More than 30 early childhood education students from Pennsylvania College of Technology recently joined area educators for the annual meeting of the Central Susquehanna Association for the Education of Young Children.
The meeting was followed by a two-hour workshop, "Moving Fun and Eating Right." Workshop presenters Kim Patterson and Jeanne Pellacore, education coordinators for Lycoming/Clinton Head Start, began by sharing the latest sobering statistics on the increase in obesity among U.S. children.
They then offered many ideas to keep young children up and moving while they learn. Participants joined in for songs such as "Crave My FAV" (FAV stand for fruits and vegetables) and dances like "Make a Cave, Make a Bridge," designed to teach such math concepts as shapes and spatial relationships.
Among the students in attendance were those enrolled in an online course offered by Penn College for the Early Childhood Director's Credential, with their instructor, Nancy A. Grausam, assistant professor of early childhood education, as well as members of the Early Educators, a Penn College student organization.
Central Susquehanna Association for the Education of Young Children is the local affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, with 154 members from an eight-county area in central Pennsylvania. President for the local affiliate is Karen Woland Payne, director of the Children's Learning Center at Penn College, who presided over election of officers during the meeting.
For more information about Central Susquehanna Association for the Education of Young Children, contact Bob Long, membership chairperson, at 372-4082 .
For more information about the early childhood education major or other academic programs offered by Penn College's School of Integrated Studies, call (570) 327-4521.
For more information about Penn College, send e-mail or call toll-free 1-800-367-9222.