Professional Development

This webinar will focus on speech delays and common language disorders that make it difficult for children to use and understand spoken language. Strategies will be presented to support children and youth with communication limitations.

Out of school time programs can help youth successfully navigate their adolescent years and develop the skills they will need to become our future leaders. In order to design and create successful youth programs, staff need to enhance their knowledge of adolescent development and intentionally create opportunities and supports for all participants to develop the skills necessary to transition into adulthood.

Fifteen percent of children experience hearing loss and up to 50% of children experience vision loss that can impact learning. Join us for an introduction to visual and auditory disabilities, and learn strategies to support children and youth who experience these disabilities.

Children and youth bring a variety of behaviors into your programs every day. We know this and expect it. But sometimes, behavior goes beyond what we expect and causes concern, or might be unsafe. This webinar will help you learn to distinguish between developmentally expected, challenging, concerning, and unsafe behavior.

Behavior can be a tricky topic when trying to understand how to respond effectively. This learning journey will help you discover the secrets behind children's behavior. You’ll explore the importance of decoding the hidden messages in behavior and learn to respond with understanding by diving into the antecedents, behaviors, and consequences that shape behavior. Discover your role as a caregiver. Empower children by believing in their potential, understanding challenges as opportunities, and fostering positive relationships.

Join us to learn the basics of speech, language, and communication. In this lesson, you'll explore the progression of speech and language development. And remember, children are communicating even if they are not speaking!

In 2019, the top trend KIT staff identified in youth programs is social-emotional support. This isn't surprising knowing that 12.5% of teens experience a major depressive episode in one year. This webinar will explore this trend and offer strategies to support the social-emotional needs of the youth in your program.

Keeping youth engaged in out-of-school time programs can be a challenge! Research shows that youth leadership can be a key component in engagement and retention. But what is youth leadership? What does it look like and what are the benefits to your program and your participants? Join us for the first webinar in KIT’s Youth Leadership series to answer these questions and get started planning for youth leadership opportunities in your program.

In this final webinar in KIT’s Youth Leadership series, we will explore both the theory and practice of empowering youth leaders. Ensuring youth leaders feel and are empowered is a key element of implementing successful youth leadership strategies. Youth who are empowered in their role as leaders can fully benefit from participation in your program.

In this webinar, we’ll answer the questions how do we get youth engaged and what are the best practices for youth leadership in out-of-school time? You’ll walk away with the tools needed to implement successful youth leadership strategies in your program.