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Greetings!
WEEK OF THE YOUNG CHILD!
This year marks the 50th anniversary for Week of the Young Child which is April 10–16. This is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation's largest organization of early childhood professionals with more than 80,000 members and a network of 300 local, state and regional affiliates.
The purpose of the Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs/services that meet those needs.
NAEYC first established the Week of the Young Child in 1971, recognizing that the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children's success in school and later life.
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WE ALL FIT TOGETHER
As a way to celebrate all of the children and staff in our center, we would like to create a puzzle with each piece representing who we are. Please take a puzzle piece home and decorate it with photos, pictures cut from magazines, words or anything else that describes your child. Please return them to the office by Monday, April 19, and watch our puzzle take shape in the entryway!
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SOCCER
We are looking forward to offering soccer for our preschool class this summer. We will either utilize the grassy area near the water tower or our new multipurpose room! I will pass along more information as I receive it.
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FUN DAYS IN APRIL
Because April is such a fun month to celebrate children and early childhood professionals, we thought it would be fun to have some special days mixed in throughout the month. Here they are…
Thursday, April 8 – MN Twins Day
Tuesday, April 13 – Favorite Color Day
Wednesday, April 21 – Pajama Day
Monday, April 26 – Hat Day
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LOOKING AHEAD
EFC will be closed on Friday, May 28, for our Staff Development Day, as well as Monday, May 31, for Memorial Day.
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WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM FROEBEL’S KINDERGARTENS
Community Playthings recently posted an article on its blog about Friedrich Froebel, the founder of Kindergarten, and his philosophies about its purpose. We found the article to be a good reminder of the foundations for early learning. Here are some highlights:
“A good way to begin to understand Froebel’s philosophy is to define the word, Kindergarten. Kindergarten literally means Children’s Garden, which covers Froebel’s concept of ‘a place for children’ as well as his beliefs about child growth, development, and learning (Elkind, 2015). He believed that the best place for young children is a place where the child’s nature can be developed and nurtured…”
Some of Froebel’s critical concepts are:
- Use of the Outdoors
- Importance of Hands-on Learning
- Use of multiple intelligences
- View of early childhood as a unique learning period separate from formal educational
- Nurturing individual growth and development
- Importance of the family
- The value of play
- The importance of creativity
- An understanding of children who struggle in school
- The need to challenge educational orthodoxy
You can read more about each of these concepts here:
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LOOKING AHEAD: SUMMER AT EFC |
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The end of the school year brings so many special traditions to our schools. In a now-familiar refrain, while things still look at bit different as we move through (and closer to the end!) of the pandemic, we hope you and your children will enjoy the activities we have planned – Week of the Young Child, parent/teacher conferences, and end of the year classroom celebrations, and, finally, after a very long winter, some wonderful time outdoors!
For the past several years, we have made our outdoor gardens a central aspect of our summer, and that will continue in 2021. Children will have the opportunity to plant and harvest a variety of foods. They will learn about the life cycle of plants and how to take care of them. And best of all, how good fresh, homegrown fruits and veggies taste!
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In addition to gardening, children will learn and grow through fun and engaging programming developed by their teacher(s). This summer you will notice your child’s teacher highlighting activities and themes that call to mind the best elements of summer and adapt them to the particular interests of children in their classroom. As always, the core elements of our curriculum will remain woven into each day as we continue teaching literacy, science and math skills and supporting children’s social and emotional learning through play, stories, and interactions. Some special classes will return to the centers as well.
We will bring back summer t-shirts this year that reflect the joy and freedom of summer. Please look for ordering information in late spring.
We are so excited to celebrate and enjoy summer with your children. It will be a well-deserved reward for us all!
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Especially for Children
5133 W. 98th St.
Bloomington, MN 55437
(952) 831-1435
Center Director:
Kathy Hane
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