Promoting Early Childhood (PEC) 2024

Promoting Early Childhood (PEC) 2024 Conference 

Play: The Key to Lifelong Learning

Discover the power of play-based learning from early childhood to adulthood. Explore your role in enhancing and embedding play in your learning environments to meet the needs of all children (and adults).

Promoting Early Childhood Conference-2024

Draft Agenda & Session Descriptions

PEC is an early childhood collaborative event sponsored by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction in partnership with the Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners (WECCP).

Who Should Attend? Early childhood leaders from schools, child care, Head Start, home visiting, environmental education and other related programs and services such as: principals, 4K coordinators, special education directors, program support teachers, school board members, child care directors, Head Start directors and coordinators, professional development trainers, community teams, Early Childhood faculty at two- and four-year colleges.

Tuesday, March 5, 2024: Pre-Conference Tracks  

• Nature-Based Education
  • Join this session to further your knowledge and implementation of Nature-Based Instruction. The day will be filled with opportunities to learn with colleagues and shared collective wisdom regarding the numerous benefits of Nature-Based Education and how it can support young learners. 
• Special Education-Play: A Vehicle for Specially Designed Instruction
  • Join this interactive full day workshop to explore and learn about Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) for Preschoolers with IEPs. Topics will include how to design and deliver it, who can deliver it, how to evaluate the effectiveness of it and state policies around SDI. Come ready to pull up your sleeves and learn how to use play as a vehicle to assist in the delivery of Specially Designed Instruction. 

Wednesday & Thursday, March 6-7, 2023: Keynote Presenter - Tabitha Dell'Angelo

Tabitha Dell'Angelo is the interim Dean of the School of Education at The College of New Jersey. She earned a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2009 she launched the Urban Education Program at The College of New Jersey, which is focused on recognizing and responding to conditions that contribute to inequities in schools. She is also a playwright and storyteller and uses these and other arts-based-methods of research to collect, analyze, and share data. She conducts trainings with schools and community centers about how to create playful classrooms by integrating movement, art, and storytelling into classroom practice. 

Tabitaha will be the keynote presenter for both days of the conference. On Wednesday, she will discuss play as a mindset and how to be systematic, intentional, and consistent with it's implementation. On Thursday, she will focus on the "Now What?" which will allow participants to engage in collaborative discussions about how they will take what they've learned into the field. 

Tentative Schedule: 

8:00-9:00     Registration and Colleague Connections 

9:00-11:00     Welcome & Keynote

11:00-11:15   Break

11:15-12:30   Session 

12:30 -1:30    Lunch

1:30-2:45       Session

2:45-3:00       Break

3:00-4:15      Session 

Breakout Session Topics:

DPI Contact:

• For questions about the conference and registration - contact Sherry W. Kimball, sherry.kimball@dpi.wi.gov, 608-267-9625

Registration and Payment: Registration Closes on February 25, 2024 (11:59 pm)

Conference Fees:

• 1-Day-$100
• 2-Days-$200
• 3-Days-$250

 All payments must be received before the start of the Conference. 

Payment Methods: 

• Preferred payment is by credit card at the time of registration. 
• If an attempt to pay with a credit card isn't successful for any reason, you may need help to "reset" your payment to allow you to try again. 
• The person registering needs to have a myQuickReg (MQR) account here, at the Wisconsin DPI version of MQR. If you already have used MQR for CESA events but not for DPI events, you need to create an additional account with DPI. The sites look identical but are distinct, with separate calendars and user accounts.