Virtual Event: Building Educator-Family Partnerships to Support Highly Sensitive Young Children

Includes a Live Web Event on 06/25/2025 at 2:00 PM (EDT)

**Live Attendance Required to earn CEUs** (complete all requirements within 30 days of event).

Family-Centered Practice: why and how to effectively partner with families to support children’s health and development by building positive, supportive relationships

Building Educator-Family Partnerships to Support Highly Sensitive Young Children

June 25, 2025, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET

Special Member Exclusive follow-on discussion, 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET

Join us for an insightful interview with Claire Lerner, author of Big Reactors, her new book for parents of highly sensitive children. In this conversation, we’ll explore how early childhood educators and professionals can build strong, collaborative relationships with families to create supportive environments for "orchid children" who thrive when their caregivers are responsive, patient, and attuned to their unique temperaments. Learn practical strategies to recognize sensitivity, foster emotional safety, and strengthen partnerships between parents and educators that allow these unique children to bloom.

Learner objectives: As a result of participating in this event, learners will be able to…

Identify key traits of “big reactors” and how heightened sensitivity can affect a child’s emotional responses and needs.
Describe the role of early childhood educators in recognizing and responding to highly sensitive children with empathy, patience, and consistency.
Outline skills to facilitate open, collaborative partnerships with families to encourage mutual understanding and alignment around the needs of highly sensitive children.

Member Exclusive w/ZERO TO THREE, 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET

ZERO TO THREE Members are invited to join an Exclusive Event Debrief directly following the event (from 3:00-3:30 pm ET). Reflect on the ideas and possibilities introduced in the Virtual Member Event with your fellow ZERO TO THREE Members. Consider together what left you curious, what excited you and inspired application potentials. Construct individual and collective knowledge and forge connections within your Member Community.

Katrina Macasaet

Senior Manager

ZERO TO THREE

Katrina is a Manager in the Professional Innovations Division with ZERO TO THREE and leads our Critical Competencies and The Growing Brain professional development programs. Katrina designs and delivers presentations at state, regional, and national early childhood conferences and meetings. She has an undergraduate degree in early childhood education and a master’s degree in human development.

Claire Lerner

LICSW

Lerner Child Development

Claire is a nationally recognized child development and parenting expert with more than three decades of experience in education and direct practice. Claire partners with parents to decode their children's behavior and solve their most vexing childrearing challenges. She also trains pediatric residents in child development and parenting, and provides mental health consultation at DC area preschools. In addition to her clinical work with families, Claire led the parenting division of Zero to Three for nearly 20 years, translating the science of early childhood for parents—to empower moms and dads to nurture their children’s healthiest development through access to the findings of experts on a wide range of topics, from early brain development to positive parenting to coping with vexing child-rearing challenges. Claire is the author of hundreds of parenting resources, including blogs, podcasts, videos. Her new book is, Why Is My Child in Charge? (Rowman & Littlefield; 2021). Claire’s upcoming book, Big Reactors: Practical Strategies for Supporting Highly Sensitive Children, will be published Fall, 2025.

**Live Attendance Required** (complete within 30 days of event). All registrants will have 30-day access to the session recording.

ZERO TO THREE is pleased to offer Continuing Education Units for a wide range of learning events, both in person and on line.

Contact hours and CEUs are automatically added to your registration for no additional charge. Registrants can earn up to 0.1 CEU or 1 Contact hour for attending this event. Continuing Education Units are awarded with live attendance, completed session evaluation, and a passing quiz score of 75% or greater.

Learner Objectives:

Identify key traits of “big reactors” and how heightened sensitivity can affect a child’s emotional responses and needs.
Describe the role of early childhood educators in recognizing and responding to highly sensitive children with empathy, patience, and consistency.
Outline skills to facilitate open, collaborative partnerships with families to encourage mutual understanding and alignment around the needs of highly sensitive children.

Contact hours offered may vary per discipline. For more information regarding ZERO TO THREE CEUs, please visit: https://www.zerotothree.org/resources/1657-earn-ceus-from-zero-to-three. Please note: A computer or electronic device with internet connection is required for successful completion. This session will be hosted for one hour and includes a brief introduction, 45 mins of content based teaching, and 10 to 15 minutes of Q and A. Questions can be posted throughout the session, and the presenter will address as many as possible.

Additional Details:

ZERO TO THREE is accredited as an Authorized Provider of Continuing Education and Training by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). In obtaining this accreditation, we have demonstrated compliance with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognized internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices. As the official standard for continuing education and training, IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are recognized by a wide range of organizations, including professional associations, regulatory boards, corporations, and universities.

Though IACET CEUs are widely accepted, it is up to each organization to choose whether or not it will accept them. For this reason, we strongly advise that you confirm in advance if a particular body accepts IACET CEUs. To view a list of companies, regulatory boards, and organizations that have reported to accept the IACET CEU credit, please click here. This list is not exhaustive, nor does it guarantee that an IACET CEU will automatically be accepted.

*Presenters have affirmed that they do not have proprietary interest in products, instruments, devices, services or materials discussed in this course, and have confirmed that they have not been compensated in relation to this presentation.