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
ALL AGES TOPICS
Involving families benefit their child’s education. Discuss the best practices in family engagement. Gather resources, strategies, and tools for building meaningful home-school partnerships that impact student success.
This presentation will discuss characteristics of children with autism and other sensory processing disorders along with strategies for success that can be applied to any early childhood classroom setting. The class will be highly interactive using the adult learning model and will include video clips, hands-on practice and activity planning worksheets so that participants can immediately apply learned concepts into their own classroom setting.
You can regain calm in your classroom! This exciting, informative workshop will help you overcome these issues and foster self-regulation behaviors in children. See, touch, and experience the research-based Conscious Discipline program that will promote connections and cooperation of all children.
Participants will reflect on themselves, the current climate with regard to diversity, and strategies that can impact a lasting change with children in implementing an anti-bias curriculum. All children’s and families’ lives should be reflected within each classroom and throughout centers. Learning formats will include discussion, small and large group activities, hands-on activities, and time for reflection.
You can positively impact the work of early education teachers with this advanced-level course. Going beyond instruction and guidance, this 45-hour course focuses on increasing skills to facilitate the professional growth of early childhood teachers through coaching strategies, analyzing assessment data and differentiated instruction, and reflective practices, to name a few. Learn more about the Coaching/Mentoring Course. Limited availability.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE (CDA)
The Camp Fire CDA 120-hour coursework class will use NAEYC’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice Book and the CDA Council’s CDA book for the age group of the credential. Class meets 20 times via Zoom plus extended learning assignments.
Download the CDA Scholarship Application, February 10 deadline
DIRECTOR TOPICS
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.
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.