Center for Young Children, UMD

What will you find on C*C’s playground? At C*C, our children explore in all kinds of weather including rain, sunshine and even snow!

Children take risks, build confidence and strengthen both fine and gross motor skills. They are climbing, jumping, balancing and digging while they are exploring the playground.

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University of Maryland’s Lion Dance Team came to C*C to share the tradition and the history of the Lion Dance. They demonstrated a routine through movement and music!

Thank you, ✨

At C*C classrooms follow the project approach that consists of 3 phases. During the third phase, children work together with their peers and teachers to think about how they will culminate their study. This is an exciting phase because the children become experts in their study and is able to teach their own families all they have learned.

🔴Red Room: Held a dance party
🟠Orange Room: Created a light and shadow museum
🟡Yellow Room: Created a sculpture museum
🟢Green Room: Went to the US Botanic Gardens
🔵Blue Room: Filmed a video about Weather

At C*C, we are so fortunate to have a wide-open outdoor space where our children can explore, play, and grow every day. Our outdoor space includes climbers, sandboxes, a basketball court, various gardens, and a track for riding bikes and scooters.

One of the most sought-out spaces of all is the hill. Children run up and down it, roll through the grass, play games and sports, and in the winter it becomes our favorite sledding spot.

Unfortunately, after years of varying weather, our cherished hill is experiencing significant erosion. There are now tripping hazards and exposed pipes, and for safety reasons, we’ve had to close off portions of it to the children.

We’re grateful to Tom Mazzone, instructor in the Institute of Applied Agriculture, who will be leading his college students in a project to restore the eroding hillside. He was awarded a Do Good Grant that will fund much of the work but not the full amount needed to complete the project.

We are reaching out to our community for support in helping us reach our goal in raising $16,000. If you are able and would like to help restore this special space for our children, please consider contributing to our playground fund using the link below. Every donation brings us closer to reopening and improving one of C*C’s most valued spaces.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/e51ad830-0baf-48db-9119-44dd6caaa3c8?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAdGRleAQO_CFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAae0RDUs5O5QKVY2o1WUalVRG88Iw307mxY1gWn8V7ME1qU2sNs1MHIRk-ipZg_aem_dK9UnTjnqjelWHytfl2LCg

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This past snow storm gave our students many opportunities for exploration! From sledding down our hill to digging through ice and snow, and working together to make igloos.

Outdoor play like this builds teamwork, creativity, problem-solving and so much fun!

Did you know that the C*C is a laboratory school? As such, we partner with researchers in
psychology, human development, linguistics, and hearing and speech sciences, among other
programs, to advance cutting edge research on child development. Children have recently
participated in studies on memory development in childhood, contextual parameters of novel
word learning, and how different ways of designing number lines helps children more accurately
locate numbers, just to name a few.

These studies take place at the C*C during school time
and are fun, interactive opportunities for children to help propel science forward.

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Mr. M recently had the opportunity to return to India to teach and lead programs at two schools in Varanasi. Over the past two weeks, Mr. M has been Zooming with the children sharing songs, photos, and videos of the music, food, and art he’s experienced while in India.

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✨ The Book Fair is here! We’re inviting all current, former C*C families and the community to join us for Community Day on Friday, December 12 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Come show your support, celebrate our school community, and enjoy a wonderful day filled with books. We can’t wait to see you there! ✨

We’re proud to share that three of our teachers, Katie (Yellow Room), Amy (Blue Room) and Cici (Instructional Coach) presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children in Orlando, FL!

Their session, “The Importance of Field Site Work in an Early Childhood Education Classroom: How It Relates to and Engages Critical Thinking Skills Through the Project Approach,” highlights how to effectively create meaningful field visits related to study topics.

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When beginning their tree study, the Green Room children quickly noticed the leaves changing colors. After taking a closer look at the different leaves and their colors around C*C, the Green Room children further explored the leaves by doing leaf rubbings, sorting leaves by color, and doing an experiment to see the chlorophyll and pigments come out of the leaves onto paper towels.

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C*C is hosting a food drive. If you are able, please bring your donation to the front lobby of the C*C so that we can support local families.

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This week, there was much excitement on the playground as a crew of playground specialists replaced the mulch around the small climber with a rubber surface.
The children were fascinated by the workers and the trucks they used!

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