Thursday, April 3, 2025
8:00 – 8:30 a.m. | Morning Welcome and Wolf Trap Warm Up
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. | Morning General Session | Unmistakable Impact: Leverage Research to Nurture Learning in Early Childhood
Presenter: Dr. John Almarode, James Madison University
Early childhood is a uniquely sensitive time when young learners are rapidly developing across multiple domains. Knowing which teaching strategies work best and when can have a significant impact on a child’s development and future success, both in school and beyond. This is how we nurture early childhood, not by chance, but by design.
This keynote examines how the latest research can guide our decisions as we plan, teach, document, and partner with families and colleagues so that we can have the greatest possible impact on learning and development of children. We will leverage the unique characteristics of early childhood environments and align those characteristics with coherent practices that form a strong foundation for learning over time. Filled with tools and methods to support your team, we will explore:
- Teacher efficacy, credibility, and clarity
- The importance of language
- Formative assessment and feedback
- How to ensure equity and inclusion
Using these strategies, we will discover how we can collaborate with young learners to encourage high expectations, implement developmentally appropriate practices at the right level of challenge, and focus on explicit success criteria.
Noon – 1:15 p.m. | Lunch and Learn Session: Public Policy and Advocacy TBA
Friday, April 4, 2025
8:00 – 8:30 a.m. | Morning Welcome and Wolf Trap Warm Up
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. | Morning General Session: Cultivating the Brilliance of Young Children Through Intentionally Across Developmental Domains
Presenter: Mister B, AVA Educational Consulting, LLC
Children are born with immense potential and a natural curiosity about the world around them. This keynote will underscore the role we have as early childhood professionals in cultivating the brilliance of young children through intentional approaches across all developmental domains.
- Attendees will be able to articulate a rationale for cultivating the brilliance of Young Children through intentionality across developmental domains
- Attendees will be able to demonstrate effective approaches for supporting each and every child across each developmental domain
- Attendees will be able to apply knowledge gleaned from the workshop to their daily classroom practices and routines.
Noon – 1:15 p.m. | Lunch & Learn General Session: Everyone Needs Friends: Implementing the Pyramid Model to Support the Development of Peer Relationships
Presenter: Dr. Mary Louise Hemmeter, Vanderbilt University
The primary goals of inclusive experiences for young children with and without disabilities include: a sense of belonging, positive peer relationships, and friendship formation. However, children with disabilities, social emotional delays or behavior that is challenging are likely to need increasing levels of support to learn critical social skills that lead to friendship formation and a sense of belonging. During this session, Dr. Hemmeter will discuss the importance of supporting positive peer relationships, strategies that can be used to support peer interactions, the critical need for individualizing these strategies, and how to collaborate with families to support children’s social emotional development.
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. | Friday Evening Social Event
Join your friends and colleagues to enjoy some food and drink at three different restaurants in Downtown Richmond – all within walking distance of the Greater Richmond Convention Center and the Hilton Richmond Downtown. Visit one, two, or all three restaurants and nurture your network with the heartfelt community of early childhood educators. $25 per person. Participating restaurants are Penny Lane Pub, Wong Gonzalez and Capital Ale House.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
8:00 – 8:30 a.m. | Morning Welcome and Wolf Trap Warm Up
8:30 – 9:30 a.m. | Opening Morning Session: What’s Wrong with Kids These Days? Supporting Children in a Complicated World
Presenter: Jim Harris, Opportunities Consulting Service, LLC
It is no secret that we live in an increasingly complex world and that this complexity has resulted in several challenges for the development of young children. In this session, Dr. Harris gets back to the developmental basics and gives you some ideas about how we can better understand and support children in an ever-changing and complicated world.
12:00 – 1:15 p.m. | Lunch & Learn General Session: Math through the Arts: Arts-Integration Strategies for Engaging Learners
Presenter: Allisen Learnard, Wolf Trap
Join Greater Richmond Wolf Trap Teaching Artist Allisen Learnard for an exploration of how movement and dance can enhance math instruction. In this keynote, Allisen will invite everyone to engage with strategies that blend math concepts with creative movement, making learning more dynamic and accessible for young learners. Discover new ways to foster critical thinking and cultivate a love for both math and the arts through an integrated, hands-on approach!
Greater Richmond Wolf Trap, sponsored by Richmond Performing Arts Alliance, is an affiliate of Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, a program of Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts
Conference Add-Ons
T-Shirt
Be sure to get your VAAEYC swag! Purchase the 2025 conference t-shirt when you register before the Early Bird Deadline for only $15. The price goes up to $18 after then, and very few will be available for sale onsite for $20.
The design will be revealed at the conference!
Lunches
Don’t miss engaging keynote speakers because you are trying to track down lunch in or around the Greater Richmond Convention Center. In order to maximize your time in general sessions and visiting with exhibitors, you can pre-order a box lunch and have it waiting for you! There are three lunch options each day and these will ONLY be available if purchased in advance. (By March 7, 2024.) All lunch options are $25 and include the entrée/sandwich, chips, sweet treat, and a drink.
