Young children deserve recognition and support every day of the year. However, there’s one particular week in which we pay special attention to young children, their families, and the early care and learning programs and teachers that support them. The Week of the Young Child is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This year it is April 16-20, 2018.
Why this focus on young children? Today we know more than ever about brain growth and the optimum period for development – the first few years of life. This week is a time for all of us – parents, grandparents, policy makers, philanthropists, businesses, teachers, and individuals – to recognize the value of investing time, energy, and resources in those early years.
We can celebrate early learning, young children, their teachers, and families in many different ways during this week. NAEYC is providing a framework for the celebration:
- Music Monday!
- Tasty Tuesday
- Work Together Wednesday
- Artsy Thursday
- Family Friday
Visit Best Beginnings on Facebook every day, from Music Monday to Family Friday, for ideas and activities for children and their grown-ups wherever they are – at home, at child care or school, in a park, at a museum, wherever.
Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has proclaimed April 16-20, 2018 as the Week of the Young Child in Anchorage.
