed in the school setting. This practical strategies presentation will introduce our (“STOP and PLAY”) program with a multitude of EF strategies to infuse into dramatic play, therapy and classroom activities to develop the executive skills of situational intelligence, mental imagination, working memory, visual future thinking, time awareness and task visualization, self-regulation and meta-cognition.

Registration for the Early Childhood Enrichment Series is open to educators in all Alliance-member schools. Please sign up using the link in your 2024-2025 Member School Educator Program Guide. Contact us if you need a Program Guide or have questions about individual or school Alliance memberships.