Week of the Young Child 2022

Weakley County Schools Launch PAUSE Campaign During Week of the Young Child
Posted on 03/31/2022
This is the image for the news article titled Weakley County Schools Launch PAUSE Campaign During Week of the Young ChildFour years ago, 11 students in Weakley County were considered nonverbal. Today, 30 students are working with school-based Speech/Language Pathologists (SLPs) to address the problem. Digging deeper into the data reveals currently 12 out of 20 preschoolers who qualify for speech services are nonverbal.

Weakley County preschool and special education teachers have joined the SLPs to “turn up the volume” on the issue of early childhood communication. They are launching a new campaign – including online resources and ongoing awareness articles to encourage parents and caregivers to “Take Time to P.A.U.S.E. with Your Young Child.”

Director of Special Education for Weakley County Schools Deborah Perkins convened groups to dig deeper into the increased number of children with communication issues. The consensus of teachers and pathologists is that one contributing factor is the increase in time spent in front of screens.

“Communication disorders are treatable, and some can even be prevented if identified early. Weakley County Schools already collaborates with families on individual education plans when needed. But we would like to assist in prevention by calling attention to fact that even when parents and caregivers offer ‘educational apps’ for children to engage with on phones and tablets, there is a danger that the learning offered is not age appropriate.”

The yearlong emphasis on P.A.U.S.E. asks caregivers to Pay attention to how much time your child is spending in front of a screen; Assess if your child is meeting developmental milestones; Utilize the team of professionals – pediatricians, the health department, schoolteachers and specialists – for help; Save smartphones and tablets for learning activities you can do together; and Engage in play that promotes conversations.
Informative articles and important links such as those to developmental milestones which will help caregivers make note of red flags are already appearing on weakleyschools.com and will be disseminated throughout the campaign. Presentations are planned as well.
Communication is one of several categories of skill-based milestones. Others include fine motor skills, gross motor skills, socialization, adaptive skills, and cognitive or thinking and memory skills. Weakley County preschool teachers recommend the following sites as checklists:
https://pathways.org/all-ages/checklists/
https://mksallc.com/parent-center/child-developmental-milestones-all-ages/

To follow up on concerns, they suggest referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/concerned.html.

The Week of the Young Child® is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the world's largest early childhood education association. This year’s observance is April 2-8.
Recognizing that the early childhood years (birth through age 8) lay the foundation for children's success in school and later life, NAEYC established the week to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.

Karen Fowler, PreK Family School Consultant for Weakley County Schools, helps to organize the week’s activities including themed days and presentations such as the one scheduled for the School Board during the monthly meeting Thursday evening.

The themes for each day include Music Monday with Sharon and Martin preschoolers making instruments and musical guests like Brent Arnold in Greenfield and SRO Jonathan McDowell in Gleason.

Tasty Tuesday focuses on treats like homemade ice cream, fruit salad, or in Gleason, smoothies with WCS Nutrition Director Trista Snider.

Work Together Wednesday has Dresden building with balls and sticks, Greenfield making bubbles, Gleason and Martin pulling and planting, and Sharon enjoying a chance to “Touch at Truck.”

Artsy Thursday will underscore the importance of art with preschoolers as Fowler videos her work with Dresden on process art and Greenfield students spend time with art teacher Jaquelynn Dortch while Gleason learns from Paige Espy. Sharon will paint outside. Martin Primary will get creative as they make kites.

Family Friday encourages families to join in the learning and fun with either bubbles, kite flying, snacks, pizza, or picnics according to the location.

Here is the detailed agenda for the Week of the Young Child:
“MUSIC MONDAY” - MONDAY, APRIL 4TH
Sharon – 9:00 a.m. - Make musical instruments
Greenfield – 8:30 a.m. – Brent Arnold is coming to sing and play the guitar
Gleason – 8:15 a.m. – SRO Jonathan McDowell is coming to sing and play the guitar
Martin Primary – 8:30 - Make musical instruments

“TASTY TUESDAY” - TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH
Dresden – 9:00 a.m. - Making a classroom snack
Sharon – 9:00 a.m. - Homemade Ice cream
Greenfield – 9:00 a.m. – Homemade Ice Cream
Gleason- 8:45 a.m. – Smoothies with Trista Snider
Martin Primary – 8:30 - Make Fruit Salad

“WORK TOGETHER WEDNESDAY” - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6TH
Dresden – 9:00 a.m. - Build Together with balls and sticks
Sharon – 9:00 - Touch the truck (outside)
Greenfield – 9:00 Making Bubbles
Gleason – 9:00 a.m. – Pull up weeds and plant flowers
Martin Primary – 8:30 a.m. - Plant flowers in a cup

“ARTSY THURSDAY” - THURSDAY, APRIL 7TH
Dresden – 9:00 a.m. - Process Art with Mrs. Karen
Sharon – 9:00 - Painting outside
Greenfield – 10:00 – Art with Mrs. Dortch
Gleason- 8:15 a.m. - Art with Mrs. Paige Espy
Martin Primary – 8:30 a.m. - Make kites

“FAMILY FRIDAY” - FRIDAY, APRIL 8TH
Dresden – 1:30 p.m. – Bubbles with Families
Sharon – 10:00 A.M. – Invite families to come fly a kite with us
Greenfield – 1:45 p.m. – Snack with families
Gleason – 1:30 p.m. – Pizza with Parents
Martin Primary – 10:00 a.m. – Picnic with Parents

two children talking on a playground
Young Children Communicate -- By the time children are four, they should be talking in sentences of at least four words. At the end of their day at school, they should be able to talk about at least one thing that happened during the day. One of the best ways to improve communication skills is by engaging in conversations. Hearing language through stories, songs, fingerplays, and in conversations, has a significant impact on language acquisition and communication competence.

young boy blowing on a tower of blocks
Young Children Think -- Cognitive development refers to how children think and develop an understanding of their world around them. During the preschool years, children are gradually developing the capacity for mental representations, reasoning, classification, memory, and other cognitive capacities. Preschoolers will demonstrate this as they listen and recall stories, and create representations of their play with blocks, and other manipulatives.

young girl carrying her lunch tray in cafeteria
Young Children Adapt - Adaptive skills are the cognitive, motor, communication, social, and self-help skills that allow children to be as independent and responsible as is appropriate for their age. In PreK, children begin to gain the independence needed to perform adaptive skills such as dressing on their own, tending to toileting needs, brushing teeth, cleaning up messes, etc. By practicing these skills, children begin to learn more about responsibilities and independence.

three young children watch as teacher shows them something on a tablet
Young Children Socialize -- As children grow through their preschool years, they become social beings, forming close relationships with teachers and peers. Research indicates that children who have close relationships with their teachers are likely to be more interested and engaged in school. As peer interactions increase, they will take on more complex roles and sustain play with others for longer periods of time. All of this leads to better language and literacy skills, self-regulation, and later school achievement.

young boy cuts paper with scissors
Young Children Develop Fine Motor Skills -- During the preschool years, children need many opportunities for open-ended activities to develop fine motor skills. Activities such as placing small beads on sticks or pipe cleaners, drawing, painting, and constructing with building materials, help strengthen hand muscles which will later be needed for using a pencil. By poking, squishing, pounding, flattening, rolling and shaping playdough or clay, a child is working their hand muscles and improving their dexterity in their hands which is necessary for holding and controlling a pencil.

three young girls play with hula hoops in the gym
Young Children Develop Gross Motor Skills -- Gross motor skills include anything that uses large muscles - running, jumping, hopping, walking, and even independent sitting. Gross motor activities are larger movements than fine motor, as they require the use of arms, legs, torso, and feet. As children grow, they are moving through a sequence of gross motor refinement. In PreK, children are given opportunities, both indoors and outdoors, to work their large muscles through activities such as swinging, throwing & kicking balls, balancing, pedaling, climbing, and using hula hoops.

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