Week of the Young Child - April 24-28, 2017

The Week of the Young Child™ is an annual celebration hosted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) celebrating early learning, young children, their teachers and families.     

 

We're so excited for a week long celebration of our youngest learners! Start planning your celebration today with event ideas and activities below!

Music Monday!   April 24, 2017 Sing, dance, celebrate, and learn Through music, children develop math, language, and literacy skills - All while having fun and being active! This year, make up and record your own unique version of a song or write your own, and share it on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17. TRY THIS: Find the beat to connect music, movement, and math. Practice clapping, drumming, or stomping to the beat of the music while counting.

Music resources for families and teachers

NAEYC For Families also has a great collection of family-friendly songs and musicians to inspire more ways to learn with music!

Tasty Tuesday   April 25, 2017 Healthy eating and fitness at home and school This fun, food-themed day is about more than just cheese and crackers. Cooking together connects math with literacy skills, science, and more. With the rise in childhood obesity, you can encourage healthy nutrition and fitness habits at home and in the classroom. Create your own healthy snacks and share the recipes and photos of your creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17.  TRY THIS: Measure your ingredients while making your snacks! Ask children if they’d like the same or different amounts of each ingredient. For more fun ideas on how to incorporate cooking into your classroom activities, check out how one NAEYC-accredited center prepared for the day! Cooking and nutrition resources for families and teachers Download the Week of the Young Child Taco Cookbook! Work Together Wednesday   April 26, 2017 Work together, build together, learn together When children build together they explore math and science concepts and develop their social and early literacy skills. Children can use any building material—from a fort of branches on the playground to a block city in the classroom, or a hideaway made from couch pillows at home. Build and share pictures of children’s creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or Twitter using the #woyc17 hashtag. TRY THIS: Practice organizing blocks by size! Try building a block tower with large blocks on the bottom and little blocks on top! 'Building Together' resources for families and teachers Artsy Thursday   April 27,2017 Think, problem solve, create Children develop creativity, social skills and fine motor skills with open-ended art projects where they can make choices, use their imaginations, and create with their hands. On Artsy Thursday celebrate the joy and learning children experience when engaged in creative art making. Use any materials—from crayons to paint, clay to crafts! Create and share a photos of your children’s creations on NAEYC's Facebook page or Twitter using the #woyc17 hashtag. TRY THIS: Bring art outdoors! Offer dark and light paper, chalk and pastels, and suggest children create their own versions of the day and night sky! Open-ended art resources for families and teachers Family Friday   April 28, 2017 Sharing family stories Engaging and celebrating families is at the heart of supporting our youngest learners. NAEYC applauds family members’ role as young children’s first and most important teachers.  Share pictures and stories about your family on NAEYC's Facebook page or post to Twitter using the hashtag #woyc17 as we celebrate the unique role families play in their children's learning and development. TRY THIS: Invite parents for a Family Friday breakfast, where children can prepare and share breakfast treats with their families! Resources for engaging and celebrating families

FREE Common Core, digital resources

Okay, you know how much we like FREE or in this case Federal Registry for Education Excellence (FREE) ---- check out the resources listed by subject (Arts & Music, Health and Physical Education, Language Arts, Math, Science, U.S. History topics, U.S. time periods, World Studies) or by standards (Common Core Mathematics, Geography Education Standards, Science Education Standards) ---- activities, games, curriculum, lessons plans, professional development, challenges, and more ---- check out the article below which was featured in MY eSchool News on July 16th, 2013: 

The Federal Registry for Educational Excellence (FREE) makes it easier to find digital teaching and learning resources created and maintained by the federal government and public and private organizations.

About the new Beta version

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has introduced a new version of FREE, which is powered by the Learning Registry—an open database for sharing digital learning resources. It runs on a custom version of WordPress, an open source content management system. The new FREE incorporates a responsive design to best serve customers who access FREE from mobile devices.

The new FREE is a work in progress, as the DOE is mapping more and more resources to national and state standards and envisions adding more social features to the site in the future.

The DOE welcomes your feedback and ideas! Contact the Department at FREE@ed.gov or on Twitter @FreeResources.

Background on FREE

FREE was conceived in 1997 by a federal working group in response to a memo from the President. The site was launched a year later. It was redesigned and relaunched for the first time in November 2006 and again in June 2013.

Federal agencies, if you’re looking to involve teachers in developing teaching resources, see  lessons learned.

FREE is maintained by the Office of Communications and Outreach and the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education in partnership with the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative.

NAEYC for Families Web site!

 

NAEYC has launched a new web site For Families!  Check out the web site which offers resources that can be use in working with young children and families and that families can use!  There is research-based information about children's learning and development that families can trust and use.  The Families Today section is a column by Drs T. Berry Brazelton and Joshua Sparrow about the meaning behind young children's behaviors, the Learning & Development section offers activities for Child Development, Reading & Writing, and Music, Math & and More!  In addition you can find child care/preschools and a blog!  Make sure to share this web site with others!