COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 17, 2006) – Tennessee Tech University is the place to be on Saturday, Nov. 4, for parents, childcare providers, early childhood teachers and others interested in early childhood development.

That’s because the campus is hosting a free workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. that day titled “The Developing Child: What Parents, Providers and Teachers Need to Know.”

Four concurrent sessions dealing with various topics of early childhood development — from movement-based learning and literacy to music and nutrition and even a session about helping children through stressful times — will be presented, and participants may choose to attend two in the morning and two in the afternoon.

The highlight of the event, however, will be the morning’s keynote address by Don Monopoli, a member of the acclaimed children’s entertainment group The Learning Station.

Founded in 1985, The Learning Station is a nationally recognized recording and performing company that captures the attention of young audiences by using music to teach valuable life lessons to children.

The event’s closing address will deal with physical developmental red flags, and the first 25 attendees who elect to participate will follow the conference with a training course for CPR certification or recertification.

In addition to the valuable information provided by the keynote and closing address — both of which will be presented in the Memorial Gym — and the morning and afternoon topical sessions — which will be held in either the gym or South Hall, lunch and educational resources will also be provided.

Attendance to the conference is limited to 300 participants, with reservations being taken on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline for registering is Tuesday, Oct. 24.

The event is being funded by a portion of a $200,000 grant distributed by the state Attorney General’s office as a result of a class-action lawsuit against a vitamin manufacturer.

The vitamin settlement grant has helped TTU’s School of Human Ecology perform a child nutrition study and the university’s department of exercise science, physical education and wellness construct a motor development lab for children.

Those two academic units are teaming up with several other university-affiliated organizations to provide “The Developing Child” workshop, and organizers are encouraging school systems to offer in-service credit hours to teachers of young children who participate.

For more information about the event, call Sue Bailey in Human Ecology at 931/372-3157 or Pat Jordan in E.S.P.E.W. at 931/372-3811.

--Tracey LeFevre
This information posted 18 October 2006