“Every spring parents and families begin researching and planning what their children will do during the Summer months. Everything from summer camps to fun events and activities. This is a 1-day event that brings all of these options under one roof. Families will attend, learn about their options, register, have fun, and more.
The entire day is free! Each vendor offers a free activity, there will be free programming throughout the day, explore everything the Valley Community Center has to offer, and have some fun taking pictures with our fun backdrop, the first 100 families (ONE per family) will receive a FREE swag bag.” They will also be offering a sensory friendly hour at the beginning of the day!
For the schedule and more information: https://desmoinesparent.com/des-moines-parent-summer-camp-fair/
“Participants will learn strategies to center parent and family voices in health equity efforts, better understand how to integrate and sustain parent and family leadership and hear from parent leaders who are helping to change systems. Participants will also identify strategies they could employ to increase parent and family participation in their work.”
Registration: https://zerotothree.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_djOebKiBQTCicIFuW1UhYg?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pardot&utm_campaign=01172024_SafeBabies#/registration
“Join Safe Babies as we discuss how early relationships set the tone for a child’s development. We will discuss best practices to promote responsive and nurturing early relationships and protective factors that can promote resiliency in the context of Safe Babies on the system and family levels. Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will gain insight into how all development occurs in a relational context. 2. Participants will gain knowledge regarding needs-based, trauma-responsive, and developmentally-informed practices.”
Registration: https://zerotothree.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_SELEfx79RlO3D-n_rYdu3Q?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pardot&utm_campaign=01172024_SafeBabies#/registration
Walk the Include Resource Fair
Join the 4th Annual Awareness Walk and Resource Fair in Carlisle on April 20th! For more information, click here.
Uniting Resources Conference
Wednesday, February 7 | 8 AM – 4 PM
Registration Required
FFA Enrichment Center
1055 SW Prairie Trail Pkwy, Ankeny, IA 50023
Creating a collaborative path to children’s mental health.
Registration: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MJMP8B2
Join Iowa AEYC for the Spring Institute on May 3-4, 2024 at a NEW LOCATION! We are thrilled to be featuring Keynote speakers Friday and Saturday. (Join us either Friday, Saturday, or both days!)
Friday, May 3
Dealing with Challenging Behaviors: Innovative Tier 1 Strategies for
Classroom Teachers. Iowa AEYC welcomes Dr. Adam Holland for a 5hr
session on approaching challenging behavior by developing an
understanding of children’s motivation. With stories and examples from
his own time in the classroom, Dr. Holland will illustrate practical ways to
set up a classroom in order to reduce or eliminate challenging behavior and
provide strategies for how to handle it when it does pop up. The session
will include time for discussion and application as well as opportunities for
question and answer.
Saturday, May 4
A welcome from Dr. Amy Shriver about A Salve for Savagery: Coping with
Moral Injury
In the pursuit of shaping young minds, early childhood educators may sacrifice
their own well-being. The price of professional passion in the face of systemic
challenges can lead to burnout: a pervasive sense of exhaustion, helplessness, and
reduced efficacy. Furthermore, moral injury–when our deeply held beliefs or
actions are compromised–has the power to extinguish the burning flame that
guides our work with young children. When our core values clash with the
realities we face, it can dim the light that illuminates our path in early education.
This lecture explores the origins of burnout and moral injury specific to early
childhood education and presents mechanisms for prevention, management, and
healing. by fostering a culture of self-care, empathy, and community support, we
can create resilience amidst adversity.
Too often prevention is focused on individual behaviors in children and families. To truly make the prevention connection we need to acknowledge and address the conditions, environments, and systemic inequities that contribute to negative child outcomes.
The 2024 Child Abuse Prevention Conference focuses on making connections between the on-the-ground prevention work with broader areas that impact outcomes for children and families. The Child Abuse Prevention Conference brings research and expertise to one place for Iowa’s professionals to learn and grow, and integrates relevant, thought-provoking discussions with prevention professionals with peer-to-peer networking opportunities all with a positive, uplifting tone that leaves attendees feeling empowered in their prevention work.
The conference will take place on April 30 & May 1, 2024 at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny, Iowa.
Check out the Community Resource Fair on January 24th, 2024 at 10am-1pm at Full Recovery Community Center (1750 48th Street, Ste 101A in Des Moines, 50310). Services will include Iowa ID (first come first serve), assistance applying for WIC and SNAP, Housing Assistance, Assistance signing up for Medicaid, Bank account sign-up, Email set-up and tech help, recovery coaching, information on social security and more. Please bring some sort of photo ID, a piece of mail with current address. 
