News about Early Childhood Education

Two end-of-semester events capped another fun-filled and instructive year at the Dunham Children’s Learning Center: The Penn College facility’s annual Family Appreciation get-together – in which children made turkey headbands and prepared snacks that were appropriately “gobbled” up – and a visit from mime Dan Kamin, who was in town for a holiday appearance with the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra.

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State Education Secretary Pedro A. Rivera visited main campus on Thursday, touring the Dunham Children’s Learning Center and Penn College’s welding labs before joining area education luminaries for a panel discussion about “Schools That Teach.” The former superintendent of the School District of Lancaster later tweeted his favorable review of his afternoon:  “Great visit @PennCollege. Engaging & dedicated faculty and staff. Smiling faces & creative projects. Impressive!”

Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Robert & Maureen Dunham Children’s Learning Center received a Keystone STARS Merit Award and a Keystone STARS Education and Retention Award totaling $37,452 for 2015-16.

Funds from the grants are used for equipment and supplies, professional development for Children’s Learning Center staff, and the center’s accreditation costs.

The center used grant funds to purchase teaching materials and furnishings, including a sensory table, dramatic play props, and equipment to help develop motor skills, as well as materials for cognition, social studies, math, science, literacy, nutrition and music.

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Author and illustrator Will Hillebrand visited Penn College’s Dunham Children’s Learning Center on Friday, part of this year’s “One Book, Every Young Child” initiative to encourage preschool development of literacy development in preschoolers. The center’s children, joined by families and early childhood education students at the college, each received a copy of “Kite Day.” The local visit was arranged through James V. Brown Library; “One Book, Every Young Child” is made possible through a collaboration of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Please Touch Museum, State Museum of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Library Association, Pennsylvania Center for the Book, Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children and The Pennsylvania Child Care Association. This project is made possible by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered through the DoE’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries.
Photos by Tia G. La, student photographer

The Dunham Children’s Learning Center recently celebrated the end of the semester, as families joined their children for an afternoon snack during the Family Appreciation Tea. The young toddler class made Pumpkin Pie in a Cup, the older toddler class prepared a cereal snack mix, and preschoolers learned about measuring and baking while preparing oatmeal cookies and banana bread. “The food was so delicious that parents asked for recipes!” said director Barbara J. Albert, who also provided the photo at left. Teachers prepared activities for the families, and students from the Early Childhood Education program supervised them. Children had fun making paper-plate pumpkins, playing a beanbag game and experimenting with “squishy” bags. Each family contributed a handprint “leaf” to the center’s Thankful Tree, highlighting the people and things for which they’re grateful.

The Early Educators student organization at Pennsylvania College of Technology recently completed three service projects benefiting children.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Robert & Maureen Dunham Children’s Learning Center received a grant that will help subsidize the cost of child care for eligible parents who are pursuing higher education at the college.

The CCAMPIS grant, which stands for Child Care Access Means Parents in School, is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Its purpose is to support the participation of low-income parents in postsecondary education through the provision of campus-based child care services. Penn College will receive $102,042 for 2015-16.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology has received a $10,766 grant to align its early childhood education curriculum with recently revised Pennsylvania Core Knowledge Competencies for early childhood and school-age professionals.

The college has entered a one-year contract with Berks County Intermediate Unit, the fiscal agent for the Pennsylvania Key, which provides statewide leadership in coordinating early childhood education, quality improvements to programs and professional-development support. The Pennsylvania Key operates in conjunction with the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, which is jointly overseen by the state Department of Human Services and the state Department of Education.

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Jodi L. Binkley, of South Williamsport, received the Outstanding Early Educator Award from the Central Susquehanna Association for the Education of Young Children at its 20th annual conference, held recently in Penn’s Inn in the Bush Campus Center on the campus of Pennsylvania College of Technology.

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Nearly 40 people attended the annual Spring Early Childhood Practicum Banquet, held recently in the Thompson Professional Development Center. The event honored Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 graduates of Penn College’s early childhood education associate-degree major and director’s competency credential, as well as the students’ practicum supervising teachers from child care centers and Head Start programs in Lycoming, Clinton, Centre and Union counties. Billie A. Coffman, associate professor of early childhood education and practicum adviser (first row, far right), offered greetings to the group and thanked the supervising teachers for the important role they play in the guidance and mentorship of each student in the practicum experience. In addition to Coffman, others on hand to honor the students’ success were (from far left) Jennifer I. Watson, adjunct early childhood education faculty, Karen Woland Payne, adjunct practicum adviser, and Nancy A. Grausam, assistant professor of early childhood education; Barbara J. Albert, director of the college’s Dunham Children’s Learning Center (center, in floral jacket), and Jodi L. Binkley, early childhood lab assistant (upper right).
Photo provided

Through a “Bibs for Babies” project, three members of Penn College’s Early Educators Club delivered handmade bibs and burp cloths to a parenting class at Williamsport Area High School. Accepting the bibs on behalf of the class, which is offered through Susquehanna Health, was high school student Elizabeth Kilburn. From left in accompanying photo are Katlynn M. Peck, of Thompsontown; Kilburn; Brittany M. Ottenmiller, of Troy, and Brooke C. Smith, of Doylestown. Peck will graduate this month with her Associate of Applied Science degree in early childhood education. Ottenmiller and Smith will return in the fall as sophomores in the early childhood education major. Other end-of-academic-year activities enjoyed by the club were a science fair at George A. Ferrell Elementary School in Picture Rocks and a visit to a preschool and a Montessori school in State College.
Photos provided by Jodi L. Binkley, early childhood lab assistant

Billie A. Coffman, associate professor of early childhood education at Pennsylvania College of Technology, was recently asked by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Postsecondary and Adult Education, to serve on a peer review team to evaluate another college’s proposed child care professional associate-degree program.

As a peer reviewer, Coffman was responsible for evaluating the course content in the degree program, reviewing all of the course syllabi and faculty credentials, and submitting a final report with recommendations for approval of the program.

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Nearly 40 people attended Wednesday night’s practicum banquet for 2013-14 graduates of Penn College’s associate-degree early childhood education major and the early childhood director’s competency credential. Among those gathering in the Thompson Professional Development Center to honor the students’ success were Billie A. Coffman, associate professor of early childhood education and practicum adviser for the two-year major (fourth from right), and Nancy A. Grausam, assistant professor of early childhood education (left). Not pictured is Karen Woland Payne, former director of the college’s Dunham Children’s Learning Center, practicum adviser to students in the director’s credential.
Photo provided by Jodi L. Binkley, early childhood lab assistant (third from right)

A nationally known educator, author and consultant shared inspiration and creativity with teachers, students and schoolchildren during a pair of local appearances this past weekend. Jean Feldman, known as “Dr. Jean,” presented a free public concert at Williamsport’s Cochran Primary School on Friday evening and was the keynoter for an audience of 175 people at Saturday’s annual conference of the Central Susquehanna Association for the Education of Young Children at Penn College.
Photos provided by Jodi L. Binkley, early childhood lab assistant

A nationally known inspiration to educators of young children will be the sole presenter at the 19th annual conference of the Central Susquehanna Association for the Education of Young Children on Saturday, April 5, at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Jean Feldman, known as “Dr. Jean,” inspires teachers with engaging songs and creative activities. She has published several books and recordings used by school systems across the country and actively shares her resources via a blog and Pinterest.

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