LEWISTON, Idaho – The Lewis-Clark State College Early Childhood Development program and the college’s childcare program, KinderCollege, are partnering to celebrate Week of the Young Child on April 10-16.
Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the world’s largest education association with nearly 60,000 members and 51 affiliates. The week celebrates young children and their families with hands-on collaborative activities that encourage movement and healthy lifestyles through music, food and art.
At LC State, there will be themed days that KinderCollege has planned during the week to help raise awareness of the importance of early childhood education. The daily themes, which will include a variety of COVID-19 protocol compliant activities, include:
- Music Monday: LC student Emily Crawford will play the trumpet while children dance outside to a "Move and Stop" song at 9:45 a.m. near the KinderCollege building on the LC campus. Studies show that when children sing, dance and listen to music, it helps develop their language and early literacy skills. Also KinderCollege students will have a group art project on display at the LC Center for Arts & History, located at 415 Main St. in Lewiston.
- Tasty Tuesday: Children will learn the importance of healthy eating and make peanut butter banana pancakes in the shape of bears for a morning snack at 9 a.m. The goal is to show cooking together connects math, literacy skills and science as well as builds social and emotional skills.
- Work Together Wednesday: Children will work together on a scavenger hunt around the LC State campus at 2 p.m. The goal is by having children work together, it helps with them explore their math and science concepts and develop social and early literacy skills.
- Artsy Thursday: Child care programs throughout the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, including KinderCollege will have children paint branches and glue pom poms to the branches at a collaborative project. Sydney Beeson, senior at LC State in the Early Childhood program, will design labels on cans that will hold the children’s artwork. Their works will be displayed throughout the LC campus.
- Family Friday: Parents will be encouraged to bring family photos that can be displayed in their classrooms and children will create cards for their parents at the end of the day.
All events will follow LC State COVID-19 protocols, which include the requirement of wearing face coverings at all times on campus and the Center as well as social distancing.
KinderCollege works closely with the Early Childhood Program at LC State to help establish a curriculum that seeks to address the needs of each child. Lessons are a balance of child-directed and teacher-directed activities, individual and group activities, and quiet and active times.
For more information on Week of the Young Child at LC State, contact either Alex Cheney, director of KinderCollege, at [email protected] or 208-792-2254; or Alicia Robertson, associate professor of the Early Childhood Development program, at either [email protected] or 208-792-2619.