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Creating Environments for Wee Ones: A Luminous Design Approach
Thursday, June 4, 2026 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT
Presented by Dr. Sandra Duncan, International Specialist on Designing Environments for Young Children
Moderated by Rebecca Berlin, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Intellectual Properties, Kaplan Early Learning Company, and President, Gryphon House Publishing
Sponsored by Kaplan Early Learning Company
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Adult awareness often works like a spotlight: we can zoom in on a task, ignore distractions, and move with laser focus toward clear goals. Unlike an adult, a young child’s awareness is closer to a lantern—broad, less filtered, and open to whatever is happening nearby.
Drawing on developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik’s research, this edWebinar explores the idea that as we learn more, our attention and focus narrow. If this is true (i.e., knowing more means seeing less), we may be designing spaces with an adult spotlight mindset, unintentionally creating environments that feel too rigid, overly structured, or institutional—even for infants and toddlers.
Luminous Design challenges you to step away from the adult spotlight and gravitate toward the child’s lantern mode. It offers a fresh lens for shaping environments that listen to the child’s awareness and perspectives. Luminous Design calls for a shift in pedagogical practice and traditional environmental design by sharing several essential design strategies and three important lessons from (1) lobsters, (2) chickens, and (3) ocean waves.
This edWebinar is of interest to infant and toddler teachers.
About the Presenter
Dr. Sandra Duncan works to assure the miracle and magic of childhood through indoor and outdoor play spaces that are intentionally designed to connect young children to their early learning environments, communities, and neighborhoods. Dr. Duncan is an international consultant, author of seven books focused on the environmental design of early childhood places, designer of four furniture collections called Sense of Place for infants, toddlers, preschool, and school age, as well as adjunct faculty at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Duncan has designed and taught university courses on built learning environments (Association for Learning Environments and Walden University) and has collaborated with architects, interior designers, landscape architects, and educators to create extraordinary places and possibilities for children and students of all ages.
About the Moderator
Dr. Rebecca Berlin has a B.A. in American government and English from Georgetown University, an M.A. in infant and toddler special education from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in education policy, leadership, and foundations from the University of Virginia. She is recognized as an industry expert and leads many transformative early childhood initiatives throughout the United States. Dr. Berlin has previously served as Executive Director of the Parenting Translator Foundation, Chief Learning Officer at Start Early, and Chief Strategy Officer of Teachstone. She has been an early childhood special education teacher, an inclusion teacher, an autism specialist, and a school administrator. Dr. Berlin is the Senior Vice President of Intellectual Properties at Kaplan Early Learning Company and President of Gryphon House, Inc. She lives in Charlottesville, VA and serves on the school board of Albemarle County Public Schools.
Learn more about earning a CE certificate and our accessibility features.
Join the Practical Strategies for Early Learning community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
For more than 50 years, Kaplan Early Learning Company has been a champion for play. From our research-based curricula to enriching classroom environments and innovative technology solutions, Kaplan’s products and services inspire a lifelong love of learning in children and educators. We are architects of learning good and defenders of the imagination. We live for inseparable bonds and open minds. We encourage the eager and inspire the inspirers. We transform lives through play.
