Pat's Chats
Written this month by Jessica DePan. Jessica has a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education Pre-k through sixth, a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, and a NYS Teaching Certifiction. She has fourteen years experience in the Childcare field, the last seven as a Director. She has currently assumed the role of Education Specialist, overseeing implementation of curriculum in all five centers and providing specialized training for our teachers. Jessica is also Pat's daughter.
As we welcome summer, I just wanted to take a minute to discuss the importance of outdoor play in Early Childhood. Outdoor play helps to develop skills in all skill areas and is so important that even the daycare regulations require daily outdoor play. Why, you ask? :
Imagine the scene you see as you pick up your little one from outside in the afternoon - Children on bikes, playing with chalk and in houses, hanging from climbers, blowing bubbles and throwing a ball back and forth. They are developing gross motor skills as they pedal, run, throw, climb, bend and jump. They develop fine motor skills as they hold chalk, the ball, and the bubble wand. They are developing hand-eye coordination as they steer, aim, throw, and write.
Language development happens as they decide on rules to games, work through disagreements about turn-taking, and make up stories and imagine. Cognitive development is strengthened through trial-and-error in their new environment and as they learn about cause-and-effect on bikes, with bubbles and as they experiment with wind, puddles, leaves and mud. There is so much learning going on! And they think it's just "play"!
Miss Jessica
Pat DePan,
BS Developmental Psychology
Owner of Care-A-Lot Childcare Centres, Inc. since 1985
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