Breakout Sessions

Breakout sessions will take place on Day Two of the conference and are an opportunity to delve deeply into a key component of Early Childhood Project Based Learning. Each 90-minute session will include hands-on practices, rich discussions, practical insights, innovative strategies, and opportunities to reflect and connect with others.

Growing Literacy: Inquiry, Curiosity and Meaning Making in Early Childhood PBL

with Sara Lev

Session Description

In this session, we’ll challenge the idea that young children need to be fluent readers and writers before they can truly engage in Project Based Learning. Instead, we’ll take a step back and widen our lens on what literacy really is in early childhood—meaning making, curiosity, storytelling, drawing, oral language, playful exploration, and all the small moments where children communicate their thinking, ask questions, and begin to connect and synthesize ideas.

We’ll look closely at the literacy structures that support emergent and early readers and writers, and consider how those structures can live naturally inside project work. Through real classroom examples, we’ll notice where literacy is already showing up in powerful ways and where small, intentional choices can help it grow. Together, we’ll explore simple, developmentally grounded ways to weave literacy experiences, stand-alone lessons, and skill-building moments into projects so that young children feel seen, capable, and joyful as they grow as readers, writers, and critical thinkers.

Embedding Social and Emotional Learning into Project Based Learning

with Sara Lev

Session Description

In this session, participants will build a shared understanding of social and emotional learning (SEL) and explore the key competencies that support young children in becoming more collaborative and independent learners. Through examples from early childhood projects, participants will examine how relevant problems and authentic contexts naturally create opportunities for children to develop and practice key SEL skills. The session will also focus on practical strategies for intentionally integrating SEL learning goals into the planning of PBL units, while remaining responsive to children’s needs and emerging strengths throughout a project.

Sara is the co-founder of Early Childhood Project Based Learning (ECPBL) and co-author of Implementing Project Based Learning in Early Childhood: Overcoming Misconceptions and Reaching Success. For two decades, she has worked as a classroom teacher, teacher-leader, and instructional coach dedicated to creating joyful, independent, and inquiry-rich learning environments for young children. Sara earned her B.A. from the University of Rochester and an MSEd in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College. A frequent contributor to Edutopia, she is also the writer and editor of a forthcoming book featuring international stories of Project Based Learning with young children.

STEM Project Based Learning in Head Start: Honoring Children’s Curiosity Through Inquiry and Exploration

with Suchira Channoi

Session Description

STEM Project Based Learning can enhance young children's problem-solving skills and foster a sense of belonging through curiosity and wonder. Participants will engage in hands-on, interactive STEM investigations that model how children develop these skills through early forms of the engineering design process. The session will highlight how meaningful project studies arise from conversations, simple materials, and children's questions, integrated with STEM concepts through reflective and collaborative practices in a Reggio-inspired Head Start program. Participants will also see documentation that illustrates how honoring children's theories enhances engagement, fosters collaboration, strengthens community connections, and supports expression through the “100 languages” of the Reggio Emilia Approach. 

Suchira is the Curriculum and Instruction Specialist for Worcester Head Start. She supports early childhood educators in creating joyful, hands-on learning environments grounded in the Reggio Emilia Approach, integrating STEM Project Based Learning with reflective documentation practices. She is also a doctoral candidate in Leadership in Schooling with a focus on STEM education, and serves as a board member for the Boston Area Reggio Inspired Network (BARIN).

Playful Learning by Design: Guided Play as a Foundation for Project Based Learning

with Dr. Allison Wilson and Danielle Bailey


Session Description

In this interactive workshop, we will explore the authentic connection between guided play and Project Based Learning. The session will highlight the core 21st-century skills children develop through play, such as collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. Participants will identify effective strategies to promote these skills through guided play experiences and have the opportunity to apply this knowledge to a current project or one provided.  

Dr. Wilson is an Associate Professor and Director of the University of Montana Institute for Early Childhood Education. She earned her PhD in Special Education and Early Intervention from the University of Oregon and has over two decades of experience supporting young children and families. Her teaching and research focus on family engagement, curriculum design, and strengthening early childhood professionals’ preparation through equitable, community-based initiatives.

Danielle is an educator at the LAB School and an Adjunct Professor in the University of Montana Institute for Early Childhood Education. With over two decades of experience, she has focused on the early years as a kindergarten and preschool teacher. Her dual role bridges theory and practice, supporting Early Childhood P–3 teacher candidates in developing a strong understanding of child-centered, developmentally appropriate education. She has been with the LAB School since 2021.

Using Documentation with Children to Support and Extend Child-Led Inquiry

with Lisa Goddard

Session Description

This session focuses on using Reggio-inspired pedagogical documentation with children as an active part of Project Based Learning. Participants will explore concrete examples of how videos, conversation transcripts, photographs, observation notes and other forms of documentation can be returned to children in whole-group and small-group contexts to support reflection, dialogue, and collective meaning-making. Going beyond teachers’ interpretive purposes, the session highlights how documentation can invite children to revisit experiences, notice patterns, debate ideas, and deepen ongoing inquiries. Through shared examples from past projects and hands-on analysis, educators will consider how giving documentation back to children sustains projects over time, keeps inquiry responsive and child-led, and positions documentation as a dialogic practice that shapes relationships, learning, and next pedagogical moves.

Lisa is a PhD Fellow in Reggio Childhood Studies at the Reggio Children Foundation. She has worked in Italy and Boston as an early childhood educator, coach, and curriculum developer, and most recently served as Pedagogista at Radcliffe Child Care Center. She was the Founding Design Teacher at Croft Jamaica Plain, an associate teacher from 2020-2021, and then served as Lead Pre-K Teacher until 2023.

From Small Moments to Big Ideas: Interdisciplinary Investigations in Early Childhood PBL

with Vicky de la Garza

Step into the joyful world of emergent projects in The Advent School’s Lower School Atelier, where curiosity, play, and creativity guide learning. See how everyday moments, like yarn braids, a rainbow dragon, and fish explorations, grow into interdisciplinary investigations connecting art, science, and Spanish for all ages across early childhood. Through real examples and video clips, we’ll reflect on ways to nurture student-driven ideas that elevate children’s voices. Leave inspired by how careful listening and following children’s lead transforms learning.

Vicky is a bilingual educator in English and Spanish with over 25 years of experience and currently serves as the Atelierista for Prek–2 at The Advent School, a Reggio Emilia–inspired school in Boston. Passionate about emergent projects, she creates a play-based, interdisciplinary environment integrating Art, Science, and Spanish, where children’s curiosity drives investigations they co-construct and learn together. Beyond the atelier, Vicky supports educator growth and serves on the BARIN board.

Inquiry Through Making: Integrating Play, Art, and Loose Parts in PBL

with Nanvi Jhala

Session Description

How can teachers design Project Based Learning experiences that truly begin with children’s curiosity? In this hands-on session, participants will explore Kathy G. Short and Jerome C. Harste’s  Inquiry Cycle as a framework for planning emergent curriculum in early childhood. Using emerging early childhood themes like buildings, light and shadow, community, and nature, we’ll dive into how loose parts, art, and storybooks can spark inquiry and conceptual change. Educators will engage in hands-on making, practice observation and documentation, and take away printable resources to adapt in their own classrooms.

Nanvi is an arts educator working on integrating loose parts, play, and inquiry-based approaches to spark creativity and curiosity in children. She holds an MEd in Learning Design, Innovation and Technology from Harvard. She is currently working with education non-profits in the space of arts and democratic education. 

From Ideas to Action: Designing Projects Through and Anti-Bias Lens

with Kelly Bird, EdD

Session Description

Explore how to plan Project Based Learning units for young children through an anti-bias lens grounded in the Anti-Bias Education (ABE) framework (Derman-Sparks & Edwards). This workshop highlights strategies to nurture strong identity, celebrate diversity, promote justice, and inspire action. Participants will gain practical tools to design inclusive projects that honor children’s voices, challenge stereotypes, and build empathy. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to take an existing PBL idea and examine it through an anti-bias lens, applying ABE principles directly to their practice.

Kelly has held faculty and leadership roles, including classroom teacher, Director of Enrollment, Lower School Principal, and Early Childhood Director. An advocate for diversity and belonging, she is the President of Making Space LLC, coaching administrators and consulting with schools to foster creativity and embed DEIB into policies and programs. A Penn GSE doctoral graduate in School Leadership, her dissertation explored how maker education is one way for schools to become more inclusive settings.  

Croft Teacher-Led Breakout Sessions

  • Fieldwork and Community Experts in Early Childhood PBL: Bringing the World Into the Classroom

    Lauren Chamberlain

    In this hands-on session, educators will explore how thoughtfully structured fieldwork visits and interactions with community experts can deepen children’s inquiry and strengthen project work in early childhood settings. Grounded in examples of what fieldwork and expert engagement look like with young children—and why they matter—participants will consider how honoring community expertise supports children as they investigate meaningful, relevant questions. Educators will work individually and in small groups to identify potential fieldwork sites and community experts connected to their own emerging projects, review sample materials used before, during, and after visits, and design participant-created resources to support an upcoming community connection. Participants will leave with practical tools for incorporating both fieldwork visits and expert interactions into ECPBL, including ready-to-use email and phone scripts, along with paper and web-based resources shared in accessible formats, including options with voice-overs for slide text.

    Lauren is an educator, trainer, and curriculum developer passionate about supporting young children as confident, caring members of their communities. She began her career teaching kindergarten and first grade in Phoenix, Arizona, and later worked as a behavior intervention specialist with students in grades K–8. After six years in the classroom, she moved to Boston and worked in the education nonprofit sector, designing professional development focused on Project Based Learning, civic education, and Social and Emotional Learning. Lauren returned to the classroom in 2020 and has taught kindergarten at The Croft School in Jamaica Plain for the past five and a half years.

  • Emergent Curriculum in Real Time: Documentation and Assessment

    Cat Edwards and Michelle Burrowes

    Join us for a deep dive into how to bring emergent curriculum to life in your classroom. In this session, we will walk through current Pre-K units of inquiry and how intentional pedagogical, teacher-facing documentation helps support project development. Participants will see real documentation of student discussions and practice identifying interesting lines of inquiry from observations and reflections. We will also share how we use this kind of documentation in our assessment practices and to communicate learning with families.

    Cat has been supporting young children for the past eight years. After working with the Children’s National Hospital Foundation in Washington, DC, she studied Early Childhood Education at Boston University. She has worked at The Croft School since 2022, first as a first-grade associate teacher and now as a lead Pre-K teacher.

    Michelle has worked with children in a variety of settings since 2006. A graduate of Bank Street College of Education, she taught Pre-K in New York City before moving to Dubai, where she was a founding K1 teacher at the region’s first American progressive school. She has been a Pre-K teacher at The Croft School since 2020.

  • Young Minds, Active Citizens: Cultivating Democracy in Early Childhood

    Emily Bautista

    What does democracy look like in an early learning classroom? This session invites educators to explore how young learners experience democratic principles through participation, collaboration, and shared problem-solving. Through a classroom election project revisited over multiple years, we’ll reflect on how children develop voice, agency, and responsibility, and consider practical, accessible ways to translate these democratic practices into any educational setting.

    Emily joined Croft in 2021. Shebelieves in the power of play, social justice and Social and Emotional Learning. She loves that at Croft, children get to play in a safe and thoughtful learning environment and practice their social and academic skills authentically. She is committed in the school's anti-bias and anti-racism work and strives to incorporate this in the classroom.

    Emily has over a decade of experience in early childhood education. Her passion for teaching started in the Philippines and has since led her to teaching roles in Dubai, New York City, and now Boston. Before joining Croft, she worked as a curriculum coordinator, guiding and mentoring early years educators in Manila. Then during the pandemic, she co-founded Kind Little Humans and Palaisipan, initiatives designed to empower caregivers to raise children who are emotionally intelligent, socially aware and justice informed.