Richard Cohen

Website: www.richardcohen.com

E-Mail Address: Richie11@mindspring.com

Richard Cohen, M.A. has proudly been an early childhood professional for the past 18 years.  

As Vice President, Education of Childtime Learning Centers and Tutor Time Learning Centers, Richard and his team of early childhood education specialists are responsible for overseeing the learning and care needs of hundreds of child care centers, thousands of early childhood professionals and tens of thousands of children and families all over the globe. 

For the past nine years, Richard has been a motivational speaker and trainer, facilitating learning experiences for and delivering keynote addresses to communities of early childhood teachers, administrators, caregivers and parents.  

He currently sits on the board of directors of the National Child Care Association (NCCA) and is featured as the "Early Childhood Education Specialist" columnist for Early Childhood NEWS' "Ask Our Experts" series. 

Most recently Richard served as an early childhood training specialist for the California Institute on Human Services at Sonoma State University.  There he worked with the California Department of Education, Child Development Division on the "Desired Results for Children and Families" Training and Technical Assistance Project.

As Manager of Play Programming at Brookfield Zoo in Illinois, Richard designed a revolutionary, new children's zoo experience, "Explore! A Child's Nature," which won the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's (AZA) 2001 Outstanding Exhibit Award.  

Richard has also served as the Associate Director of Education at  Kohl Children's Museum and as the Early Childhood Staff Trainer at Maryville Academy, a residential shelter for abused, neglected and abandoned children in Illinois. In the position he describes as "the best job of my life,"  Richard taught preschool and kindergarten for three years each.

In recent years, Richard served as an instructor/trainer for the Erikson Institute's professional development series and the Anti-Defamation League's " A World Of Difference" Institute.   Richard was a CDA advisor for Harold Washington College, an NAEYC accreditation facilitator for the Office of Catholic Schools and a teacher supervisor for National Louis University's "Teach For America" elementary education program.  Additionally, Richard was adjunct faculty at Triton College and St. Augustine College in Illinois, teaching "The Theory Of Play," "Creative Activities for the Young Child" and "Child, Family and Community".

In 1999 and 2000, Richard traveled around the world lecturing and studying children's play and play environments in schools, zoos, children's museums, nature centers and adventure playgrounds in California, New York, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Canada, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Scotland, England and Japan.

Richard received his Masters Degree in Human Development from the world-renowned early childhood institution, Pacific Oaks College. He is an active member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the International Play Association (IPA).