Training Units

Make Connections provides training units to use with staff and caregivers. The units include group discussion, video, and hands-on activities. Handouts are available in Spanish and in English. You will need a reliable internet connection to download the training units. You do not need internet in the trainings.

To run the trainings, you need:

A computer with Adobe Acrobat Reader 9 or above. You can check what version you have and download Adobe Acrobat Reader here. Make sure to download the training units and open in Adobe Acrobat Reader, not in your browser. See bottom of this page for more information.
If you are training more than two or three people at once, connect your computer to a projector to show the video.
Trainings are designed to be done in a group: discussion is important.
Training in Spanish? Download the training units, and then use these translations of discussion questions and key points.
Translation for training in Spanish — all units

Unit	Time	Topic
Staff pre-survey (optional)	15 min	Staff take pre-survey and learn about caregiver pre-survey.
1. Measurement and Math Talk	45 min	Learn about Make Connections and about how to build children’s math knowledge by talking with them.
2. Exploring and Creating Math	30 min	Investigate how to help children create and discover math through projects and crafts.
3. Storybooks and Math	30 min	Explore ways to combine math and story time.
4. Math Moments with Babies	30 min	Learn how to include math in everyday life with babies—useful for older children too! Learn how to include math in everyday life with babies—useful for older children too!
5. Math Talk with Babies	30 min	Learn how to talk math with babies—useful for older children, too!
6. Math Talk at Home	30 min	Consider how to include math in household activities with children.
Staff Reflection and Post-Survey (optional)	30 min	Staff fill out an end of year survey and reflect on the year with Make Connections.

For information about running trainings, contact doreen.hassan@ymcasv.org.

To use the training unit PDFs:

1. Download the training units to your hard drive. Open Adobe Acrobat Reader, and then open the downloaded training unit or units you wish to use.

2. Check that the videos are working. If you click on “play” and the video does not play, try this:
In Acrobat Reader, go to the top menu > Acrobat > Preferences > 3D & Multimedia. In the 3D & Multimedia menu, click on checkbox, 'Enable playing of 3D content.' It's the first one in the menu. Click okay and quit out of Acrobat. Then, go back to step 1.

3. If 1 and 2 don’t work, please email doreen.hassan@ymcasv.org for help.