Dedicated to Early Learning Center educators, our Mindfulness Educator Training (MET) was developed after extensive study, practice and experience. This two-phase, 12-week program offers training to educators, and is tailored for early childhood educators. Mindful Kids Miami approach emphasizes actually practicing mindfulness or being mindful rather than only studying. Over the past decade, training in mindfulness – the intentional cultivation of moment-by-moment non-judgmental focused attention and awareness – has spread to education.  

Effective teaching requires habits of mind associated with mental flexibility, emotion regulation, and relationship management skills (Helsing, 2007; Schutz & Zembylas, 2009; Zapf, 2002). By cultivating the habit of being flexibly attentive, teachers may be better able to respond to students’ needs proactively, a key contributor to effective classroom management (Marzano, Marzono, & Pickering, 2003). In addition, teachers must problem solve “on the fly” as they interact with students of varying levels of maturity and readiness to learn. To do this in a manner that avoids unequal treatment and opportunities to learn among students with different backgrounds requires great awareness, empathy, and mental flexibility (Chang, 2009). Emotion regulation is especially important because if teachers become overly stressed in the classroom, they cannot leave in order to compose themselves but must self-regulate in the presence of the class and the stress itself, such as a student’s disruptive behavior (Roeser et al., 2012).

Training is in two phases:

First Phase: is a 6-week experiential course that teaches practical ways to integrate mindfulness into your daily life and build and sustain a personal mindfulness practice, which is the foundation of sharing mindfulness with others.  Starting with exploring the themes and elements of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction that support that foundation.   

Second Phase: Mindful Teachers Training Short Course (MTTP-SC): is a 6-week fun and experiential training for educators training them to teach age-appropriate mindfulness practices, games, activities, and skills based on social-emotional learning.

The 4 modules below are meant to provide a set of tools to be woven skillfully by the Teacher at appropriate times to support themselves and their students.

• Mindful Movement brings children into an awareness of their bodies and changing physical sensations as they move through various poses which take them out of automatic pilot; it also teaches awareness of breathing.

• Mindful Games & Exercises teaches children how to pay attention and to increase focus.

• Mindful Relaxation guides children in simple breath awareness and felt sensations of the body, which helps children learn to self-regulate.

• Kindness Practices increases compassion and empathy in children both for themselves and others; leads to increased understanding of differences as well as a sense of connection with themselves, others, and the world around them.

These methods train children and youth to pay attention, strengthen focus, increase impulse control, regulate behavior, and cultivate tolerance, compassion and empathy for themselves and others.

The second phase of the training is when teachers experience for themselves how mindful awareness can be taught to students in age-appropriate, child-friendly ways.

This program equips them with skills to create experiential learning in their own classrooms whether they are teaching Pre-K or high school seniors.

Location

Online or in person

Program Details

• Two 50-minute sessions weekly

• Meets twice a week for 12-weeks

• Guided audio mindfulness recordings will be provided

• MTTP Guidebook

• Other materials to support practice

• 2 CEU’s available

Class Fee

FREE for qualifying early learning educators. Scholarship provided by The Children’s Trust.

For more info on the ELCC scholarship click here

$350 for non-qualifying registrants * Partial scholarships available