Upon the foundation of play all human intellect is built. Play fuels curiosity and satisfies the yearning to know how the world works and how it is organized. Play is the tool in the great architect's hand to structure each human mind in a way that is uniquely their own. As adult care-givers for children we must honor the work children do during play and stand ready to provide the next thing they need to continue building!
3 hours of Child Development and 3 hours of Curriculum
Training Description:
During play children are actively building both the structure and connectivity of their neural systems. The very foundations for logic concepts used to learn language, literacy, math and science skills are intertwined with this simple activity. Without play, we could never become thinking, reasoning adults.
The evidence of children's predictable play behaviors is all around us. Learn to look at children's play with an eye for its characteristics; see each of the four phases of childhood play behavior and what developmentally advantageous play looks like.
1.5 hours of Professionalism and 1.5 hours of Curriculum
Training Description:
Effective play does not just happen! The play space must be thoughtfully prepared with each specific child in mind. Each child is unique and so is his play progression. These skills will help to attract children to productive play.
Children love to build because building is learning. Participants will learn how to select common and inexpensive materials and then place these things in the play environment to keep children building their intellectual ladder of success.
Children's control of their behavior is often conditional and what happened last night, this morning or two seconds ago affects their choices. As we work with children to inspire self-control there are techniques and skills we can use along the way to help guide them. These are easily mastered practices you can implement the very next day after the workshop in your own center. This session covers the behavior of children from babies through school-age.
Storytelling can be the best way to give children new information, introduce concepts and show how story characters face problems and resolve them. Learn how to get ready for a story with "a story frame of mind" before the story begins, hold their attention throughout the story and reinforce the storyteller's purpose by using various ways to retell stories with children.
1.5 hours of Professionalism and 1.5 hours of Safety
Training Description:
For children to be safe outdoors, playground safety must be given routine attention before children arrive on the playground! Explore the topics that assure a safe playground and begin the creation of a playground supervision plan.
Like links in a chain, during play children actively connect language to the concepts they are beginning to understand. Coupling language and play, we can empower children to reach the next link of literacy skill!