Jeff Johnson, Iowa AEYC conference keynote for Saturday, October 11, 2008

After 16 years directing a child care center and community center, Jeff Johnson became a Family Child Care Provider in 2003 with his wife, Tasha. Their program focuses on emergent learning in a play-based environment.

According to Jeff, "The best thing about our program is the great kids we get to work with each day. Our days are spent with laughs, conversation, play, exploration, discoveries, and fun. We enjoy creating an environment conducive to 'light bulb moments'—you know, the moments where kids grasp new ideas. It is wonderful to get to see them rediscover the world."  Jeff travels around the country presenting on topics such as combating stress and burnout in child care, creating strong emotional environments, and promoting play with inexpensive, easy-to-make toys and activities.

Jeff is the author of the best-selling Redleaf Press book Do-It-Yourself Early Learning: Easy and Fun Activities and Toys from Everyday Home Center Materials. A second Redleaf book on combating caregiver stress and burnout, Finding Your Smile Again: A Child Care Professional’s Guide to Reducing Stress and Avoiding Burnout, was released in the spring of 2007. His third book for Redleaf, Everyday Early Learning, was released in the spring of 2008. He is working on a number of other projects with Readleaf.

He has self-published two books, The Child Care Alphabet Book of Early Learning and The Child Care Alphabet Book of Manipulatives which are fun for children and help educate the adults reading them about life in a quality child care setting. Jeff also publishes a monthly electronic newsletter that is distributed to early care and education professionals in all 50 states and Canada.

He serves on the board of the NAFCC and never misses a chance to promote child-directed play, exploration, and discovery. For more information, you can visit his website is www.explorationsearlylearning.com.