2025 Sixpence Child Care Conference

You are invited to join us in Kearney on Saturday, May 31 for the 2025 Sixpence Child Care Conference. The Conference is for Sixpence Child Care Partnership Coaches, Program Coordinators, and their Childcare Partner Programs and Center-based teachers and support staff.
This year's conference theme is "Quality Care, Big Impact - Making a Difference for Nebraska's Littlest Ones," and includes a keynote speaker, 4 breakout sessions, and lunch. Professional headshots will also be offered between 8 and 11 a.m. Register Now!
Where: ESU 10, 76 Plaza Blvd, Kearney, NE 68845
Date: Saturday, May 31, 2025
Time: 8 a.m-3 :30 p.m. (Lunch Provided)
All attendees receive a free Sixpence t-shirt! Click here to learn more.
Keynote Speaker Anne Meeker Watson

ANNE MEEKER WATSON, Ph.D., MT-BC, is the founder of the sing.play.love. program. Through her writing, product development, and workshops, she shares information about the benefits of music and play to support early learning and kindergarten readiness and gives easy and practical strategies for embedding both into the daily lives of young children. Her program is being used all over the country and across the globe, including India, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
Anne has taught music to students from preschool through college levels. She received the Excellence in Teaching award given by the Learning Exchange, Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and the Kansas City Star. She was a commission member of the Vision 2020 Housewright Symposium on the Future of Music Education sponsored by the Music Educators National Conference.
Anne’s specific research interests are the use of music for helping with the social-emotional and communication skills of young children. She has been invited to share her work on social-emotional development at the National Training Institute Addressing Young Children with Challenging Behaviors. Her research on music to support early language was published in the International Journal for Research in Music Education. She is the author of the popular Baby Sing & Sign book series (Perseus Books Group) and SING & SIGN for Young Children: A Guide for Early Childhood Professionals (Brookes Publishing, 2021).
She is a frequent trainer and presenter across the country, including conference presentations for the National Center for Parents as Teachers, National Head Start Association, Division of Early Childhood, Zero to Three, NAEYC Institute, the National Association for Music Education, and the American Music Therapy Association.
Her music for children earned National Association of Parenting Publications and Parent’s Choice Honors awards.
She enjoys kayaking, snacking, and hanging out in Southern Missouri in her tiny cabin with her husband, Phil, and their two dogs. You will often find her dancing and belting old Motown tunes in her kitchen while baking bread. And, importantly, she believes the world would be a much better place if everyone would just take an afternoon nap.