Page 3 - Newsletter 2023 Vol. 7 Issue 1_

Children love to play because obviously: it is fun! It is also vital for a healthy devel-
opment in these early ages. They “practice” key social skills, thinking creatively,
physical development and emotional skills are also reinforced. These also include
21st century skills -creativity, problem solving, imagination, and building coopera-
tive relationships.

Another way of looking at it is that we are supporting your child to be an: orator,
speaker, writer and author, mathematician, explorer, competitor, director, leader,
kinesthetic (athlete), collector, artist, creator, storyteller, inventor.

Play allows your child to relax, practice and rehearse their thinking or ideas, build
relationships, understand language, patterns, and follow their interests, taking
risks, and experimenting.

We encourage you to try some of these ideas as you spend those precious moments
“playing with” or “beside” your child. Throwing a ball and catching it, build’s eye/
hand coordination, strength, and agility. Building a tower with blocks together
“builds” literally problem-solving sequencing skills. Cooking together builds
vocabulary, demonstrates cause and effect. following directions in a recipe supports
a child’s predicting skill of what comes next? Why is the cake rising? Why is the
water boiling? Measurement skills as you cook together (1 cup of our,) helps
children see relationships between amounts and size and quantity and side by side
conversations allow you to observe your child’s thinking decisions and creativity as
they draw pictures.

“EPG Early Year’s program represents what we know from experience, best practic-
es, and research that tells us that “a child’s play is their work”!

Please join us on the journey this year to discover the full potential and special gifts
your child has. As the educators for Gifted Children -Howard Gardner and Thomas
Armstrong say, “It is not how smart your child is that matters, it is how they are
smart!

Warm regards,
Deborah Lalonde

Early Years Director

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