USU’s campuses across Logan and statewide will host the annual Week of the Young Child from April 7-11, engaging young learners in a series of themed activities. This celebration, tracing its roots back to the early 1970s, has evolved into a nationwide effort to spotlight early childhood education for kids from birth to eight years old, as reported by USU Today. With music, food, cooperative projects, art, and family-focused fun designated for each day of the week, USU’s Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services takes center stage as programs from Sound Beginnings to ASSERT lay out a diverse slate of activities.
Within these programs, nearly 10,000 children are reached each year, and for the upcoming events, a mix of campus and statewide initiatives, including Little Brigham Aggies and Junior Aggies Academy in Blanding, are expected to participate. Celebrating diversity and capability, Lisa Boyce, executive director of the DDE and HDFS faculty member, emphasized the importance of this initiative. “There’s so much we can do for children in their early years that will set them on a trajectory for success in their later academic pursuits and in their relationships with others,” Boyce said, as per USU Today.
Of particular note is the Artsy Thursday event, where kids will be provided art kits created by the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. These kits, designed to encourage children to explore the concept of home, include craft supplies and the book “A Sense of Self and Home.” This literature, penned by Shannon Erickson, the museum’s coordinator of learning and engagement, pairs with the museum’s exhibit “Repainting the I,” which honors murals created by Indigenous students at a former boarding school. During the art activity, caregivers will prompt discussions on personal symbols of home, with the results shared online…