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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Spring is the perfect time to turn a new leaf and register for a workshop! |
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PLC: Sharing How We Promote Outdoor Learning
A professional learning circle - or PLC - is comprised of a group of educators that meets regularly, shares expertise and works collaboratively to learn from one another. With support from experienced moderators, this PLC will offer the opportunity for participants to share with one another some of their favorite practices for promoting outdoor learning in the Pre-K & Kindergarten classrooms.This is our final PLC Zoom session provided during the winter and spring that will serve as a platform to share and exchange ideas. Our PLCs are designed for teachers, teacher assistants, administrators, directors and other early educators.
Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm
Registration: Free, but registration is required
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Have you secured your spot in the Summer Institute yet?
Inspire Children's Play with Loose Parts
We are thrilled to kickoff our Summer Institiute with Miriam Belogovsky, author of Loose Parts, who will be presenting an exciting new webinar.
Loose parts are natural or synthetic found, bought, or upcycled materials—acorns, hardware, stones, aluminum foil, fabric scraps, for example—that children can move, manipulate, control, and change within their play. Loose parts are alluring and beautiful. Loose Parts capture children's curiosity, give free reign to their imagination, and encourage creativity. Dr. Belogovsky will provide inspiration and information about the ways everyday materials can support open-ended learning, enhance play, and empower children. She will demonstrate the immense educational and developmental benefits afforded by loose parts, and provide a framework that will guide and inspire educators and parents.
The first twenty-five registrants will be entered in a raffle to win a copy of Loose Parts, Inspiring Play in Young Children. Two registrants will win this inspiring book. Register today for a chance to win!
Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Time: 9:00am – 12:00pm
Registration: $35
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Loose Parts at the Long Island Children's Museum
Join the staff at the Long Island Children’s Museum and learn to apply the principles of Loose Parts with some hands-on learning! This in-person program will take place at the Long Island Children’s Museum in Garden City. Enrollment is limited. This session is only open to registered participants.
Date: Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Time: 9:00am – 11:00pm
Registration: $20
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Pyramid Model Training
Are you looking for new research-based ways to reduce challenging behaviors and promote social-emotional competence in your early childhood classroom? The Pyramid Model, developed by the Center for Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning at Vanderbilt University, is a framework for developing a positive classroom environment. Enrollment is limited. This in-person workshop will take place at the Child Care Council of Suffolk in two sessions on July 20 and 27 from 9:30am to 1:00pm. Participants must attend both sessions.
Dates: Wednesdays, July 20 and July 27, 2022
Time: 9:30am – 1:00pm
Registration: Free, but registration is required. Please note that registration for both Pyramid sessions will close on July 7, 2022.
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How to use art to calm children |
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The simplest of art activities can help children express their feelings, an act that is especially important in stressful times. As we near the end of the school year, children and educators are understandably filled with mixed emotions. After all, so much about our time is unpredictable. Educators have seen children overwhelmed, anxious and worried.
In an article in Edutopia, author Lori Desautels speaks of the many ways in which these feelings can be scary, and how they can manifest in different forms. Through protecting children by not addressing these feelings, Desautels says that educators actually create added anxiety. When young people hear yelling, doors slamming, or sobbing, they begin to feel tension in their bodies. These emotions are often contagious.
“Students are resilient in their personal responses when adults are authentic and honest, and explain what lies beneath behaviors,” she says. “Students benefit when the environment is calm and collaborative.” This is why she believes in using art to create predictable and safe practices where learning occurs. “The integration of art activities and practices can create a sense of safety and comfort, reducing stress.”
Art allows us to talk about how it is hard to think when we are angry or sad. It also helps us to share stories about when we were lonely or hurt. Here are some easily adaptable art activities that can help children express themselves:
1. What Do My Colors Say? Have children fill paper with lines, colors and shapes for a few minutes. Ask questions about which colors are angry, or what they would name their art. You might even ask how their images are like them and how they are different.
2. Mapping My Favorite Place: Children can draw their versions of a map to a real or imagined place using colors, shapes and symbols. Ask them about the sights, sounds, smells and colors. Inquire as to who they trust in this place. What makes it feel calming or exciting there? Might they go there in their minds when they feel upset?
3. Colors of My Heart: Each child should draw a silhouette of a heart, and choose three or four colors that represent emotions and sensations that they may be feeling. “If students feel comfortable, they may share the colors of their heart with a partner,” says Desautels.
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Get little hands dirty with mud and math activities |
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Messy learning is always fun. Try these mud math activities provided by Demme Learning. You can even control the mess by setting up an area outdoors that may easily be hosed down. Have little ones bring and change into old clothes, and you may follow suit. Create your own Messy Mud Pie Café!
Materials:
- Dirt
- Large basin of water
- Measuring tools – teaspoons, tablespoons, measuring cups, liquid measures, kitchen scale, bathroom scale
- Old pie pans, muffin tins, or small flat containers
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Rolling pin (optional)
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Natural “decorations” such as flowers or twigs (optional)
Instructions:
To create your mud pies, combine approximately 75 percent mud and
25 percent sand in a large container. Slowly add the water until it is moist and moldable. Use the rolling pin or just your hands to roll out the mud into pies. Form the “pies” in a muffin tin, old pie pans, or small flat containers. Decorate them with items from your environment, such as flowers, twigs, pine cones, or stones. Put them in the sun to “bake.”
Talk about the time it will take for the mud pie to “bake” (or dry out). Record the guesses. Then check back in at regular intervals. Take pictures to record how the mud pies are baking.
While the pies are “baking,” consider the following activities:
1. Measuring Mud. Use remaining mud to look at different weights and measurements. Talk about what it means to have half a cup and one whole cup. Place two containers next to each other to compare the amount of mud.
2. Weighing Mud. Try weighing mud. Have children estimate the weight of the mud.
3. Measuring Water. Find volume with remaining water. Use different-sized and different-colored containers to estimate which will hold the most water.
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Inspire children’s artwork with picture books |
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Children enjoy completing tasks in which they are confident. For many of them, this affects the type of artwork they are willing to try. In an article in Brightly, Lindsay Barrett writes of how she has seen many artsy trends go viral, whether they involve cool rainbows or toilet paper-tube structures. Soon other children are creating similar pieces.
Barrett says that her favorite way to enourage chidlren’s artistic abilities is to have them model their crafts after picture book illustrators’ work. “Because it’s made for kids, imitating picture book artwork can feel more attainable than other art forms,” she says. The following are a few of the books she suggests sharing with children:
1. A Narwhal and Jelly Book Series, by Ben Clanton. The line-drawn characters in these books are minimal, and perfect for showing children that artwork doesn’t need to be detailed. They may use wiggly lines instead of straight lines for tentacles, or dashed lines around a person’s head to show anger.
2. Stuck, by Oliver Jeffers. The illustrations in this book show that an unconventional color scheme can be a cool design statement. Trees can be pink or blue, and still be intentionally drawn that way. A quick crayon scribble can be a grassy park, or a scribble of grey can be a platform for characters.
3. My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks, by Hanoch Piven. A young girl draws her family. She is not satisfied with her traditional portrait, so she reworks it until she has used paint, and found items to make it come alive. Mommy is “as soft as the softest fluff,” and her baby brother is “as sweet as candy.” Educators can clean out their own junk drawers to help empower children to create their own unique portraits.
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Words Matter Discussion Series
National Training & Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) hosts this series in which they engage in open and authentic discussions about the impact of common terminology used in child-serving systems with those who are directly affected. Their goal is to illuminate how the terms we use can influence perception, approach, and practice, as well as explore alternative language as a means of intentionally shifting how we view and interact with youth, families, and each other.
Date: Thursday, May 12, 2022
Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Location: Virtual, both on Zoom and Facebook Live
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Strengthening the Continuum of Care from Early Childhood Through Graduation and Beyond
The transition from early childhood programs to K-12 education is stressful for caregivers and educators alike. The National Training & Assistance Center will help you connect, create partnerships, and strengthen the continuum of care from early childhood settings to
K-12 classrooms and beyond. They are supported in learning by leading early childhood and mental health professionals from around the nation.
Date: Friday, May 13, 2022
Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Location: Virtual
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Pathways to Mental Health, Wellness, and Healing
Virtual Event
The National Center on Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety (NCHBHS) is celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month. This
20-minute Facebook Live event features a prerecorded video with NCHBHS moderators on hand to answer your questions in the chat. They are raising awareness about mental health and reducing barriers to bias. Join to hear perspectives on mental health support and healing within historically marginalized communities. In the face of adversity and exclusion, these populations have created and sustained strategies to promote mental health, healing, and wellness. This event elevates the importance of understanding, affirming, and supporting non-dominant ways of responding to mental health challenges in Head Start programs.
Date: Friday, May 13, 2022
Time: 4:00pm
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How Does Educator Well-Being Impact
Social-Emotional Awareness in Schools?
Virtual Event
Join Education Week to explore how adult well-being is key to promoting healthy social-emotional behaviors for children. Teachers are dealing with unprecedented levels of stress. Learn how you can provide them with much needed support. Get action steps for helping your school community thrive.
Date: Friday, May 20, 2022
Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm
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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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