ACE News
Play and Learn Lifts Families to a Lifetime of Learning
June 2010
On April 26, ACE held a graduation for our Play and Learn families who had completed a 12-week parent workshop series. During the workshops, parents and their children, who often do not have access to early childcare, learned early-literacy games and activities that they can engage in at home. We are so proud of our families and want to thank our staff members Chetan Makan and Carolina Guajardo and AmeriCorps members Sarah Woelk, Emma Woelk, Adriana Estrada, Mitchell Adams, and Maria Lopez for all the hard work they put into this great program.
The ACE Play and Learn classes target young children (ages 2–4) and their parents from our project school communities. The program's goal is to empower parents with the information, confidence, and skills they need to support learning at home. This innovative program is the result of a collaboration among ACE, United Way Success by 6, and Communities in Schools.
The ACE Play and Learn classes are based on three core principals: (1) every moment is a teachable moment; (2) the environment is our classroom; (3) learning is fun!
Families were provided with books and activities for developing cognitive, language, and literacy skills. Each Play and Learn session promoted learning within the entire family while teaching finger plays and songs that developed language and listening skills. Mothers and fathers took an active role in their children's learning by reading to their children and singing the songs. Younger and older siblings consistently participated in the activities, and families experienced firsthand that learning transcends traditional classroom walls and can happen within the family, anywhere in the environment, and at any time.