Engaging your child in any type of learning activity to help develop the brain is crucial before that child reaches the age of five and enters school.
The Starke County Early Childhood Education and Development Advisory Council is sponsoring a special event to help children get a jump on skills that can help them be better learners.
Peggy Shidaker, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at the Knox Community School Corporation and a member of this council, said early learning has proven to be key in a child’s education.
“Research just abounds about the structure and capacity of a person’s brain,” said Shidaker. “We know that it’s a fact that 85 percent of the brain is physically developed by the age of five. Therefore, these first few years of life are crucial for a child’s learning and cognitive development. That research further shows that any early childhood experiences and early educational experiences may affect a child’s IQ.”
With that, the council is holding an event called Nursery Rhymes and Good Ol’ Times in the Knox Elementary School gymnasium to help children from birth to five years of age with early education skills.
“It’s informal. We’ll ask the parents and their children to go to different activities and each of these stations will work on some of these skills that we feel will advance academic success.”
Shidaker explained that one station will deal will numbers and sorting which helps with spacial, counting and fine motor skills while other stations will have activities that enhance gross motor skills and more.
Every station features a different nursery rhyme and every student will receive a nursery rhyme book to take home and review.
The event is for all Starke County families and it is set for Thursday, March 13 at 5 p.m. in the Knox Elementary School gymnasium.
