The Long Island Pre-K Initiative is proud to be part of Long Island's Regional Technical Assistance Center for Pre-K and Early Education. Visit its web page for links to all partner organizations. Many have important COVID-19-related resources to offer: www.nassauboces.org/rtac
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Only a few seats left! Register now for
"Best Practices for Teaching Pre-K & K"
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November 2, 2021
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Online via Zoom
A virtual conference for Pre-K and Kindergarten Educators - Teachers, Teacher Assistants, Administrators, Directors and Early Educational Practitioners.
Registration: $75 per person
**Great news! This conference has been approved for OCFS credit and for EIP funding for those eligible. All of those who attend the full conference will receive a certificate for 6 hours of CTLE and OCFS credit!
Keynote Speakers:
- Bari Koral: Mindfulness, Toe-ga, Kids Yoga for
Social Distancing
- Todd Parr: Love and Tacos
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We thank our generous sponsors for their support! |
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Platinum Level:
Workshop Sponsors
- Becker's School Supplies
- CUNY New York Early Childhood Professional
Development Institute
- Lakeshore Learning Materials
Gold Level: Stenhouse Publishers
Silver Level: Kaplan Early Learning Company
Bronze Level: Baum & Beaulieu, Discount School Supply, Heinemann,
Innovative Health Care Solutions
Scholarship Sponsor: Choice For All
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How preschoolers can learn about science – and love it! |
Every parent and Pre-K teacher knows the phase in a child’s life when they ask “Why?” incessantly. When they are older, they become more afraid of asking questions and/or getting things wrong. Preschoolers don’t understand embarrassment yet. In an article in The 74, Carmelo Piazza, the executive director/educational director of Brooklyn Preschool of Science, writes about how his teachers want their students to get things wrong. In these cases, children will continue to explore and ask “Why?” “Encouraging students to act like scientists frees them to playfully engage this side of themselves and makes them happy to come to school,” says Piazza, who goes on to offer some methods by which educators can incorporate this inquiry-based approach into their classrooms.
Because children love to learn about animals, some of his teachers use mealworms, which metamorphose into beetles. Students use tongs and magnifiers to look at and handle the creatures-this helps with their fine motor skills. They also incorporate math into the lesson when they measure the length of the mealworm by using interlocking plastic counting cubes. Children even create Jackson Pollack-style art by placing mealworms on craft paper covered in paint, and then watch the worms travel over it, making interesting designs along the way.
Piazza writes of a robot called Kibo that incorporates “robotics and computational learning, but instead of coding by cutting and pasting virtually, on a screen, kids move actual wooden blocks, each of which has a command printed on it.” The children then use the robot to scan the blocks and watch their program get set in motion. This teaches them about sequencing while they are playing with blocks.
With early learners, what you teach is as important as how you teach it. Preschoolers won’t sit through long sets of directions or explanations. Children want to touch and hold things! In a lesson about birds and feathers, a teacher showed her Pre-K students how to use an eyedropper to determine how many droplets the feather can absorb. Of course, the children were ecstatic to get their hands on the eyedropper. They immediately started counting droplets as they fell.
These activities and learning modalities make science a universal language. When students do not speak English at home, the “language barrier vanishes when teachers do visual demonstrations and then literally put learning in students’ hands,” says Piazza. Most importantly, teachers should be humorous, because if you can connect all of these subjects with a playful, yet scientific approach, you’ll inspire kids to explore their world.
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Celebrate autumn with these 27 picture books! |
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Cozying up with a fall-themed picture book is a great way to enjoy the season. Lindsay Barrett of WeAreTeachers has compiled a list of 27 great options for children that they won’t want to “leaf” behind. Selections include “Leaf Man” by Lois Ehlert, in which children will follow the journey of Leaf Man and then collect and press fall leaves for their own creations; “Hungry Bunny” by Claudia Rueda, in which Bunny picks apples in the fall so his mother can make apple pie; “The Scarecrow” by Beth Ferry, in which there is an unexpected friendship between a tough scarecrow and a baby crow who needs his help; and “Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn” by Kenard Pak, a great story that will inspire bulletin boards, art and writing projects, or just a simple walk.
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Gender, Sexuality, and the Family in Early Childhood workshops |
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Join the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute for an online adaptation of their professional development sessions.
Session 1: Introduction to Gender in Early Childhood
Date: Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $35
Session 2: Curiosity & Consent: Introduction to Early Childhood Sexuality
Date: Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $35
(Must complete session 1 to participate)
Session 3: Fabulous Families: Engaging and Including LGBTQ+ Families
Date: Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $35
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The Long Island Pre-K Initiative is a collaborating partner in the state-funded Long Island Regional Technical Assistance Center for Pre-K and Early Childhood Education. |
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71 Clinton Rd. Garden City, NY 11530-9195
Phone: 516-396-2220
www.nassauboces.org/pre-k
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