Greetings!
We are excited to announce that Kari Kogler is joining our EFC Eagan team as Co-Director. We are thrilled to welcome her to this leadership role. Both Kate and Kari have a passion for serving children and families, and we believe they will be a wonderful team.
Kari has an extensive background in early childhood education, having worked in both child care centers and school district programs. She holds a BS in Elementary Education, a Master’s in Teaching and Learning as well as a pre-primary endorsement. Kari has both leadership and classroom experience, and she is excited to join the EFC family!
NAEYC WEEK OF THE YOUNG CHILD 2022: CELEBRATING OUR YOUNGEST LEARNERS
Join us April 2-8 for a fun-filled week celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers, families, and communities. #WOYC22
Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the nation’s biggest organization of early childhood professionals with more than 100,000 members and a network of 450 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. We will be hosting special events all week in honor of the Week of the Young Child. Each class will participate in the special week:
Music Monday
Tasty Tuesday
Work Together Wednesday
Artsy Thursday
Family Friday
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SPRING!
Spring is finally here! As the warmer weather continues, please also remember that spring can be unpredictable in Minnesota! Please remember to send the appropriate weather clothing for outdoors. It would also be helpful to have at least one set of extra clothes at school, as sometimes clothing can become wet or messy. We bring the children outside as much as possible to run and play!
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SCHEDULED HOURS
Often children and family schedules change as the weather gets warmer. At EFC, we schedule our teacher’s hours based on ratios in the classrooms. If you will have a schedule change (whether just for a day or a permanent change) please let your child’s teacher and/or Kate know so we can schedule accordingly. Also, as a friendly reminder, children’s hours should not exceed 10 hours/day. Thank you!
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SPRING PICTURES
Lifetouch will be at EFC on Wednesday, April 27, for Picture Day!
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CONFERENCES
EFC will host conferences between May 23-June 3. so please watch for the sign-up sheets towards the end of April. We will proceed with virtual conferences via Google Meet, or phone conferences.
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EFC CLOSED—IN-SERVICE DAY AND HOLIDAY
EFC will be closed on Friday, May 27, for our Staff In-service Day, as well as Monday, May 30, for Memorial Day.
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Dr. Carla Gull, an expert on outdoor classrooms and nature play, hosts a podcast called Loose Parts Nature Play (https://loosepartsnatureplay.libsyn.com/) in which she discusses how loose parts play fosters creativity, curiosity, and fun! With spring upon us and April being the month of Earth Day, it is a great time to dig into how we can enhance nature play and help children more fully engage with the natural world around them.
Loose Parts Theory
The theory of loose parts was developed by Simon Nicholson, who wrote:
“In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it.”
In this context, variables are open-ended materials but also include, for example: phenomena such as electricity, magnetism, and gravity; sounds, music, and motion; chemical interactions and cooking. In addition, embedded in Nicholson’s theory is the notion that children should be involved in designing their own environments—contributing to the planning and building, choosing materials, and playing with concepts. If adults have complete control of planning the environment, they have taken all the fun—and inventiveness—out of that process for children.
Loose Parts and Outdoor Play
Children can create their own environments outside when we provide them with materials such as crates, large fabrics, blocks, planks, and stumps, and then allow them the freedom to experiment with and rearrange them. They can then add objects from nature and spend time exploring their properties and testing out different ways to use them.
Last week I had the chance to break open a coconut with my daughters and nephew. We first had to figure out the best tools—at various points in the process we discovered the need for a chisel, a hammer, and our bare hands. We weren’t sure what we would find on the inside—would it be fresh, or had it withered? The hammer made different sounds on different parts of the fruit; the hollow noise gave us a clue that we were not likely to be drinking juice from this particular coconut. Indeed, when we reached the center, we found brown instead of green. While we would not be able to quench our thirst, it was a successful engagement in loose parts play that included investigation, sensory experience, and fun.
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As the weather warms, we hope your child has many opportunities for loose parts nature play. Read more about this theory in the articles below:
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TWIN CITIES
FAMILY EVENTS
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Especially for Children
3370 Coachman Rd.
Eagan, MN 55121
(651) 452-0043
Center Directors:
Bri Dieffenbach and Kate Beck
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