* Jane Humphries' experience in the early care and education field has included being a child care director of an NAEYC accredited program, child and parenting specialist, college instructor, researcher, program administrator of several government funded initiatives in Oklahoma, and national speaker. Dr. Humphries earned undergraduate degrees in Family and Child Development, a master's degree in early childhood education, and a doctoral degree in Occupational and Adult Education from Oklahoma State University. She has taught undergraduate and graduate students for over 25 years and has authored several articles and a book co-authored with Kari Rains titled, A Fighting Chance: Supporting Young Children Experiencing Disruptive Change. Dr. Humphries serves as an adjunct instructor at the University of Central Oklahoma and National Louis University, which includes work as the Aim4Excellence Specialist at the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership. She also founded her own company, Creative Educational Strategies & Services, dedicated to providing educators, administrators, parents, and other caregivers with the knowledge and research that supports best practices when working with young children, especially those who need to fiddle to focus, talk and learn. * Kari Rains is a Child Development Specialist with decades of clinical work in the field of child development. She earned her undergraduate degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders and her master's degree in Child Development, both from Oklahoma State University. Working as a clinician for the early intervention program provided in the state of Oklahoma, Kari gained insight and experience working with families in their homes of children born with disabilities or children living with a developmental delay. In this work, Kari has continually striven to find practical solutions for families and early childhood teachers and directors who have few resources within the rural areas of Oklahoma. This includes providing practical solutions to those living and working with children struggling with social and emotional regulation issues. She currently provides early childhood education consultation and in-service training for programs across the state of Oklahoma. Kari is also a mother of a child who was diagnosed ADHD/Sensory Processing, which has allowed her to see first-hand the realities of being a parent and an early childhood professional. She has served as an adjunct instructor and published two books and numerous research articles in the field of child development. Since teaming up with Dr. Jane Humphries in 2013, their mission has been to assist those who work with children and adults who struggle with social/emotional regulation issues. * Linda Nelson, Ph.D., taught at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for 35 years where she is now Professor Emeritus. Her educational background includes degrees from Penn State, Cornell University, and the University of Pittsburgh. These degree programs involved experiences working in or observing each of the university's laboratory preschools. She also studied at the Merrill-Palmer Institute in Detroit, Michigan, and was head teacher of a three-year old group in the Wimpfheimer Nursery School of Vassar College. During her years at IUP, she was a professor of Child Development and Family Relations and authored numerous grants in the Family and Consumer Services area. For several years she was chair of the Human Development and Environmental Studies Department. She was also a training consultant for child care and Head Start programs throughout Pennsylvania and served as a guest speaker and workshop presenter at regional and national conferences. * Alan Nelson, D.Ed., is professor emeritus of Child Development and Family Relations at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. His education included degrees from Grove City College, Westminster College, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He served as the Executive Director of the Indiana County Child Care Program, a Pennsylvania Title XX model program. He also was a member of numerous child care committees at the state level and authored/coauthored successful state and national grants, including a federal Department of Education Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant for IUP. Earlier he worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Educational Research as an Early Childhood Advisor and Field Researcher in language development. Alan also worked for Nova Southeastern University as a Cluster Coordinator for Child and Youth Studies doctoral students. Prior to that, he was a summer preschool teacher in the nursery school at Chautauqua Institution and later established a kindergarten through third grade elementary school guidance program at the Kiski Area School District in western Pennsylvania. He has traveled internationally to study philosophies of preschool programming that relate to the importance of developmentally appropriate play opportunities. * Linda and Alan Nelson worked both independently and together with the goal of helping to improve the day-to-day experiences of children in group child-care settings. Both were active in numerous professional organizations, including the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania chapter of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). They have given many conference presentations on family and child care related topics. In retirement, they continue to contribute to their community as advisors and volunteers with programs for young children.
