A Child's Place Learning Center (ACP)

Choosing Courage in a Climate of Fear Here are some excerpts from author Jeffrey Perkins from Choosing Courage in a Time of Fear: ~In these times it can seem as though everything is a reminder that we live with a lot of unknowns. Often these unknowns are connected to a cause for concern and... anxiety. Inundated by media reports chronicling dangers of every size and shape, it is hard not to feel overwhelmed. And yet this constant surveillance for threat, that children hear about in the news or from our own discussion and anxiety, has the potential to teach our children very important, unintended lessons about our world. How can we respond to these threats from a place that acknowledges the reality of the world we live in without giving into fear’s desire to paralyze us? In this climate of fear how can we work with children in ways that don’t further support an overwhelming suspicion about the world? ~We know that children work out their anxieties in their play and that by investigating topics that cause the fears in children, we provide new material for them to make sense out of their experience. When the topics that children are concerned with involve world events, we can still provide opportunities for children to explore. ~There is no doubt that the world is a quickly changing place that provides lots of opportunities for stress and anxiety. Helping young children work with their fears now will help them build the foundation they need for confronting challenges and crises throughout their lives. Perhaps teaching our children courage begins with the simple act of becoming curious about fear. See more

We created a GoFundMe page for ACP, which is pretty cool!! GoFundMe has created the Small Business Relief Initiative to support the local businesses facing financial loss from the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the Initiative, the Small Business Relief Fund will be issuing $500 matching grants to qualifying businesses that raise at least $500 on GoFundMe. You can check out our GoFundMe Campaign here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-child039s-place-learning-cente

Children's Right to Simply Be When the well is dry, we know the worth of water. Benjamin Franklin We live in a world that is undergoing rapid and dramatic change, and our children are being placed under more and more stress, write Patrice Thomas and Wendy Shepherd in the book, Child Development II. Children’s time is now more and more directed by adults, and there is little time for children to contemplate, reflect or simply be Adults readily admit they often transfer the...ir stress reactions (no matter how subtle) onto the children in their care but feel unequipped to incorporate relaxation into their daily routines. While the authors recommend plenty of unstructured time for children, they also discuss the value of helping children experience some simple relaxation exercises. No one needs special skills. Just try! they proclaim. Here’s one example of a simple Tai Chi relaxation exercise (called Sun and Moon Bow) to experience with children: Have children stand with their feet apart, knees slightly bent, arms resting by their sides. Ask the children to form a fist with their right hand this is their ‘sun.’ At the same time, ask the children to form a semi-circle around their ‘sun’ with their left hand this is their moon. Bring the hands to the forehead and make a bow. Ann Pelo, in her beautiful book, The Goodness of Rain, also writes about children’s need to simply be. She extolls the virtue of allowing children silence and reverence, and describes the relationship between the two: I believe that silence space around language is the doorway into reverence: in the presence of the majestic and marvelous, of the wondrous in its minutest detail and its fullest grandeur, we ought simply to be still. ~~~ExchangeEveryDay

6 Places Germs Like to Grow HEALTHY LIVING March 9, 2020 Startling reports about germsfrom coronavirus to colds to bugs hiding out on your phone caseseem to spread faster than the little buggers themselves these days....Continue reading

The Real Reason Schools Are Banning Tagand Why It Should Be a Wake-Up Call for Parents Banning tag. In an age when many believe our society has become too overprotective, it's one phenomenon that's sparked a lot of outrage. Schools outlawing tagreally? A game that's basically ingrained in our biology? A game that's universally loved and can be played by just about anyone? If our kids can't play tag, what can they play?...Continue reading

"One morning a number of my toddlers crowded around the mirror, smiling and laughing as they saw each other’s reflections. At one point they seemed to share a moment of total connection, which sparked exuberant laughter and dancing around in a circle..." writes Deb Curtis in her popular book, Really Seeing Children. "Research shows that children laugh approximately 200 times a day, whereas adults laugh only 15-18 times. People who laugh more are healthier, experience less str...ess, are less likely to be depressed, and may even have an increased resistance to illness or physical problems. The children seem to be on to something that we adults have lost... My observations of children support the research that shows that laughter is less about humor and more about creating social connections, where people build feelings of camaraderie and pay close attention to each other." See more

Progress on the Playground!

Too Much Screen Time Linked to Lower Brain Development "Screen time use by infants, toddlers and preschoolers has exploded over the last decade, concerning experts about the impact of television, tablets and smartphones on these critical years of rapid brain development, writes Sandee La Motte on the cnn.com website.... She explains, Now a new study scanned the brains of children 3 to 5 years old and found those who used screens more than the recommended one hour a day without parental involvement had lower levels of development in the brain's white matter -- an area key to the development of language, literacy and cognitive skills. In the book Literacy: A Beginnings Workshop Book, Leah Curry-Rood reminds us all of the importance of cultivating children’s love of reading from an early age, one way to balance the draw of screen time. She offers a number of tips for early educators and families to help aid children’s healthy literacy development. Here are just a few: Read stories aloud every day, any time, any place Travel with books... [This one is especially for families, as she recommends keeping a box of books in the car and letting children bring a book to look at while standing in line at grocery stores, banks etc. Early childhood educators could use this tip, also, for those (hopefully) few times when children are waiting a little bit.] Set up a library learning center [This one is more for early childhood programs she suggests actually calling it a library.] Encourage children to share favorite books [This could be with other children in an early childhood program and/or with other family members.] Source: MRIs show screen time linked to lower brain development in preschoolers,’ by Sandee La Motte, cnn.com, November 4, 2019 ~~ExchangeEveryDay See more

We get by with a little help from our friends

Just a reminder!

It is safe to say the Holidays will be here before we know it. To many, the holidays mean eating, drinking, parties and visiting family and friends. However, for many others here in Orange County, CA it is a time of physical and mental strains as the holidays remind them of the family, they once had who rejected them because of the gender or because of who they love. The 2019 Orange County homeless count shows there were about 6,860 individuals without homes in the area, this... was up from 5,000 the previous year. KPCC’s Housing Editor, Jill Replogle says the areas with the largest populations of homeless people include Santa Ana, Anaheim, Fullerton, and Huntington Beach. LGBT young people 13 to 25 are 120 percent more likely to become homeless than their straight peers, according to a national survey of 26,000 young people released in November 2018 by Chapin Hall. According to the Williams Institute, 40% of the homeless youth served by agencies identify as LGBT and 43% of clients served by drop-in centers identified as LGBT. The Trans*itions Health and Wellness Committee is planning on holding our 3rd Annual Friendsgiving at the LGBT Center OC. Last year the committee was able to feed over 125 people at the venue and then packaged up over 100 meals and had folks walk around passing meals to those who could not attend. This year we have received a generous food donation of 300 meals! Friendsgiving offers folks a hot meal consisting of turkey, ham, sides, and desserts including vegan options! This family-friendly community event also includes games, music and just someone to talk to. There will be a winter Glam Closet for everyone. (a Glam Closet is new & gently worn clothing that is available for free) If you are interested in donating winter clothing such as jackets, sweatshirts, sweaters, socks, gloves, beanies or scarves I will have a donation spot available at: A Child's Place 1941 Church St. Costa Mesa, Ca. 92627 or email me at [email protected] Feel free to set up your own donation spot Please share this flyer with family, friends, co-workers and other organizations that would love to be involved. We want this event to be amazing and reach all of OC. I'll be there with my family and hope you can join us :)

Play is the highest form of research. Albert Einstein @ A Child's Place Learning Center (ACP)

Play Under Pressure Play is under pressure right now, as parents and policymakers try to make preschools more like schools. But pretend play is not only important for kids; it’s a crucial part of what makes all humans so smart, writes leading researcher Alison Gopnik, in an article on the Smithsonian website.... We found children who were better at pretending could reason better about counterfactualsthey were better at thinking about different possibilities. And thinking about possibilities plays a crucial role in the latest understanding about how children learn. The idea is that children at play are like pint-sized scientists testing theories. They imagine ways the world could work and predict the pattern of data that would follow if their theories were true, and then compare that pattern with the pattern they actually see. Even toddlers turn out to be smarter than we would have thought if we ask them the right questions in the right way. Nancy Carlsson-Paige, in an article included in the Exchange Essentials collection, Advocating for Play, also makes the case that children’s play is currently under pressure: Children today are playing less at home, outdoors, and at school. According to a national Kaiser Family Foundation survey, children in the two- to seven- year-old age group now average about three hours per day in front of screens time they don't spend in active, child-centered play. And in his popular new book, Oh Boy, Francis Wardle describes an important aspect of play that must be honored: how choice can change the way an activity feels to children. It seems that children have a deep belief that play must be self-chosen. In fact, the research of [Nancy] King discovered that kindergartners considered the same activities to be play if they were self-chosen, and work if they were assigned by the teacher. Many of us have watched a preschooler happily wash dishes in the kitchen sink, only to protest when asked to wash the dishes! Source: Let the Children Play, It’s Good for Them, by Alison Gopnik, Smithsonianmag.com, July, 2012 ~~ExchangeEveryDay See more