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Here's the latest news from The Long Island Pre-K Initiative, your source for
expert training and useful resources:
www.nassauboces.org/pre-k
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Guarding the essence of early ed during a pandemic: How can we stay social when there's distance?
That's the question asked--and answered--by the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC). A few weeks ago, CCFC hosted a live webinar for parents, only to find questions streaming in from teachers, center directors and other early educators. So it put together an hour-long webinar, moderated by CCFC's Jean Rogers. It features experts Nancy Carlsson-Paige and Kisha Reid. They share their insights and
experiences and also answer questions.
"We don't want to push the screen time, but we do want to connect with the children," says Reid, who is a teacher and preschool director. So she starting thinking about "what do they need right now that I can offer them? A sense of normalcy, a sense of safety, and that relationship and connection. These are the foundation of everything we do. So with that knowledge, I felt okay doing video."
In her online interactions with students, Reid goes for quality over quantity--"short, sweet, rich and interactive." She gives the example of inviting children to find their favorite thing and share it, which led to them running around their homes to fetch an item. "The thing is to keep the interactivity...to get three dimensions...so we can all feel the same thing at the same time."
Carlsson-Paige reminds everyone that we're using screens now "because it's what we've got," and praises initiatives that are motivators to get children outside like the teddy bear (or rainbow) scavenger hunts that are happening in neighborhoods across the U.S. "Another way kids are staying connected is through chalk drawings on sidewalks. We don't want them to lose the social and emotional relationships."
Carlsson-Paige also recommends a downloadable set of resources Guidance for Supporting Children through COVID-19 prepared by Defending the Early Years (DEY).
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HEADLINES
Comptroller releases study on child care in Nassau County--making it affordable is crucial
"America's first suburb has gone from being one of the most affordable places in the nation to raise a family to one of the least." So begins a just-released report on child care costs prepared by the Policy and Research Unit at the Nassau County Comptroller's Office.
The report was begun earlier this year--before COVID-19. Now, it says, its findings are even more valuable. "With COVID-19 exacerbating this challenge, and even shedding light on how dependent many already were on our education system to effectively serve as child care, the critical look the unit took and solutions presented are even more relevant."
We hope to offer a more in-depth reaction to the report in the future, but we wanted to share it with you as soon as it was available.
Click here
for an infographic/fact sheet that highlights some disturbing statistics--for example only 9.4% of New York families have access to "affordable" child care according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services standards.
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CORONAVIRUS AND KIDS
Are the masks freaking out a young child you know? Here's why and how to help
It's not until they're around the age of 14 that children are as skilled as adults at recognizing the structure of a face, even when half of it is covered. So it's not surprising that some of them--especially younger ones--are disconcerted or even frightened by seeing so many people wearing masks these days.
Writing for the New York Times last week, pediatrician Perri Klass interviewed experts in child development, including Kang Lee, who has studied the development of facial recognition skills in children. Lee explains that children younger than 6 tend to focus on an individual feature---the nose, the shape of the eyes--rather than taking in the face as a whole. "So friends and neighbors--seen from a distance--who are wearing masks may look more unfamiliar to children than they do to adults."
Another expert, Catherine J. Mondloch, explains that young children aren't as skilled as adults at getting information from faces--emotion, for example, as well as identity. By putting on masks, we've "made it especially difficult for children to read emotional signals, which is, again, unsettling and disconcerting."
Here's some advice from the experts:
- For a parent, put the mask on and off a few times, "so the child sees it's still daddy."
- If you're wearing a mask, be sure to explain yourself clearly and tell the child if there's a problem.
- Make a superhero connection, "We can be superheroes and protect other people from germs by wearing these masks for a while."
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NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
Here on Long Island, new resources for parents and teachers
Docs for Tots/Help Me Grow--Long Island announces a new partnership with Bright by Text, an evidence-based messaging service that sends texts to parents with information to help foster healthy child development. "In addition to expert content from PBS, Vroom, Sesame Street and the CDC, Bright by Text includes messages about information and resources specific to the Long Island community," says Melissa Passarelli, Director of Programs for Docs for Tots. To sign up, families can text HMG to 274448.
Long Island Children's Museum is live--via Facebook. LICM at home offers brand-new episodes on Saturdays. Sessions include activities such as musical instruments to make at home, live animals and games. You can view the archived March 28 episode
For all the museum's new virtual experiences--and links to other fun resources,
follow LICM on Facebook.
Free virtual P.D. from Nassau BOCES
includes
Preparing for the "Next Normal" when Students Return to Our Buildings.
There are multiple sessions;
click here for more information. (Workshops are sponsored by Curriculum and Instruction.)
Western Suffolk BOCES has been offering free online workshops
with Sarah Cordova:
Picture Books that Promote Inclusion and Build Community
. The next session is scheduled for Monday, April 27 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Register now--they've been filling up fast.
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About Us
The Long Island Pre-K Initiative is a collaborating partner in the state-funded Regional Technical Assistance Center, which supports Pre-K and early childhood education on Long Island. The other collaborating partners are the three Long Island BOCES, the Child Care Council of Nassau, Inc., the Child Care Council of Suffolk, Inc. and the Family Leadership Network.
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NASSAU BOCES
71 Clinton Road, Garden City, NY 11530-9195
Phone: (516) 396-2220 Fax: (516)-396-2355
www.nassauboces.org
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