CELEBRATE CHILDREN!

Rediscover the Child in You

CELEBRATE CHILDREN!
Testimonials


Workshop Handout One
Workshop Handout Two
Download Workshop Proposal
*Download printable PDFs

DESCRIPTION:
Exercise your mirth muscles, let your hair down, and allow your inner child to come out and play! Join Sharron as she shares a cornucopia of practical and playful ideas; including music, movement and creative activities to help you live, love, laugh, and learn with children. Discover how to create a nourishing environment where children and adults can flourish and reach their potential.

OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES:

  • Explore the vision of "childhood" not "school" as the framework of an early childhood program.
  • Learn how to coordinate activities and experiences that nurture both socialemotional development and the intellect.
  • Discover play's benefits in building the foundation for life-long learning.

BENEFIT TO CONFEREES & CHILDREN:
Attendees will experience the power of laughter and play and discover how essential it is to all learning and creativity. Participants will be asked to retrieve memories of their own play as young children and remember what childhood fun was like. Lots of play at an early age enables children to develop the wide, integrated foundation required for future academic success. It also will develop in our children a love of learning. With close observation, teachers can refocus, see the value of childhood, and remember why they wanted to be a teacher.

SUMMARY:
With the growing emphasis on standards, outcomes, and accountability in early childhood education, teachers are more likely to pay attention to issues that seem more closely related to academics and "school readiness." We need to remember what children haven't forgotten--play is the brain's favorite way of learning. Piaget and constructivist theory tells us that young children learn most things by playing with objects and people. In play children build their understandings of the world and develop their bodies, minds, imagination, language, and social skills. The teacher's role, then, is to set the stage for play and observe for interests, skills, and emerging understandings. Grasping the significance of play helps us see inside the child's world and appreciate the impact playing has on development and learning. How we teach is more important than what we teach. Children need playful adults in their lives, teachers who will model the importance of play to living.

AUDIO/VISUAL:
Power for ipod and speaker system
Wireless lavaliere microphone

FORMAT:
Lecture/ Demonstration/ Involvement