There is Mother’s day, Father’s Day, Plant a Flower Day, and even National Pancake Day. There seems to be a day dedicated to everything in life, big and small. But guess who gets a whole week dedicated to them. Young children! The Week of the Young Child is promoted by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), and is held every year in April. This year, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho of Miami-Dade County Public Schools joined the Principal of the Primary Learning Center and his students to enjoy the Week of the Young Child Celebration, hosted by Miami-Dade County Public Schools Office of Early Childhood Programs and the Primary Learning Center. Student, parents, school board employees and community members enjoyed a day full of interactive activities, food, and musical entertainment in celebration of young children. Check out the press release for last year’s event, and remember to join in next year!

Museum staff from the ECHOS (Early Childhood Hands-On Science) project were also on hand at the event to present ECHOS curriculum, lead hands-on activities, and provide small giveaways to each of the 126 students of the MDCPS Primary Learning Center.

Of course Museum staff also made sure everyone at the event knew about the Museum’s Summer Camp and how to sign up. Need a reminder? You can click here to learn more and to register.

At the 2011 NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) conference in Orlando, keynote presenter Vivian Gussin Paley asked this question: “Who will save kindergarten?” She has decades of experience as an early childhood education researcher and kindergarten teacher, and hopes this question inspires thought and conversation. In attendance were two Museum staff working on ECHOS (Early Childhood Hands-On Science), which is a Museum-developed preschool science readiness curriculum and teacher professional development project. The NAEYC conference is one of the foremost professional development opportunities in the field of early childhood education, and Museum staff were there to take it all in. They participated in a standing-room only Science is Play workshop about how learning environments based on play can be fun and engaging for young learners while still meeting standards and encouraging problem solving and observation skills development… they attended a talk by children’s book illustrator and author Kevin Henkes, who explained his thought processes when designing layouts and illustrations that best serve the purpose of involving children in stories (he also happens to be the author of two books, Birds and My Garden, which are highlighted in our ECHOS curriculum)… they learned about resources and ways to incorporate technology into education settings… and tons more. As keynote presented Vivian Gussin Paley suggested in her presentation, “it is time to reinvent the garden of children, and only their teachers can come to the rescue.” Our Museum staff, and all others in attendance at NAEYC, are doing their best to aid in the rescue effort.