|
||||||
|
The other night I was with a great group of teachers for our local “National Writing Project” Early Literacy Study Group. Each month we start our meeting with a writing prompt. This one was so much fun, I thought I’d share it: “Draw a map of a childhood place where you liked to play. Label [...] A big thank you to The Early Years Institute for the wonderful conference on Friday. The conference, “We Interrupt This Program: Playing and Learning in the Age of Hyper-Media”, brought together many folks fighting the good fight on behalf of children. The Early Years Institute is a young non-profit organization aimed at “helping communities value [...] Here’s hoping your weekend holiday was wonderful – and filled with many chances to play “unplugged”. Yesterday, my family and I spent a few hours taking a walk on trails around a nearby lake. As we walked, the boys, of course, invented a few games to play along the way. Tossing acorns into the lake [...] Today I am packing for Anaheim, CA, where I will be joining friends and colleagues at the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Annual Conference. I’ll be there with other members of TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) and we will be sharing our resources Media and Young Children Action Guide and [...] Yesterday I was lucky enough to come home early from work. “Put your sneakers on,” my sons pleaded. “We can play kickball.” I changed into my play clothes and got outside as fast as I could. We played a few innings of our version of kickball (boys against mom, one-out innings) and had fun. As [...] “I can smell where you’ve been!” I joked with a group of youngsters earlier this fall. These first and second graders were getting off the bus from their field trip to a dairy farm. The ripe cow smell brought back cherished and vivid memories from my days teaching at Mission Hill School in Boston. No, [...]
One thing is for sure: families are hungry for opportunities to play. Yesterday’s Ultimate Block Party in Central Park was a very busy place. Families waded through the crowds and waited on lines for a chance to build, pretend, create and more. My sons were disappointed to be turned away from the [...] Count me as one of the thousands of folks looking forward to Sunday’s Ultimate Block Party in New York’s Central Park. Designed to bring attention to the disappearance of childhood play – and to help everyone understand the value of play – the Ultimate Block Party will draw families to the park with a [...] One of the best new resources I have seen is a powerful video by the Gesell Institute, The Role of Play in the Overly-Academic Kindergarten. The Gesell Institute of Human Development is a non-profit organization located on the Yale campus. Their seven and half minute video is a clear look at what works in [...] As young children across the country start a new school year, and teachers across the country set up learning environments for their young students, many early childhood teachers will look to the HighScope Educational Research Foundation for guidance. HighScope is a well-respected, research based approach to early childhood care and education. The well-known Perry Preschool [...] |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2012 Empowered by Play - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
