Bright Horizons Early Childhood Education Experts Join Educators from Around the Globe at Annual NAEYC Conference

November 21, 2024 – A team of Bright Horizons’ early childhood education experts recently attended the annual National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Conference in Anaheim, CA. The conference gathers early childhood educators from around the globe to connect, collaborate, and learn together.

NAEYC is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children, birth through age 8, by connecting early childhood practice, policy, and research. The association comprises nearly 60,000 individual members of the early childhood community and 52 affiliates, all committed to delivering on the promise of high-quality early learning.

As a conference sponsor, the Bright Horizons team led several workshops and sessions for attendees throughout the event. An important topic on early educators’ minds is ways to support social emotional learning and executive functioning skills. During a Bright Horizons-led panel with Dr. Laura Bakosh, PhD and Isaac Van Wesep, CEO of Reflection Sciences, Kelly Hansinger, Director of Orientation and Development and Carol Howard, Director, Education, Quality and Inclusion, discussed how practicing daily mindfulness with young children can boost social emotional learning and executive functions by teaching children how to self-regulate their emotions. 

“Teaching children social emotional skills is critical to helping them become kind and caring individuals. The Inner Explorer program allows us to incorporate a daily mindfulness practice with the children in our centers across the country to support their mental health and well-being,” said Rachel Robertson, Bright Horizons Chief Academic Officer. 

In addition to sessions and networking with Bright Horizons experts, attendees were able to visit the Bright Horizons expo booth and participate in a Bright Horizons Foundation for Children service project in celebration of the foundation’s 25th anniversary. Participants in the service project made blankets and diaper kits for over 1,000 families in communities throughout southern California.

To learn more about NAEYC, visit here.