Meet Connie Byrd:
Parent Coach & Child Development Specialist
My passion has been working with children and partnering with parents and guardians to reach a deeper understanding of what their child needs and how we can partner to help them and their child become more successful.
Expert Child Development Support & Early Childhood Advocacy
I believe that every child is unique and so should our approach to their learning. My philosophy includes following the child’s interests, building a strong connection, meeting each individual where they’re at, leading with compassion, respectful interactions, and positive redirection to promote change in behaviors. I have 25 years of experience in Early Childhood Education, working with children, families and staff to support children’s development with an individualized approach.
I have experienced first-hand, how a child’s skills can improve, and milestones achieved when they receive the support they need. Most of my experience has been in inclusive classrooms and center environments, working with infants, toddlers, preschoolers, both typically and non-typically developing. I have joyfully celebrated with families when they have witnessed their child’s successes.
I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Development with a concentration in Early Childhood Development. I have been a teacher, a center director and an advocate. My last role was as a Regional Director, overseeing Early Head Start, (Infants & Toddlers) Head Start and State Preschool, Inclusion centers, in addition to a school-age center.
I have partnered and collaborated with Head Start, Coaches, Family Advocates, Mental Health Consultants, Behavioral Health Services, Early Intervention Services, Nutritionists, School Districts, and County Programs. I have experience as a staff trainer and coach of the Teaching Pyramid Model and SEEDS of Learning. Both are evidence-based frameworks to assist with social emotional and early literacy development. I am also trained in Trauma Responsive Care and Resilience Practices
“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should
teach the way they learn.”
specializing in:
Parents and caregivers of children ages 3-5 years old
Developing age-appropriate social skills
Emotional regulation strategies for child and parents
Coaching with me is…
Collaborative - We will work as partners to identify specific goals and create a roadmap for growth.
A new perspective - Coaching provides you an objective “second pair of eyes” to effectively support your child’s overall development.
Focused on Social-Emotional growth We will prioritize self-regulation, school readiness, and strong emotional foundations.
Future Focused giving you “how to” strategies in the present to improve the future
Coaching with me is not…
One size fits all -Your coaching plan will be customized to support your individualized needs and emotional growth.
Limited to academics - Coaching serves as a vital bridge between the formal school plan and the reality of daily life at home and will provide practical home-based activities and strategies.
Therapy or clinical diagnosis Coaching is not psychotherapy, clinical treatment and does not provide medical or mental health assessments, diagnosis or treatment.
Past trauma processing & healing - Coaching is not designed for deep-dive healing to address unresolved personal trauma
This is a collaborative coaching relationship designed for skill-building & strategy development
I care about what matters to you most, you and your child. Parent coaching is a collaborative partnership designed to help parents navigate the complexities of child-rearing with confidence and clarity. After getting to know you and what will be our focus areas, together we will work to create a result-driven plan that focuses on realistic goals.
School and IEP documents are often filled with clinical language and academic benchmarks. Coaching helps parents translate those high level goals. I’m here to provide you the support you’ve been looking for. Coaching provides an unbiased “second set of eyes” and will guide you on how to implement purposeful strategies that effectively support school readiness goals, your parenting skills and your child’s overall success.
The coaching relationship
Experience emotional security & growth
Your experience will be…
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Your coaching plan will be tailored to your child’s current developmental skills, observations of parent-child interactions, developmental screening results, and any concerns you may express about your child. If your child has a current IEP we will incorporate the IEP goals in our plan.
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I am here to help with navigating your child’s behavioral and developmental needs at home. The intention is to build a trusting coaching relationship that will take you out of survival mode and create opportunities for you to thrive. .
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Our sessions will focus on assessing needs, observation of interactions, observation review, practical strategies, developmental goals, managing child behaviors, and improving parent-child communication.
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Our sessions will provide a confidential space to ask questions, voice concerns, and collaborate about your child’s developmental milestones and behavioral concerns.
My Early Childhood Education & Qualifications
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Child Development Program Director Permit issued by CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing
Regional Director of Head Start, Early Head start, State Preschool and School-Age Programs
Center Director of State Preschool, Early Intervention & Inclusion Programs
Teaching Pyramid Model Trainer
Facilitate Trainings to Early Childhood Education Professionals to teach strategies that promote social-emotional learning and address challenging behaviors in children from birth -five years old
SEEDS of Learning Trainer
Provide professional learning, large group, trainings to increase staff’s skills that foster nurturing relationships, manage challenging behaviors, and implement curriculum and daily schedules that support high quality learning environments.
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BA - Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Development with a Concentration in Early Childhood Development
AA - Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Development
AA - Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts
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Inclusion - Everyone feels a sense of belonging and feels welcomed. Building inclusive environments, approaches, and learning strategies, that connect with every child and their family
Head Start Professional Development - Building strong relationships with children and families, engaging families in their children’s learning, creating welcoming and nurturing environments, conducting on going screenings, assessments, and creating individualized curriculum plans.
Trauma Responsive Care and Resilience Practices - A strength based approach which shifts the perspective from “What is wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” Practicing self-regulation skills, coping skills, strength based strategies, best practice responses to behaviors that promote security, safety, and support emotional growth.
DRDP (Desired Results Developmental Profile) - An observation based assessment developed by the California Department of Education to track the learning and development of children from birth through school-age. The domains of the assessment include:
Approaches to Learning-Self Regulation
Social-Emotional Development
Language and Literacy Development
English Language Development
Cognition: Math and Science
Physical Development
Health
The Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ)
A reliable developmental screening tool for children from birth to age 6, (1-66 months).
The screening tool helps identify strengths and developmental delays in communication, motor skills, and social emotional development.
The questionnaire is completed by the parent (the child’s first teacher), and will be evaluated by the coach.
The parent and coach will develop an action plan, if the results indicate that further support is needed.
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SEEDS of Learning Professional Learning Framework - SEEDS (Sensitivity, Encouragement, Education, Development of Skills) is professional learning model designed for adults to support the social-emotional, language, and literacy of children ages 3 to 5 The framework emphasizes building sensitive, responsive relationships as the foundation of learning
Teaching Pyramid Framework - A multi-tiered framework of Evidence-based practices that promote social-emotional development of children birth - 5 years. Teaching Pyramid practices include: Early intervention strategies which prevent and address challenging behaviors. The benefits of The Pyramid Model are: reduction in challenging behaviors, increased social skills, emotional vocabulary, and greater confidence.