Saltus: ‘Create A Brighter Future For Our Kids’

The saying goes ‘It’s easier to invest in a child, than repair an adult’. Such is the motivation behind an Early Childhood Symposium, launched by Union Square Productions in partnership with The Child Development Programme.

Kicking off at the Bermuda College on Saturday, April 8 from 9am until 1pm, the event will offer presentations and resources on a variety of early learning topics including: Child Development, Benefits of Music in Early Childhood, Health/Nutrition, Play – A Childs Occupation, Multisensory Classroom Environments, Importance of Literacy, Classroom Management, Art, Inquiry & Documentation and How Trauma affects Behaviour & Development in Early Childhood which targets children between birth and 5 years.

The symposium will also feature local key-note speaker Dr. Julie Dunstan-Brewer, who holds a Master’s degree in Early Childhood from Tufts University and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Cambridge. She will be presenting on the topic of Brain development in Early Childhood, starting at 9am sharp.

Penny Saltus, the lead organizer, was inspired to create the event after years of working in the child development field and seeing similar challenges crop up with the Island’s young people.

“I currently work for The Reading Clinic as a reading tutor for children with dyslexia and I am an instructor of I Play program that teaches phonologic awareness skills and rhyming to preschoolers. I noticed in some of my interactions with children that there was a lack of vocabulary skills, certain things that are generally known by age four,” Ms. Saltus explained.

“Even in my interactions with children, from being a foster parent and my former role as a head teacher at a nursery, I started to notice a shift in the type of information that children were exposed to. Some of these children who were going on to primary school were lagging behind their peers.

“What I find happens quite frequently in Bermuda is that there is so much focus on primary, middle and high school education, but no one focuses on early education, which I believe is the most important part – that’s where a lot of the foundation is set.

“For me it was important to bring it up now and encourage other people to pay attention to it, so we can start to see an improvement in this area and create a brighter future for our kids.”

“Other guest speakers include: Sherri Bucci, Lovette Lovell and Gwendolyn de la Chevotiere Creary from the Child Development Programme, Jill Davidson of Function Junction, Suzanne Dunkerley of Kindermusik, Marie Beach-Tucker, Dr. Sharon Spear, Nancy Manuel and Susan Robinson will also present on various topics.

Ms. Saltus is hoping parents, teachers, assistants, students and others in the child development field will leave with a deeper understanding of the importance of early childhood education.

“I want us to also be able to better meet children where they are and help them develop to their best potential,” she said. “I want the participants to leave feeling inspired, enthusiastic and challenged to try new ideas and put together new concepts and principles whether they run a small at-home daycare or bigger preschool.

“I also want the general public to be more aware of what services are already out there that support children, newborns up to four-year-olds.

Ms. Saltus is an impassioned advocate for multi-sensory classrooms recognizing that not all children grasp knowledge in the same way. Rather than a teacher doing all the talking and students listening, she will be educating people on how these early learning classrooms can be more interactive and engaging.

“I believe if we do more work on the front end with early childhood education, we won’t have all the antisocial problems facing our teens or young adults, because the seeds would have been planted in the beginning,” Ms. Saltus added. “Our theme ‘Growing one step at a time’ plans to address this very issue. How important it is to plant the seeds, nurture them and support them as they grow.”

“People are quick to say our youth are in a mess and we need to help them, but we also need to understand that the early years are the most important years in terms of growth and development of a child. Let’s make a commitment to these young children and be preventative rather than reactive.

“The event, which will kick off in the Lecture Theatre at The Bermuda College will cost $70 for adults and $35 for students. Light refreshments will be provided during the event. There will be vendors in the courtyard and there will be a door prize for registered participants. Interested participants should register by this Friday [March 31]. For more information, e-mail psaltus69@gmail.com.”

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