New Haven Independent

Over 100 family child care providers gathered Saturday for a day-long professional development conference organized by All Our Kin and sponsored by Yale University.

The conference, held at Yale’s divinity school, began with a keynote speech by Gretchen Kinnell, of Child Care Solutions in New York, and included workshops led by many of New Haven’s best early childhood teachers and directors.

Virtually all the events at the conference were simultaneously translated in Spanish. The conference also hosted a resource fair that included representatives from a wide range of state and private agencies offering supports and services to children and families.

Despite the rain, attendees expressed enthusiasm and excitement about the conference and its goal of supporting early childhood development in the family child care setting. In one provider’s words, “My goal is to impact children’s lives, and if I learn more, I can do more. You just let me know when the next conference is — I’ll be there!”

Licensed family child care providers are an important segment of Connecticut’s child care industry. They are the first teachers for thousands of children in the State. The conference is one of many services provided by the Family Child Care Network, a project of All Our Kin that provides opportunities to family child care providers to become better teachers, professionals, leaders, and advocates in the early childhood field.

Pictured: Ramatalai Alaka shares her literacy-based art project in a workshop on “Bringing Books to Life.”