Muskoka's Early Child Care Conference 2026
October 23 and 24, 2026 at Bayview Wildwood Resort, Severn Bridge.
Join us for the 6th annual Pedagogy of Care Conference
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What have people said about the Pedagogy of Care?
"This conference is amazing because it pushes forward the importance of the ECE profession using a collective narrative! Please don't ever stop doing this!”
Conference Speakers
Angelina Mighty Osborne (she/her)
Active for Life
Angelina Mighty Osborne is a leader with over 13 years of experience in the non-profit sector, supporting early learning and community-based organizations through research, service gap analysis, and strategic planning. As Project Lead for Learn Through Active Play (LTAP), she focuses on strengthening systems and developing practical, evidence-informed resources that support early learning educators and child care environments. Drawing on her background in psychology, Angelina is committed to addressing root causes, reducing barriers to access, and creating sustainable, long-term impact for children, families, and communities.
Session: Learn Through Active Play
Learn Through Active Play (LTAP) is a professional development program that empowers educators to bring the power of an active play lens into their programming. With practical, research-based strategies, LTAP makes it easy to build active play habits that support children's learning, strengthen relationships, and improve educator well-being. You'll leave inspired and equipped with tools you can use right away, fostering joyful experiences and stronger early learning communities!
The workshop unfolds in two parts. Foundations shows how to set up spaces that invite movement and make play accessible for children of all abilities, building inclusive environments where active play habits take root. Strategies then explores how to weave movement into daily routines and relationships, supporting smoother transitions and turning active play into a lasting part of everyday practice.
The learning doesn't stop when the workshop ends: participants gain ongoing access to individualized mentoring and coaching suited to their own setting, plus other session offerings through the Active Play Exchange to keep exploring these ideas with other educators.
Runs as a half-day workshop, offered twice across the day:
For Centre-Based staff 
For Home Child Care and EarlyON staff, centre-based staff welcome
Angie Coture (she/her)
Métis Legacy Learning
Angie-lee Coture, Owner of Métis Legacy Learning, joins us as a proud Ontario Métis from Mudtown, whose historic roots weave from Penetanguishene to Owen Sound through the waterways of Georgian Bay Region 7. She is a dedicated Registered Early Childhood Educator, Forest and Nature School Practitioner, and legacy holder of the Coture’s continued commitment to Métis governance and community building. Angie-lee shares her Métis culture and lived experiences with a focus on Indigenous ways of knowing and learning, to unlearn and relearn alongside communities across Ontario through outdoor education, professional learning, and public speaking with her business. Angie-lee's mission is to uplift and empower educators, children, families, and collective communities to come together and build better futures for the children now and those to come.
Session: Tea & Talk - Rooted in Belonging with Heart Berry Teachings, Connection, and Care in Early Learning
In many Métis teachings, the strawberry is known as the Heart Berry. It reminds us of the importance of caring for ourselves, nurturing relationships, and living in a good way with those around us.
Rooted in the principles of How Does Learning Happen?, this reflective Tea & Talk experience invites educators to explore belonging, self-care, connection, and community through a Métis lens. Together, participants will consider how the care we extend to ourselves and one another directly impacts the environments we create for children. Through storytelling, meaningful dialogue, land-based reflection, and shared experiences, educators will explore how belonging begins within ourselves and ripples outward into our teams, programs, and communities.
Drawing upon Métis teachings of kinship, reciprocity, and connection, participants will leave feeling refreshed, inspired, and equipped with practical ways to strengthen belonging and well-being in their daily practice.
Indoors
Outdoors, with a land walk and fireside reflection
Anisha Angella (she/her)
The Early Childhood Coach
Anisha Angella is an Early Childhood Education (ECE) coach, consultant, speaker, professor, and the CEO & Founder of The Early Childhood Coach + Co. With over 18 years of experience in early learning and leadership, she is dedicated to supporting educators, leaders, and organizations through meaningful professional development and coaching.
Throughout her career, Anisha has led childcare programs, taught in post-secondary institutions, and served as a senior leader overseeing more than 50 childcare locations. She currently teaches at Humber College and Seneca College while leading a team of specialized coaches and facilitators who support early childhood professionals across Canada and beyond.
Anisha has delivered professional learning to more than 20,000 educators and leaders worldwide and has presented at over 500 conferences, summits, and professional development events. Her work has been featured on Breakfast Television, Authority Magazine, and The Today Show.
Her areas of expertise include leadership development, educator wellness and burnout prevention, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), team culture, and effective communication. Known for her engaging and practical approach, Anisha combines real-world experience with actionable strategies that help educators build confidence, strengthen teams, and create positive, lasting impact in their programs and communities.
Session: More than a Book on the Shelf: Diversity in an Early Childhood Classroom
Every child deserves to feel heard, welcomed and seen; this starts in our environments. Representation is everything for children. Although we can't control every form of media they consume, we can control one thing — the books they read in our classrooms. Diversity in early childhood environments is needed more than ever in our field. This session goes beyond diversity in literature and will show you that promoting diversity in your classroom is more than just a book on the shelf. You will gain information on understanding diversity in a new way and learn how to promote true diversity in your classroom.
Autumn Smith (she/her)
TimberBeast Productions
Autumn is a theatre director/creator, curator, professor and independent producer. She is the current Artistic and Executive Director of TimberBeast Productions, a company dedicated to creating and sharing immersive live performance focused on the unique stories of the Muskoka area. Autumn holds an MFA from York University in Theatre Direction with an Emphasis on Teaching and is a conservatory trained actor (Oxford School of Drama/UK).
Autumn is currently serving as a Professor of Theatre at Memorial University/NFLD. In the pastshe has served as a professor/lecturer at: U of T, AMPD (York University), Centennial Collegeand served as an External Examiner for Sharjah Academy of Performing Arts in the UAE. As a director and educator Ms. Smith led the Dora Award winning company MacKenzieRo: TheIrish Repertory Theatre Company of Canada for over a 9-year period in addition to working withcompanies such as: The Shaw Festival, The Tarragon Theatre, George Brown Theatre School, Stagedoor Manor in Association with the American Theatre Wing, StageWest Mississauga, Theatre Passe Muraille, Canadian Stage, Theatre 20/Mirvish, 4th Line Theatre, TheDruid Theatre/Galway, Canadian Children’s Opera Company, U of T/Sheridan, Hart HouseTheatre, The National Ballet/Stratford Project, and the Oxford Playhouse/UK.
Autumn was a nominee for the 2026 YMCA Women of Distinction Award for the District of Muskoka and the 2023/24 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize.
We are thrilled to welcome Autumn back as our conference MC/ Ringmaster!
Charlene Dinger (she/her)
Kinisi Kids
Charlene Dinger is the award-winning Founder & Creative Director of Kinisi Kids, an innovative movement education company transforming how families and early childhood organizations use dance and yoga to support child development and well-being.
She is a Toronto-based dance educator with over 20 years of teaching experience, extensive training, and professional performance credits across Canada and Europe. She holds multiple certifications, works as an adjudicator nationwide and is also a certified yoga instructor with a trauma-informed, inclusive approach. During her seven years in London, UK, she Co-Founded and Co-Directed Kinisi Dance Company and ran a successful toddler dance franchise in North London.
After becoming a parent in 2023, Charlene was inspired to create Kinisi Kids - an inclusive space where families, educators and their children can connect through movement and music. Her classes support early childhood development by building body awareness, coordination, rhythm and social skills. Through Kinisi Kids, she fosters environments rooted in creativity, self-expression and community while building programs that strengthen communities, empower educators and help children thrive through movement.
Session: The Power of Movement
“The Power of Movement” is an interactive professional development session designed to help Early Childhood Educators understand why creative movement is essential for toddlers and preschoolers and how to integrate joyful, energetic movement practices into daily programming that contributes to nurturing many developmental skills.
Participants will explore research-backed benefits, experience interactive activities and walk away with practical tools and activity ideas they can implement immediately.
By the end of this workshop, educators will be able to:
- Understand the neuroscientific, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional benefits of movement for young children
- Incorporate simple, effective dance-based and self-regulation activities into everyday routines like circle time or when the children need to burn off energy and/or calm down
- Create an inclusive, safe, and developmentally supportive movement environment
- Confidently advocate for movement-rich programming to parents and administrators
Session: Slow Flow Yoga
A grounding and therapeutic yoga flow that is accessible and safe for beginners yet challenging for more experienced students. Set to a chill, soulful playlist, this class will invite you to move slowly and mindfully, allowing you to move into a restful state and reset your nervous system.
Session: Energizing Yoga
An energizing morning practice that will challenge you to balance effort and ease in each posture. Postures will flow together as breath is linked throughout each movement. Set to an uplifting playlist, this class will end with a stretch and grounding breath work.
Heather Jackson, RECE (she/her)
The Sunflower School
Heather has been a RECE within the province of Ontario for 40 years and is now currently the founder and Research Director at The Sunflower School in Orangeville, Ontario. The Sunflower School was born from a need to get back to her roots in early childhood education and to be with the children and educators. Heather has been to Reggio Emilia, Italy twice on the study tour. She currently provides professional development in curriculum and How Does Learning Happen? to many programs in Ontario. She is a published author with Redleaf Press — her book, Actions of Play, is about play schemas. Her new endeavour is a podcast called Actions of Play, on Apple and Spotify.
Session: Teacher as Researcher
How do we reframe our work in early childhood education from "filler of knowledge," or as Dr. Jean Clinton says "stuff the duck," to teacher as researcher — and why should we? In this workshop we will work toward looking thoughtfully at our practice in early childhood. What does it mean to be a teacher researcher? Does this shift in thinking change our practice to be more joyful, experimental, and create innovative environments for ourselves and the children we work with? We will collaborate through hands-on experiences to transform our educational approach and cultivate a creative, thoughtful learning environment.
Session: Dare to Dream: A Supervisor's Guide to Shift Perspectives
What is our why for working with children? Do you even think about your why every day? What values do you carry as the supervisor or leader of your program, centre, or school? Have you ever thought about your values? In this full-afternoon workshop, we will work through what you dream for your program, centre, or school — and you will hear other dreams too. Why do we need a dream? How often do we engage in creative, joyful work with our teams during our busy days? We will create a full workplan for you to take back to your programs, to engage your educators in a dream. So come prepared with an open mind to engage, talk, and maybe see that there is another path for your work.
Please note, this session is intended for all Program Leaders/Supervisors.
Maha Abbas (she/her)
Maha Abbas is a Registered Early Childhood Educator (RECE) with over 10 years of experience in the early years sector. Throughout her career, she has worked with children from infancy through school age in licensed child care settings, before-and-after-school programs, and EarlyON Child and Family Centres, supporting both children and families through inclusive and relationship-based practices.
Maha currently serves as a Curriculum Coordinator with PLASP Child Care Services, where she supports more than 240 programs through coaching, professional learning, and resource development. She is also pursuing a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University, with a focus on anti-racism, culturally responsive pedagogy, community-building, and the role of nature and the arts in learning.
Passionate about equity and social justice, Maha believes educators play a vital role in advocating for children and families. Her work is grounded in the belief that meaningful learning happens through strong relationships, where identity, belonging, and creativity are nurtured. Through her facilitation and leadership, Maha creates spaces where educators feel seen, valued, and empowered to reflect, grow, and lead with confidence and purpose.
Session: Educators as Cultural Investigators
Educators are not neutral observers — we are meaning-makers whose experiences, assumptions, and cultural lenses shape daily practice. In this reflective and practice-based workshop, educators are invited to adopt a cultural investigator stance and engage with children, families, and communities through curiosity rather than certainty. Grounded in Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Pedagogy (CRP/CSP) and the concepts of Funds of Knowledge and Funds of Identity, participants will explore how culture, identity, power, and positionality show up in everyday interactions, curriculum decisions, learning environments, and relationships with families.
Rather than focusing on "knowing about" families, this session supports educators in learning how to inquire with care, remain present in uncertainty, and build more accountable, relationally grounded practices.
Annie Vandenberg (she/her) & Paula Gallo (she/her)
Recreate Place
Annie co-creates inclusive programs that drive positive social and environmental change. Annie brings over 20 years of experience engaging communities in the creation of immersive, experiential programs, with a strong commitment to ensuring even the youngest voices are included. She played a pivotal role in transforming Evergreen Brick Works into a climate-resilient public space, and managing the Education programs and Public Art program. A storyteller at heart, Annie recently published her first children's story.
Paula co-creates child-friendly, nature-connected, arts-based experiences for children. Paula has built healthier and more connected spaces with child care centers and schools through her work with UNICEF Canada, Save the Children, Evergreen and Recreate Place. She co-created UNICEF Canada’s Rights Respecting Schools initiative, Evergreen’s Workshops for Teachers and Early Childhood Educators and the participatory design framework guiding her current work.
Session: Fostering Belonging and Well-being through Creative Expression
Join Recreate Place as we explore how co-creating artistic projects with children can build connections, create meaningful opportunities for participation, and inspire outdoor exploration and play. In this hands-on session, participants will take part in a fun, arts-based activity while considering how this approach supports How Does Learning Happen?. We will also share examples of collaborative art projects that have strengthened relationships between children, caregivers and educators. Participants will leave with a short, how-to handout, making it easy to bring this activity into their programming.
Please Note: If you're attending our conference on Saturday, please make sure you select one of Friday's Recreate Place sessions when building your schedule; this session lays the groundwork for Saturday's Part Two.
Don't miss out on this great opportunity.
Check out this video from the 2023 Pedagogy of Care Conference.
If you have any questions about the conference, please email childrensprograms@muskoka.on.ca or call 705-645-2412.