You asked and we answered!
AECENL will be running two Communities of Practice (CoPs) this year; one for Centre-Based Administrators and one for Family Child Care Providers.
AECENL’s Communities of Practice will take place parallel with one another each month starting in September. Each CoP will feature a mix of workshops and group discussions to support professional learning and connection. AECENL will be inviting guest speakers, providing professional learning resources, using breakout rooms for reflection on topics in small groups, and giving participants time to share their perspectives and experience.
Who can join?
If you are an Administrator, Licensee, or Owner of a regulated child care setting in Newfoundland and Labrador, or if you are a regulated Family Child Care Provider, these Communities of Practice are for you! CoPs are a safe and confidential place to reflect critically on important topics with a group of peers that bring diverse and valuable worldviews and background knowledge.
What are the benefits of joining a CoP?
· Network and build relationships across the ELCC sector.
· Engage in reflective practice and critical inquiry.
· Share and gain knowledge from diverse perspectives.
· Work towards SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely), and focus on
improvements in daily practice.
· Engage in professional learning through workshops, articles, and other resources.
· Gain professional learning hours towards CCS Certification renewal.
When and where will we meet?
AECENL’s Communities of Practice will run parallel with one another every month from September 2025 to June 2026 online via Zoom. Meetings will typically last one hour, unless a workshop is being offered, in which case they may run 1.5-2 hours long.
Who will moderate?
AECENL’s PL Coordinator or Navigator will moderate the meetings and provide resources and topics for discussion. The administrators and family child care providers participating in the CoP will serve as the experts in their field, while the moderators will be there to guide conversation and reflection.
Welcome to the Administrators' Community of Practice!
About the Facilitators:
Julie Hansen
I have been an Early Childhood Educator for 24 years, having received my Diploma in Early Childhood Education from Douglas College. Since then, I have gained experience in a variety of areas within the field of Early Childhood Education: Director of a preschool, supervisor of after-school care as well as 3-5 and Infant Toddler programs and centre management. My primary focus has evolved to encompass team leadership, management training and program development. I have had articles published in provincial and national ECE journals on the topic of emergent curriculum and leadership. My goal as an Early Childhood Educator and facilitator is to support fellow educators and early years professionals in providing high-quality early learning experiences for children and families.
Carla Ward
Carla Ward is an Early Childhood Educator and the founder of Early Learning Foundations, a business dedicated to education and enhancing the work of Early Childhood Educators. She has held various roles in education for over 19 years. Carla is a certified Wunder-Led educator who brings a sense of wonder and passion into every aspect of her business, from hosting The Everything ECE Podcast to workshop development to digital course creation. Carla loves to share actionable and inspiring ideas with fellow educators in and out of the classroom to help support professional practices in Early Childhood Education.
Monday, October 20th, 2025, 7pm-8pm NT
Guidance Strategies for School Age Programs - Open to all ECEs across the province
Monday, December 15th, 2025, 7pm-8pm NT
Exploring Creativity in School Age Programs - Open to all ECEs across the province
Monday, February 16th, 2026, 7pm-8pm NT
The CoP will further explore these topics and delve into how the learnings from session one and two also relates to our work with children, toddlers, and pre-schoolers.
Monday, April 2026 7pm-8pm NT
Monday, June 2026, 7pm-8pm NT
Please register for each individual CoP through Eventbrite.
As always, administrators are not required to attend all sessions to be a part of the CoP.
Welcome to the Family Child Care Providers’ Community of Practice!
This 5-part series will explore the use of social and emotional practices that are inclusive and trauma-informed. These practice aim to strengthen relationships between educators, children, and families, all while encouraging the well-being and belonging of all children. This Community of Practice is a partnership between AECENL and Family and Child Care Connections and will focus on practical tools and resources providers can implement in their daily practice, while making points of connections with Navigating the Early Years, an Early Childhood Learning Framework.
Meet Your Facilitators:
Michelle Ranger is an Agency Monitor with Family and Child Care Connections in the central region, located in Gander since October 2023. She has over 30 years of experience as an Early Childhood Educator, which encompasses a variety of roles. Starting off as a new Level 2 ECE navigating a home room of toddlers and preschoolers, to then taking on the role as a mother and as a provider in her own family home child care. She then moved on through the years as an ECE in center-based care working with age ranges from birth to school age, Program Director for children birth to six years of age at a Military Family Resource Centre, and as a Child Care Manager for over 12 locations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Michelle has dedicated herself to educating not only herself but others, as well as supporting, and advocating for an inclusive, and quality early learning environment for all children and ECEs. She has presented at a variety of conferences throughout her career and is excited for the opportunity to share her knowledge and experience with you.
Sandy Gow is the Professional Learning Coordinator for the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Newfoundland and Labrador (AECENL). Sandy is Level 4 ECE with a background in Theatre and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus, in addition to her Early Childhood Education from the College of the North Atlantic. Sandy operated a regulated Family Child Care home in St. John’s for 10 years from 2013-2023, where she began as an infant program before moving to mixed age and afterschool care. Sandy’s years as a family child care provider were some of the most meaningful of her career in ECE, and she is honoured to work with Family and Child Care Connections to deliver this Community of Practice. If you ask Sandy’s six-year-old daughter, she will tell you that when Sandy isn’t working, she is either hiking, swimming, playing the fiddle, or thinking about buying a nice mug or houseplant.
Each session, Michelle and Sandy will be joined by other Agency Monitors from across the province who will be bringing useful resources and SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, & Timely) to our conversations.
Monday, September 15th, 2025, 7pm-8pm NT
In this session we will explore program visual displays and why they are an essential part of inclusive programming. Participants will be given examples of visuals they can incorporate into their program settings, such as visual schedules, “first/then” charts, and wall displays with suggestions for positive feedback and encouragements, and helpful conversation starters.
Monday, November 17th, 2025, 7pm-8pm NT
In this session we will explore emotional literacy and the many ways we can validate all feelings and work with children to identify their range of emotions. We will include examples of feeling cards, feeling wheels, and ways to incorporate emotional literacy into small and large group time.
Monday, January 19th, 2026, 7pm-8pm NT
In this session we will meet Tucker the Turtle and find out how he helps children move through four simple steps to bring themselves back to calm during times of emotional dysregulation.
Monday, March 23rd, 2026, 7pm-8pm NT
In this session we will explore problem solving steps, and how providers can empower children with visuals and scripted stories to brainstorm and test solutions together.
Monday, May 11th, 2026, 7pm-8pm NT
In this final session, we will learn about fostering friendship skills among children and reflect on what we learned as a Community of Practice.
Please register for each individual CoP through Eventbrite.
As always, Family Child Care Providers are not required to attend all sessions to be a part of the CoP.
How many Professional Learning hours will I gain?
PL Certificates will reflect the PL attended by each member of the CoP and any additional professional learning material shared in the group. For example, if a meeting is an hour long and an article worth 30 minutes of PL is sent in advance and discussed during the meeting, the PL certificate will reflect 1hr and 30minutes of PL.
Is attendance mandatory for each session?
No. We respect the busy schedules of administrators and family child care providers and want this to be a helpful networking community to learn and grow from. We understand that not all participants will be available for all sessions; we hope to build a learning community that promotes a growth mindset and has value for participants in whatever capacity they are able to attend.
How do I sign up?
Register through Eventbrite using the following link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/aecenls-live-workshop-series-3525889?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb
Coming Soon:
