Arkansas Early Childhood Association

🗓️ Mark your calendars! The AECA 2026 Conference is coming October 7–9, 2026 in North Little Rock!

Our theme this year is Lifting Our Voices - shining a light on the everyday leadership, advocacy, and classroom wisdom of early childhood professionals.

🩵 Presenter RFP and Vendor Registration open March 23
🩵 Registration opens April 1
🩵 More information will be available on the conference page on our website soon:

🔗 bit.ly/aecaconference

Hot Springs Early Childhood Association invites you to Arkansas Children’s Week Dinner & Tribute!

🗓️ Monday April 13 at 6pm
🔊 Learning Comes Alive Outdoors with Shaneil 'P.J.' Yarbrough
✅ Registration is required by March 30th
📍 First United Methodist Church

This Women's History Month, we are celebrating amazing women in the field of early childhood education, as well as how we can start creating history now by taking one small step towards something that matters to you. When we look at the women and leaders that we honor this month, their impact didn't begin with something big. It started with a decision, a small step, a quiet "yes" to something that mattered.

Susan Blow was a pioneer of the kindergarten movement in the United States and a passionate advocate for early childhood education.

In 1873, Blow opened the first successful public kindergarten in the United States through the St. Louis Public Schools. Inspired by the work of Friedrich Froebel, she believed that young children learn best through play, hands-on exploration, music, and guided activities designed to nurture the whole child.

Beyond the classroom, Blow helped establish one of the first kindergarten teacher training programs, recognizing that skilled, thoughtful educators are essential to high-quality early learning.

Because of Susan Blow’s leadership, kindergarten became a recognized and valued part of public education - laying the foundation for generations of young learners to grow through play, creativity, and discovery.

🩵 What's one small step that you're ready to take towards something that matters to you?

Arkansas Early Childhood Job Board is an all-in-one tool for both job seekers and employers looking to hire talented ECE staff. Your job posts are instantly distributed to the most popular national job posting sites giving your job post widespread visibility at no cost!

BENEFITS OF USING THE JOB BOARD
☑️ FREE TO POST: Unlike most job boards, posting jobs is FREE for members!
☑️ 15+ JOB BOARDS IN 1: Each job post automatically appears across 15+ other job sites including Indeed, LinkedIn, Zip Recruiter, Jora, Job Rapido, Adzuna, Career Jet, Oodle, Juju AND MORE!
☑️ SHOW UP IN GOOGLE RESULTS: Your job post automatically shows up in Google search results! This is one of the easiest way for job seekers to find information about your opportunity.
☑️ JOB DESCRIPTION TEMPLATES: The platform provides ready-to-use job description templates specifically created for Arkansas child care professionals (directors, assistant and lead teachers, caregivers, contractors, admin and support staff)!
☑️ ONLINE APPLICATIONS: Job posters have the option of managing the entire application and hiring process within the online platform! No more paperwork or keeping track of emails from applicants.

➡️ FOR EMPLOYERS
Register to post jobs
Create a job post using a set of prewritten job descriptions.
Distribute with one click to the most popular job sites across the web.
Manage your hiring process using custom workflows and templates.
And, finally, hire that talent!

Visit the Arkansas Early Childhood Job Board and sign up for a free account here:

🔗 bit.ly/areceresources

This Women's History Month, we are celebrating amazing women in the field of early childhood education, as well as how we can start creating history now by taking one small step towards something that matters to you. When we look at the women and leaders that we honor this month, their impact didn't begin with something big. It started with a decision, a small step, a quiet "yes" to something that mattered.

Maria Montessori was an Italian physician (one of Italy’s first female doctors, graduating in 1896) and educator whose groundbreaking approach transformed how we understand children’s learning and development.

As the founder of the Montessori Method, Montessori believed that children learn best through hands-on exploration, independence, and carefully prepared environments. Her work emphasized respect for the child, freedom within structure, and the idea that educators are guides who observe and support children’s natural curiosity.

Her first classroom, the Casa dei Bambini, opened in 1907 and demonstrated how thoughtfully designed learning spaces and child-led discovery could foster deep concentration, confidence, and joy in learning. She first applied her observational methods while working with children with developmental delays.

Today, Montessori’s influence can be seen in classrooms around the world, where educators continue to nurture independence, curiosity, and a lifelong love of learning in young children.

🩵 What's one small step that you're ready to take towards something that matters to you?

This Women's History Month, we are celebrating amazing women in the field of early childhood education, as well as how we can start creating history now by taking one small step towards something that matters to you. When we look at the women and leaders that we honor this month, their impact didn't begin with something big. It started with a decision, a small step, a quiet "yes" to something that mattered.

Libby Doggett is a nationally respected leader whose work has helped strengthen early learning systems and expand opportunities for young children across the United States.

Doggett served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Early Learning in the United States Department of Education, where she played a key role in advancing early childhood initiatives and promoting collaboration across early learning programs. She has been a strong advocate for high-quality pre-K, effective early learning policy, and stronger connections between early childhood and K–12 education.

Throughout her career, Doggett has worked to ensure that early childhood education is recognized as a critical foundation for lifelong learning and success. Her goal was to stop treating "daycare" and "school" as separate silos, instead creating a seamless transition so that the gains made in pre-K weren't lost when a child entered kindergarten.

Doggett continues to be a vocal proponent for Head Start and universal pre-K, often bridging the gap between high-level policy and the practical needs of teachers and parents. Because of leaders like Libby Doggett, the early childhood field continues to gain momentum, visibility, and the policy support needed to help young children and families thrive.

🩵 What's one small step that you're ready to take towards something that matters to you?

Discover the actions and interactions that make learning come alive outdoors in Searcy. Register now to join us on March 19!