While the 4-year-old students at Cazenovia Children’s House are relatively new to this planet, they have already learned a great deal about prehistoric species that once inhabited it. During the month of November, Sharon Glass and Vicki Peterson, co-teachers in the Teddy Bear Room at CCH, introduced the 11 children to the diverse group of extinct animals through books and hands-on lessons as well as having them create their own.
“I think there are many signs of quality education and care for children, and one of them is expanding on the interests of children. Dinosaurs are definitely one of those subjects that get kids excited,” said Penny Noll, executive director of Cazenovia Children’s House. “There are many ways we can increase learning through the study of dinosaurs, by using scientific concepts, history, math and social studies. Having them work on projects together also increases their social skills.”
Together with their instructors, the young students built a small-scale dinosaur from paper mache and cardboard, which they refer to as “Fred” and define as a “Boxosaurus.”
The children also tried their hands at being archeologists, sifting through jars of earth to uncover the bones of a Saltopus, which was (coincidently) about the same size as a present-day chicken.
“We think about a lot of areas of the child’s development when we plan activities, and we listen to them to see what they’re most interested in,” said Noll.
Showing bottomless interest in the subject, the students quickly memorized the attributes of their favorite species, from the largest carnivore, Tyrannosaurus rex, to the spiked herbivore, Stegosaurus. One of their favorite books, “Ten Terrible Dinosaurs” by Paul Stickland, offered the students more information and useful ideas as to what a Boxosaurus might look like.
“The children were so eager to apply the paper mache, and watch as the boxes were gradually transformed into a dinosaur,” Glass said. “It was great excitement. They did all the painting, and named their creation together.”
In operation for the past 40 years, CCH Inc. provides area residents with early childhood education development programs, full-time day care, after-school care and preschool programming. The non-profit organization serves children ages 6-weeks to 5th grade and is accredited by the National Association of the Education of Young Children. CCH programs are run mainly out of their 6,000-square-foot facility at 2757 Route 20 East, however part-time programs for toddlers and infants are also offered during the week at St. James, Village Baptist, and St. Peter’s churches in Cazenovia.
To learn more about CCH scholarship possibilities, programming and hours of operation visit their website, cazenoviachildrenshouse.org. Additional information is available at 655-5437.
Pierce Smith is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at 434-8889 ext. 338 or [email protected].
