91吃瓜网

By Ela Schwartz

Who are the youngest students at Adelphi? Not the freshmen, nor the high school听students coming for campus visits or summer programs. The title goes to the 18-month听to 5-year-olds attending the Alice Brown Early Learning Center (ELC), a spacious,听state-of-the-art child care center that provides care to the children of Adelphi students,听faculty, staff and local residents.

It鈥檚 a Friday in late April, and the kids are not in the ELC constructing block towers, pretending to be firefighters or even hunting for ladybugs in the adjacent garden. They鈥檙e outside getting a basketball lesson, courtesy of the Adelphi men鈥檚 team. What the pint-sized players lack in height they more than make up for in enthusiasm. Ben nails a bounce pass on his first try and earns a high-five from his coach. Hayden, dressed head to toe in pink, puts her own spin on the sport by executing a perfect pirouette followed by a forceful overhead pass. Lizzie prefers to watch from the sidelines and contemplates her teacher鈥檚 suggestion to do one of the cheers taught to the kids when the cheerleaders visited the ELC: 鈥淟et鈥檚 go Panthers! Go AU!鈥�

The children are far from the only ones learning from this basketball lesson. John听Galarco, a junior majoring in exercise science, said that while a professor can lecture听about what children are physically capable of, actually working with them truly听shows the difference even a year can make in a child鈥檚 strength and coordination.听He smiles when Laura Ludlam, M.S. Ed. 鈥�00, director of the Early Learning Center,听praises, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e applying classroom theory to practical experience.鈥�

Thanks to generous support from Amy Maiello Hagedorn 鈥�05 (Hon.), Adelphi was able to construct the bright, spacious Alice Brown Early Learning Center, which opened in 2008. According to Ms. Ludlam, who succeeded Ms. Brown as director in 2006, 鈥淒r. Scott said he wanted the Early Learning Center to be the model program for best practices in early care and education and a hub of learning for students who have anything to do with families and children.鈥�

The ELC largely follows the Reggio Emilia approach, which purports 鈥渢hat children are听born competent and ready to learn, at their own pace and in their own way, and to听incorporate the community into the children鈥檚 learning,鈥� Ms. Ludlam says. The center听puts this theory into action by taking full advantage of the Adelphi campus. In addition,听the Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, the Gordon F. Derner Institute of Advanced听Psychological Studies and the schools of Social Work and Nursing have had students听gain valuable experience as they perform classroom observations, learn how to develop听lesson plans or provide services to children and their families.

About 35 undergraduate and graduate students are employed at the ELC. No matter听what their major, students say they have benefited from learning how to communicate听with and motivate children of so many disparate personalities and will carry this听knowledge into their careers, whether they plan to teach young children or high school听students, or even work with adults in the corporate world.听鈥淚t鈥檚 been an amazing experience,鈥� says Melissa Stotsky, a graduate student in the听Ammon School of Education. 鈥淭he center is so welcoming and they really support you.鈥�

鈥淲e offer a deep sense of respect and understanding of the individual, and we鈥檝e听extended our community out to the Adelphi campus,鈥� Ms. Ludlam says. 鈥淚 hope students听and campus visitors now know who these kids are and that they鈥檙e part of the Early听Learning Center.鈥�