Early childhood educators learn to P.L.A.Y.

Early childhood educators and caregivers are learning more about helping young children develop this weekend.

The 2014 Early Childhood Conference being held at NMU today and tomorrow focuses on the concept of PLAY, which stands for Purposeful Learning for Active Young People. This year’s conference features a variety of classes for parents and caregivers to attend, ranging from the interactive to the conventional.

“We’ve got hands-on science and math; we’ve got hands on dancing and singing; we’ve got medications so that parents can understand more,” conference co-chair Jim Edwards said. “We’ve got scientific and real serious learning, if you like, for parents, but we’ve got methodology as well that gets us to have much more fun in the learning situation in the classroom.”

Edwards said that more than just the administrators and managers, this conference is for the people who do daycare and the people are connected with the children in the community.

Today’s attendees were treated to a keynote presentation by musician and author Jim Gill, who performed a few songs and got attendees out of their seats, demonstrating how the music could be used to help children learn. Tomorrow’s keynote speaker is author Dan Hodgins.