Famed storyteller, illustrator and humanitarian Peter H. Reynolds is keynote speaker for the upcoming 34^th Annual R.T. Garcia Early Childhood Winter Conference Feb. 1, 2020 from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in Houston, Texas. Hosted by Harris County Department of Education, the value-priced, daylong conference held at the Kingdom Builder’s Center, 6011 W. Orem, attracts approximately 1,000 early educators and is one of the largest early childhood conferences in Texas.

Back by popular request is bilingual keynote Dr. Gilberto Soto, music and guitar professor at Texas A&M International. Soto weaves music and movement into instruction and his interactive presentations are generally standing room only.

Breakout sessions provide attendees with innovative ideas in subjects like bilingual education, reading, math, social-emotional learning, fine arts and more. Vendors provide educational materials and novel educator products.

“The beauty of this conference is that many of our presenters are accomplished educators themselves, and they make it easy to take these lessons and materials back into the classroom to use the next day,” said Andrea Segraves, coordinator for the conference and director for the HCDE Teaching and Learning Center.

Reynolds is known for uplifting messages about nurturing creativity in young learners. He wrote and illustrated a trilogy or “Creatrilogy” based on developing the creative spirit called “The Dot, Ish and Sky Color. The Massachusetts native also illustrated “Plant a Kiss,” written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a children’s book which topped the New York Times bestseller list. He owns a homespun bookstore in Dedham, Massachusetts called Blue Bunny Bookstore.

Cost for the conference is $100 before Dec. 1 and $125 afterwards. Register: https://hcde-texas.org/teaching-and-learning-center/ecwc/.