Recess is an essential component for students to succeed and grow in school. Yet, many schools have cut back on recess time and frequency to focus on academic content. This presentation focuses on what the research says about the impact recess has on indirect factors such as academics and direct factors such as youth development. Topics include:
Defining recess
Recess status and policies here and elsewhere
Recess and academic, physical, and social skills development impact
Preparing children to enter school with the cognitive and social-emotional skills they need to be successful students is critical to bridging the achievement gap. The Parent-Child Home Program, a school readiness program replicated in communities across the country, successfully prepares two- and three-year-olds to enter school ready to learn. Working with parents and children together, the model effectively builds the language, pre-literacy, and social-emotional skills, and parent involvement necessary for academic success. Forty-five years of research and evaluation establishes the Program’s success.
What can be done to help parents prepare their children for success in school?
What does the research say about these early interventions?
This webcast focuses on an international early childhood approach that is influencing practices in the United States and globally. Brought to the U.S. in the early 1990s, the Reggio Emilia Approach is a constructivist approach that places emphases on the capacity of the young child as a learner; the importance of the learning environment; relationships between teachers and children, teachers and parents, and among the teaching staff; integrated curriculum with a focus on the arts; documentation of the multiple voices of children; and the critical role of the community and parents in the vitality of the schools and classrooms. The Reggio Emilia Approach inspires early educators around the world and encourages us all to appreciate the importance of the early childhood experience and the support of the community as an important step in preparing young children for successful development and academic achievement.
Four-year-old kindergarten (4K) programs are becoming more common across the U.S. Designed as an enrichment opportunity prior to kindergarten, 4K incorporates play-based elements focused on nurturing the social, emotional, and early academic skills of four-year-old children. The importance and impact of 4K has grown based upon recent studies indicating that early childhood investments such as 4K positively impact the U.S. economy in productivity growth, job creation, and a competitive future workforce. Further, a study by The PEW Center on the States showed that effective early childhood programs also benefit at-risk children through higher test scores and improved social and emotional skills.
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