Early Childhood Special Education and Assistive Technology Blog

By: Meg Foehl,  EC-SEAT Scholar and Graduate Student in Early Childhood Special Education; Early Childhood Teacher at   Live and Learn Early Learning Center . According to Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, children becoming more and more removed from nature, which is affecting their psychological and physical well being. Children today spend more time in structured activities and on electronic devices and less time engaged in unstructured play in nature.  Louv shares many studies that show that spending time in nature has tremendous health benefits.  Among these benefits are: increased fitness levels, improved concentration, reduced stress, as well as, improved vision. Studies also show that unstructured play in nature can help treat mental illness- particularly ADHD and depression.  Children who spend more time in nature develop increased coordination- especially in balance and agility, inventiveness, improved  intellectual devel...

This is truly an exciting time for the field of Early Childhood. Check out some of these other links for more information about early childhood policy and initiatives** Annie E. Casey Foundation Association of University Centers on Disabilities Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire Center on the Developing Child   at Harvard University Child Care Aware Children's Defense Fund Division for Early Childhood (DEC) First Five Years National Association for the Education of Young Children  (NAEYC) National Conference of State Legislatures U.S. Office of the Administration for Children and Families Zero to Three National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families *The link from the Washington Post attached to this title is no longer active **This list is not comprehensive nor representative of EC-SEAT particular viewpoints. It is simply a resource for gathering knowledge and initiating discussion.

By: Liz Ehlert,  EC-SEAT Scholar and Graduate Student in Early Childhood Special Education; Co-Director/Director before and after school and summer camp at Live and Learn Early Learning Center . If you’ve ever worked with young children, the idea of art may make you cringe.   All those messy materials in little hands that can make clean-up time a real challenge.   You may have asked yourself, is open-ended art really worth the hassle?   In my opinion, not only is it worth it in terms of artistic value, but children benefit in so many other ways.             When a teacher hands a child a paintbrush, some paint and a piece of blank paper, she is essentially saying to the child, “I trust you to use this in a way that you feel is important”.   A young child may not have the opportunity to make many decisions in his or her life.   Many adults don’t think young children are mature enough to make deci...

There is much debate regarding how much and what kind of screen time is appropriate for children. Two sources that may be of interest in the continuing conversation about technology and young children are below: Lisa Guernsey's article on Slate.com Zero to Three - National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families: Screen Sense downloads

On October 29th, 2014 the White House sent out a press release announcing President Obama's early childhood summit to be help on December 10th, 2014. Stakeholders committed to high-quality early education will be brought together in continuity of Obama's 2013 State of the Union address promise for expanding access to high quality early childhood education for families in America with children ages birth to five years. The proposal includes expanding: evidence-based practices voluntary home visiting increasing access utilizing Early Head Start-Child Care partnerships with the overall goal of providing preschool for all.  This call to action was met by over 30 states' efforts  to expand access and more than 600 applicants  for federal grants specifically focused on the above goals. On December 10th, 2014, President Obama will announce which states and communities will receive $250 million in Preschool Development Grants and announce the $500 million awards in Ea...