Stories reflect our humanity. We are constantly listening and telling stories. When teachers understand the power of stories, they can become more intentional in creating rich and safe spaces for storytelling. Stories are great tools to emotionally and cognitively engage children to participate and have a voice in society. Through stories, children can navigate the complexities of life while instilling important values and morals.

Join our delightful Body Percussion Workshop designed exclusively for early childhood education! In this interactive and rhythmic experience, educators will embark on a musical journey to explore the joy of singing, dancing, and creating rhythmic beats using their bodies. Led by Rita Rosa Ruesga, 4-times Latin Grammy nominee, this workshop fosters a vibrant and inclusive environment, encouraging educators to express themselves through the Description text goes here

Computational thinking is a relatively recent part of the early childhood curriculum that could offer new opportunities for developing storytelling skills. In this hands-on workshop, participants will use decomposition, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking as a logical scaffold to create stories offline. Participants will explore the possibilities of unplugged storytelling for diverse educational contexts along with several examples from ongoing research in Greece.

What would you take with you if you were forced to leave your home?

In this workshop, participants will aim to creatively answer this question by building their own migration museums, using explicit prompts and materials. They will utilize storytelling strategies and tools to contribute to the provision of equitable learning opportunities in their classrooms.

Storytelling is one of parents and educators' most powerful tools to touch children’s character, minds, and hearts. In this workshop, the participants will explore how very young children can collectively construct creative narratives that can not only result in the production of a Christmas show and a published children’s book but can also have an ethical global impact, becoming a balm for the souls of children refugees and families of war.

¿Qué pasa cuando el niño deja de ser el sujeto a documentar y se convierte en el documentador? ¿Cómo es la relación con las tecnologías de estos nativos digitales? ¿En qué detienen su mirada? Teníamos muchas preguntas y decidimos hacer la prueba. En este taller recorreremos la historia que vivimos, nuestras lecciones y los participantes podrán jugar con las mismas herramientas que nuestros niños, porque en la primera infancia la tecnología también puede ser un gran aliado.

This workshop presents how play through storytelling can serve as a venue to empower diverse and vulnerable children to develop a sense of agency and voice about issues that matter to them. Participants will explore examples of kindergarteners’ work and actively engage in a storytelling experience using different forms of play.

This session will examine traditional and digital storytelling regarding language development and identity among young immigrant children. We will discover different ways to engage children in multiliteracy pedagogies as they share their own stories in a safe environment. The Author's Chair is one of the storytelling techniques children can use to convey their messages.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, children experienced sudden changes that had a direct impact on their socio-emotional state, bringing along a sense of fear, anxiety, and stress. In this session, the presenter will share several ways of using high-quality children’s literature to help young children tell their stories of fear and deal with stressful situations.

Esta sesión ofrece una reflexión sobre la conexión emocional que emana de las narrativas, ya sea en forma oral o escrita, permitiendo su trascendencia a través del espacio y el tiempo. Abordaremos el poder del storytelling, no solo como fuente de disfrute por la historia en sí, sino también como una herramienta estratégica para construir puentes entre realidades, culturas e identidades. Exploraremos las posibilidades de expansión y alcance del storytelling, destacando su papel en el fortalecimiento de las voces infantiles como agentes de cambio en la sociedad. A través de esta jornada, se busca inspirar y dejar una huella duradera, recordándonos a todos el impacto significativo que pueden tener las historias en nuestra comprensión del mundo y nuestro potencial para el cambio positivo.

Evaggelia Bafouni, Eleni Geroulanou, Kiriaki Melliou, Maria Adelaida Lopez, Karin Morrison Facilitator Angela Salmon

Sylvia De Armas, Sarah Evans, Paula Moujalli, Gina Romero, Anne Rothe

Facilitator: Ana Pizano

Through facilitated dialogue, some of the founding members of the VTSF learning community of practice will share their experience as part of an early childhood community of practice in South Florida and their insights about how their collaborative experience has impacted young children’s learning.