National presenter addresses child care providers conference

St. Romain pointed out to participants that if they felt more alert and engaged than they had prior to the physical exertion and social interaction, children have the same needs.

“Learners need to move and learners need to talk. If you don't build it into your classes, they will do it anyway,” he said.

He also discussed the factors that shape ethical development in children such as role models, faith, beliefs, morals, trial and error, consequences and family members.

Regarding technology, St. Romain expressed his concern when media and mobile devices become the overriding influencers of children instead of parents, games, conversation or reading.

“When a kid is front of a screen, he is not talking to you,” he said.

Each spring and fall a school district in Texas promotes seven “screen free” days. After the initial adjustment, students are fine and quickly discover or create other forms of entertainment, but the parents do not adjust as easily, he said.

St. Romain, who has been a trainer for the Search Institute, shared research conducted by the organization concerning quality interactions between parents and children.

Study results indicate that men spend an average of 67 seconds of quality time daily with each of their children ages birth to 18 years while women spend an average of three minutes of quality time per day with each child.

“Parents are always role models 100 percent of the time. Children are watching and learning. One hundred percent of the time they are listening,” he said.

In addition to open communication, ethics and continuous appropriate modeling, St. Romain emphasized the importance of healthy relationships between children and their care providers.

“If you foster and cultivate strong bonds with them, they will talk to you when they are frustrated. They need adults other than parents in their lives,” he said.

Nici Johnson, Panhandle early learning connections coordinator with Educational Service Unit 13 based in Sidney and chair of the conference committee, was pleased with the keynote speaker.

“He shared many positive, useful and practical ideas. I heard lots of positive comments about how usable his material was and how engaging he was,” she said.

She was pleased with the amount of collaboration between community agencies and child care providers. About 130 individuals were in attendance compared to 150 who were registered, due mainly to the winter weather conditions, Johnson said.

Twenty-two providers attended the “Safe with You” series and 30 attended the “Early Learning Guidelines” required for care providers to meet state licensure requirements.

—Tena L. Cook, Marketing Coordinator