Join Camp Fire instructors in-person or virtually for incredible learning opportunities and to grow professional connections.
CPE Credits & Clock Hours for all Camp Fire First Texas courses
PRESCHOOL TOPIC
1-2-3 Teaching math can be easy and fun! Even if math wasn’t your favorite subject, you can bring it alive to your children through books and activities they will love. This class will provide tools, activities, and strategies to support the development in numbers and operations, geometry and spatial sense, patterns, and measurement.
INFANT/TODDLER TOPIC
Learn the Texas Infant, Toddler, and Three-Year-Old Early Learning Guidelines (ITELG) which describe expectations about what children should know (understand) and be able to do (competencies and skills). In this hands-on class you’ll learn how to support them and plan activities that you can implement immediately in your classroom
ALL AGES TOPICS
In this workshop, attendees will learn the different categories of special needs that may be common in children’s development, and how these needs are identified, screened for, and accommodated within our early childhood programs and classrooms. We will gather insight on the commonalities of special needs children we serve and developmental concerns we may see in our classroom programs, while gathering ideas to help support children with disabilities in classroom activities. Next, participants will develop and brainstorm strategies in small groups to help support all children’s learning styles within their classroom setting. Then, we will discuss reliable community resources, such as ECI and developmental screener tools, which are available to help support children that may be identified with learning disabilities or delays. Participants also will receive helpful tips to support parents and the process of making referrals.
DIRECTOR TOPICS
Steps to creating and maintaining the health and safety of the learning environment are fundamental to any quality program. This session will offer a firm understanding of minimum standards, how to manage health issues, creating a healthy nutrition program, and the director’s role in preventing child abuse and neglect.
When you are a director, you wear many hats. This class introduces program leaders to the decisions regarding the program’s organizational structure, its finances, and the way of caring for existing and prospective customers. It will also cover how to build enrollment and how to handle basic public relations outreach work.
Recruiting and hiring your staff is key as a director. If you are new to this practice or find the candidates you are hiring are not “working out,” this class covers the continuum from writing an effective job description through interviewing to pre-service and orientation. Together we will examine top strategies for recruiting, screening, interviewing, and selecting candidates. It will also cover writing effective job descriptions and how to implement effective, ethical, and lawful employment practices.
A strong leader knows how to bring out the best in their team. This is not something that happens organically. It is built with thoughtful actions. Join this class to understand the central role a director has in not just supervising staff but building a learning community and guiding a teaching team to become reflective practitioners who are committed to continually improving the way they work and the quality of care they give. This session will also address how to create professional development and coaching plans, how evaluations can improve performance, and provide strategies for managing conflict and difficult people.
High-quality programming is not subjective. It is the role of the director to build program capacity to advance children’s development and learning by providing leadership to establish and strengthen staff competencies for teaching and caregiving. This class will identify elements of high-quality teaching, how to integrate child development with learning, and demonstrate effective observation, documentation, and assessment practices needed by directors.
Strengthen your program and leadership capacity by designing quality learning environments both inside and out! This class will inspire and showcase how to plan, evaluate, and improve indoor and outdoor environments for infants, toddlers, pre-K, and school-age children to create the highest quality setting for children, families, and staff to thrive.
This class will increase your leadership influence, activate strategies to promote family engagement, strengthen connections between family, program, and community resources. Families want, and need, to be involved in their child’s development, but creating a Family-Centered program can be challenging if you don’t have a road map. Become familiar with Family-Centered Child Care and learn strategies to map your process for building effective family partnerships.
Families have a role in your program, and you play a key role in leading a child care center team in strengthening family relationships. This session will examine and apply effective communication and collaboration skills, share knowledge of respecting differences, showcase families’ role in care and teaching, and how to handle conflict.
Those who work with young children cope with frequent decisions that have moral and ethical implications. The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct provides guidelines for responsible behavior and creates a basis for resolving ethical dilemmas faced in early childhood care and education.
Learn how to reference the Code, engage in discussions and activities that help guide the decisions that impact the quality of child care. You will leave with a strategy you can apply to your program.
You can learn the skills to be a leader in the early childhood space. Learn the different leadership styles and the competencies required for effective leadership, practice decision making, and how high-quality child care is defined. This session provides both future and current center directors the knowledge required to lead a high-quality child care program and grow a robust set of skills to put the knowledge into action.
No business degree or training? No problem! This session provides future and current center directors with a foundational understanding of center operation management. From policy review, record keeping, and disaster preparedness, attendees will learn how to evaluate and implement cost-effective, strategic, and important management systems to reduce risk within the early childhood program setting.
Steps to creating and maintaining the health and safety of the learning environment are fundamental to any quality program. This session will offer a firm understanding of minimum standards, how to manage health issues, creating a healthy nutrition program, and the director’s role in preventing child abuse and neglect.
When you are a director, you wear many hats. This class introduces program leaders to the decisions regarding the program’s organizational structure, its finances, and the way of caring for existing and prospective customers. It will also cover how to build enrollment and how to handle basic public relations outreach work.
Recruiting and hiring your staff is key as a director. If you are new to this practice or find the candidates you are hiring are not “working out,” this class covers the continuum from writing an effective job description through interviewing to pre-service and orientation. Together we will examine top strategies for recruiting, screening, interviewing, and selecting candidates. It will also cover writing effective job descriptions and how to implement effective, ethical, and lawful employment practices.
A strong leader knows how to bring out the best in their team. This is not something that happens organically. It is built with thoughtful actions. Join this class to understand the central role a director has in not just supervising staff but building a learning community and guiding a teaching team to become reflective practitioners who are committed to continually improving the way they work and the quality of care they give. This session will also address how to create professional development and coaching plans, how evaluations can improve performance, and provide strategies for managing conflict and difficult people.
High-quality programming is not subjective. It is the role of the director to build program capacity to advance children’s development and learning by providing leadership to establish and strengthen staff competencies for teaching and caregiving. This class will identify elements of high-quality teaching, how to integrate child development with learning, and demonstrate effective observation, documentation, and assessment practices needed by directors.
Strengthen your program and leadership capacity by designing quality learning environments both inside and out! This class will inspire and showcase how to plan, evaluate, and improve indoor and outdoor environments for infants, toddlers, pre-K, and school-age children to create the highest quality setting for children, families, and staff to thrive.
This class will increase your leadership influence, activate strategies to promote family engagement, strengthen connections between family, program, and community resources. Families want, and need, to be involved in their child’s development, but creating a Family-Centered program can be challenging if you don’t have a road map. Become familiar with Family-Centered Child Care and learn strategies to map your process for building effective family partnerships.
Families have a role in your program, and you play a key role in leading a child care center team in strengthening family relationships. This session will examine and apply effective communication and collaboration skills, share knowledge of respecting differences, showcase families’ role in care and teaching, and how to handle conflict.
Those who work with young children cope with frequent decisions that have moral and ethical implications. The NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct provides guidelines for responsible behavior and creates a basis for resolving ethical dilemmas faced in early childhood care and education.
Learn how to reference the Code, engage in discussions and activities that help guide the decisions that impact the quality of child care. You will leave with a strategy you can apply to your program.
You can learn the skills to be a leader in the early childhood space. Learn the different leadership styles and the competencies required for effective leadership, practice decision making, and how high-quality child care is defined. This session provides both future and current center directors the knowledge required to lead a high-quality child care program and grow a robust set of skills to put the knowledge into action.
No business degree or training? No problem! This session provides future and current center directors with a foundational understanding of center operation management. From policy review, record keeping, and disaster preparedness, attendees will learn how to evaluate and implement cost-effective, strategic, and important management systems to reduce risk within the early childhood program setting.
Steps to creating and maintaining the health and safety of the learning environment are fundamental to any quality program. This session will offer a firm understanding of minimum standards, how to manage health issues, creating a healthy nutrition program, and the director’s role in preventing child abuse and neglect.
When you are a director, you wear many hats. This class introduces program leaders to the decisions regarding the program’s organizational structure, its finances, and the way of caring for existing and prospective customers. It will also cover how to build enrollment and how to handle basic public relations outreach work.
Use the links in this page to access class details and to register.
Have questions? Email [email protected] or call 817.831.2111, ext. 145.
Camp Fire First Texas has been providing quality, early education workforce development for more than 20 years and has guided generations of Early Education Professionals along their unique career pathway. All of our instructors are members of the Texas Trainer Registry (TECPDS), courses are recognized by Texas Child Care Licensing for clock hour training and Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Credit requirements. Most classes and courses Camp Fire offers are approved through several Workforce Commissions.
Most of these are interactive ZOOM classes. Participation is required. Please be prepared to join the Zoom with a desktop, tablet or iPad with working microphone/sound and camera that will remain on for the duration of the class. For your safety, you should not be driving while attending this class. Please ensure you are in a location to focus and minimize external distractions (ie, television, music, meals).
Cancellation policy
No refunds or credits will be given, but participant substitutions are allowed. To make a substitution, you must contact us in writing 24 business hours before the class you registered to attend begins. To make the request, please email [email protected] with the email address and participant name for the substitution. We are only able to substitute for the same class on the same day. You will receive confirmation of the request, and the new participant will receive class links and details.