A prestigious annual early education event providing professional development opportunities: the CHILD Conference

The CHILD (Creating Habits In Lifelong Development) Conference is an annual event at the forefront of early education, providing high-quality professional development in literacy and curriculum to teachers, administrators, community specialists, and parents. Keynote speakers and breakout sessions offer participants a chance to customize their own learning and leave with new strategies, skills, and a reignited spark for learning! 

The CHILD Conference is sponsored by Little Sprouts and hosted by the Merrimack Valley Reading Association. While our educators and administrators learn the newest techniques and share best practices, we also take the opportunity to celebrate these valued individuals. Every year the CHILD Conference has a creative theme, music, games, and prizes.

The 16th annual CHILD Conference was held in August 2011, and was a rocking good time! Staff, educators, and administrators from Little Sprouts enjoyed some classic rock music, temporary tattoos, and prizes of iPods, Coach purses, Patriots gear, and much more!  

The 2011 conference also shared new, ground-breaking research on brain development. We know that children’s earliest experiences are especially important because building the human brain begins even before birth; a strong foundation in the early years greatly increases the chance of positive outcomes. 

The 2011 keynote speakers included: 

  • Dr. Sherri Killins, Commissioner of Early Education and Care for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • Susan Leger-Ferraro, Founder and President of Little Sprouts
  • Peter Ruppert, President and Founder of American Education Group
  • Jeff Vincent, leads the Laird Norton investment team and in 2006 was appointed as the Chairman of the Washington State Board of Education
Keynote Speakers Through the Years:
  • 2001 - Franklin Covey
  • 2002 - Betsy Evans, High/Scope
  • 2003 - Dr. Bruce Perry, Child Trauma Academy
  • 2004 - Robert Michnick Golinkoff, author of “Einstein Never Used Flashcards”
  • 2005 - Dr. Lesley Morrow, former IRA President
  • 2005 - Dr. Renee Thomas, author of “Powerful Food for Powerful Minds and Bodies”
  • 2006 - Marilyn Adams, PhD
  • 2007 - Dr. Peg Griffin, author and literacy expert
  • 2008 - Dr. Paul Kppenhaver
  • 2009 - Rae Pica, children’s physical activity specialist and author
  • 2010 - Gary McGuey, former educator and athletic director, and author of "The Inspirational Teacher"

We look forward to the years to come, and to the speakers who will join us in making the CHILD Conference a memorable experience.

 
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Testimonials
My son Aaron started at Little Sprouts just a little under a year ago. We were obviously apprehensive about putting him in a daycare center at 18 months old. After a small period of getting to know each other, Aaron has thrived since being at Little Sprouts! His verbal and other forms of social interaction skills have increased tremendously and he looks forward to going every day! Being a working mom is a really tough job and Little Sprouts has made our lives a lot easier by giving us the peace of mind that our children will be well cared for during the day.

Kelly Davidson - Parent, Little Sprouts Lowell School

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