Browse all sessions and plan your LEARN Conference experience.

2026 LEARN Conference Schedule

More sessions. More content. More LEARNing. ​

Our spectacular lineup of early childhood's brightest speakers and sessions will give you practical takeaways, valuable insights and in-depth understanding of the latest trends and practices that are essential to your work.

See full 2026 schedule

Early Childhood Disciplines

Each LEARN Preconference and Conference session is labeled with the primary and secondary early childhood disciplines it is designed for: 

  • Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) 
  • Early Childhood Education (ECE) 
  • Early Identification and Intervention (EII) 
  • Child Welfare and Social Services (CWSS) 
  • HealthySteps (HS) 
  • Multi-discipline (Multi) 

Professional Role Types

Each LEARN Preconference and Conference session is labeled with the primary and secondary professional role they are designed for: 

  • Direct Service Professional (work directly with children and/or families)  
  • Program/Service Administrator  
  • Adult Educator  
  • Parent Education/Support Provider  
  • Policymaker/Advocate  
  • Researcher  
  • HealthySteps System Affiliate  
  • Student  

Schedule at a Glance

7:00 am – 6:30 pm  Registration & Attendee Support Open  

8:30 am – 3:30 pm  Preconference Offerings 

Forums  

  • Digital Decisions: How Technology Is Reshaping Early Childhood and Family Support 
  • Honoring Voices to Drive Change: Turning Lived Experience into Action  
  • Transformational Play in Child-Parent Psychotherapy 

HealthySteps Symposium (limited to HealthySteps Affiliates):  

  • Showing Up in Challenging Times: Trust, Boundaries, and Compassion in Pediatric Care  

4:00 pm – 5:30 pm Bonus Programming:  Details coming soon!

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm Opening Reception 

7:00 am – 7:30 am  Morning Stretch & Move Options  

7:30 am – 9:00 am  Coffee in Exhibit Hall  

9:00 am – 10:00 am  Opening and Practice Plenary Session   

10:00 am – 10:30 am  Break and Transition to Sessions  

10:30 am – 11:30 pm  Concurrent Sessions Block 1  

  • Baby Talks 
  • CPP Synergy Circles  
  • Lecture Sessions 
  • HealthySteps Sessions 
  • Issue Intensives, part 1 of 2 
  • Leadership Lab, part 1 of 3 

11:30 am – 1:00 pm  Break: Lunch on your own + exhibits w/poster showcase live Q&A  

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm  Concurrent Sessions Block 2 

  • Baby Talks 
  • Synergy Circles  
  • Lecture Sessions 
  • CPP Lecture Session 
  • HealthySteps Sessions 
  • Issue Intensives, part 2 of 2 
  • Leadership Lab, part 2 of 3 

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm  Break and Transition to Sessions  

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm  Concurrent Sessions Block 3  

  • CPP Baby Talks 
  • Synergy Circles  
  • Lecture Sessions 
  • HealthySteps Sessions 
  • Leadership Lab, part 3 of 3 

3:30 pm – 4:00 pm  Break and Transition to Plenary  

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm  Research/Science Plenary  

7:00 am – 7:30 am  Morning Stretch & Move Options  

7:00 am – 3:30 pm  Registration & Attendee Support Open  

7:30 am – 9:00 am  Coffee in Exhibit Hall  

9:00 am – 10:00 am  Policy Plenary Session   

10:00 am – 10:30 am  Break and Transition to Sessions  

10:30 am – 11:30 pm  Concurrent Sessions Block 1  

  • Baby Talks 
  • Synergy Circles  
  • Lecture Sessions 
  • HealthySteps Sessions 
  • Issue Intensives, part 1 of 2 
  • CPP Issue Intensive, part 1 of 2 
  • Leadership Lab, part 1 of 3 

11:30 am – 1:00 pm  Break: Lunch on your own + exhibits w/poster showcase live Q&A  

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm  Concurrent Sessions Block 2  

  • Baby Talks 
  • Synergy Circles  
  • Lecture Sessions 
  • HealthySteps Sessions 
  • Issue Intensives, part 2 of 2 
  • CPP Issue Intensive, part 2 of 2 
  • Leadership Lab, part 2 of 3 

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm  Break and Transition to Sessions  

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm  Concurrent Sessions Block 3  

  • Baby Talks 
  • Synergy Circles  
  • Lecture Sessions 
  • CPP Lecture Session 
  • HealthySteps Sessions 
  • Leadership Lab, part 3 of 3 

3:30 pm – 4:00 pm  Break and Transition to Plenary  

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm  Keynote  

5:00 pm  Conference Adjourns  

Explore Pre-Conference Programming

Explore four powerful pre-conference sessions designed to help you navigate today’s most pressing shifts in early childhood systems and practice.

  • Honoring Voices to Drive Change: Turning Lived Experience into Action
  • Digital Decisions: How Technology Is Reshaping Early Childhood and Family Support
  • Transformational Play in Child-Parent Psychotherapy
  • Showing Up in Challenging Times: Trust, Boundaries, and Compassion in Pediatric Care

Join us to deepen your practice, strengthen relationships, and lead with clarity in a rapidly changing landscape.

Pre-Conference Programming

Seven Unique Ways to LEARN

With seven unique session types to choose from, fully curate your LEARN Conference experience in a way that matches your early childhood professional development goals.

Plenary and Keynote Sessions

Plenary and Keynote Sessions bring the full LEARN Conference community together for inspiring, innovative, and engaging presentations (include introductory comments and special awards = 1 hour) 

Leadership Labs

3-part* focused, practical sessions designed specifically for IECMH and ECE leaders culminating in actionable plans (span 3 concurrent breakout blocks = 3 hours total) 

*Ideally, learners participate in all 3 parts of a Leadership Lab, but each part may be taken as a “stand-alone” session 

Issue Intensives

Issue Intensives are 2-part sessions that take a deep dive focus on a topic, process, or issue and explore ways to use and apply the content (span 2 sequential breakout blocks = 2 hours total) 

*Ideally, learners participate in both Issue Intensive sessions, but each part may be taken as a “stand-alone” session

Lecture Sessions

Lecture Sessions present new information or evolving understandings about a specific topic, process, or issue with Q&A incorporated (span 1 breakout block = 1 hour) 

Synergy Circles

Synergy Circles sessions feature three Circles (groups), each focused on the same overarching topic; they are discussion-based sessions that encourage idea exchanges and application considerations with faculty rotating Circles every 20 minutes (span 1 breakout block = 1 hour)  

Baby Talks

Baby Talks are rapid-paced sessions summarizing powerful ideas and teeing-up related questions or considerations for discussion (span 1 concurrent breakout block = 1 hour) 

Poster Presentations

Poster Presentations use text and graphics to share a concise visual presentation of research concepts and questions, studies, and/or findings; or the story of field knowledge, models, processes or other implementation projects, and/or lessons learned.

Poster Presentations will be displayed throughout the LEARN Conference with live Q&A during the lunch break each day.

Browse Posters

Check Out the Schedule

This year’s content will be unique and reflective of the recent early childhood landscape and multi-disciplanary trends. Browse last year’s schedule below to get an idea of the types of sessions featured.

Wall-to-wall WOW

From a jam-packed agenda featuring the brightest voices in early childhood to an exhibit hall where you can connect with the biggest brands eager to help you harness your energy into action, LEARN Conference is the best place to support and enhance the work you do each day.

Register now

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