October 16, 2019 Buzzword Talk & Play Series #6 Join Buzzword Pittsburgh on Wednesdays from November 6 to December 11 for Talk & Play Series 6! All events are free for learners ages five and under, with their caregivers, and will include activities that enhance vocabulary and literacy skills. A light dinner will be provided. Program Schedule The schedule of events is as follows: Wednesday, November 6 • Word of the Day: POETRY with Pittsburgh Festival Opera and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Wednesday, November 13 • Word of the Day: GENRE with Pittsburgh Festival Opera and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Wednesday, November 20 • Word of the Day: OPPOSITE with Pittsburgh Festival Opera and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh Wednesday, December 4 • Word of the Day: CRESCENDO with Pittsburgh Festival Opera and Carnegie Science Center Wednesday, December 11 • Word of the Day: CHORUS with Pittsburgh Festival Opera and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre More Information For more information, contact Jan Jones at jan@tryingtogether.org. Click here to view the Facebook event page. Share this flyer with your network.
August 30, 2019 Webinar | Exploring SCIENCE! with Preschoolers Join the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning on November 5 for their upcoming webinar, “Little Scientists: Exploring SCIENCE! with Preschoolers.” About Discover the “science” component of STEM, including how preschoolers use the scientific method to figure out how the world works. Preschool teachers and family child care providers will learn strategies and teaching practices that help all children explore science concepts. The webinar will also highlight strategies for using art to encourage science learning. Register To register and learn more, visit the event webpage! *Information provided by ECLKC
Webinar | Little Scientists – Exploring STEAM with Infants and Toddlers Join the National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning on October 1 for their upcoming webinar, “Little Scientists – Exploring STEAM with Infants and Toddlers.” About This four-part series of Teacher Time for Infants and Toddlers will cover STEM concepts, with one month dedicated to each letter. Presenters will provide an overview of each STEM component and include tips for using art to encourage STEAM learning. Participants will learn strategies and teaching practices that help infants and toddlers develop reasoning, creativity, problem-solving, language, and communication skills. Register To register and learn more, visit the event webpage! *Information provided by ECLKC
July 29, 2019 Early Learning: Young Sprouts Join the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh this August for a series of nature-focused explorations of treasures, art, songs, and stories! Sessions are designed for children 0 – 5 years old, but suitable for all ages. Session Topics Garden Science: Things that Float Garden Science: Life Cycles Garden Science: Things that Fly Garden Science: The Curious Garden More Information To learn more, visit the Facebook event page!
July 18, 2019 Eye Contact with Babies Increases Information Coupling A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concludes that shared eye contact increases information coupling between infant and adult brains. About Communication is a fundamental part of life, especially when considering the early learning and development of a newborn child. In conversation, we use different types of social signals, both verbal and non-verbal, to share meaning with others. These signals can include things such as mimicking facial expressions, vocal tone, and eye contact. However, a recent study concluded that eye contact in specific can be a powerful tool to increase information coupling between infants and adults. Information Coupling In the study, researchers state that “previous research indicates that when communication is successful, close temporal dependencies arise between adult speakers’ and listeners’ neural activity.” Through these dependencies, an individual that’s communicating with another person can have varying levels of influence on the other person’s neural activity. In short, this coupling acts as a form of “social connectedness,” where the actions, reactions, and expressions of a person impacts how another person’s brain responds. For adults interacting with young children, using social signals such as direct eye contact can bring the child and adult’s “brains into temporal alignment, creating a joint-networked state that is structured to facilitate information sharing during early communication and learning.” Temporal alignment between adults and infants is important, as it “plays a vital role in supporting early learning across multiple domains of language, cognition, and socioemotional development.” Infants spend a lot of time looking at the faces of others, interpreting the way their facial features move, where their eyes shift to, and how their voices sound. And as they rely on these social cues to interpret meaning in their daily life, direct gaze is thought to be one of the most important cues for individuals and infants to infer communicative intent. Babies prefer to look at the face people who are looking right at them, with direct gaze even reinforcing the social responses that babies produce and their ability to recognize face-related information. Conclusion In conclusion, adults working or living with infants should consider using direct eye contact frequently with their child. Whether an adult is playing with, reading with, bathing, or even singing a nursery rhyme to a child, shared eye contact can act to build strong communication and information sharing between the two. To learn more about the importance of speaker gaze, read the full report. Article Citation Leong, Victoria, et al. “Speaker Gaze Increases Information Coupling between Infant and Adult Brains.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 12 Dec. 2017, www.pnas.org/content/114/50/13290.
July 16, 2019 Parent-Child Interaction Are you looking to engage in an educational experience with your young child? Join other caregivers and their young children for creative STEM-based activities. Together, parent and child will interact with each other and socialize with other families to grow, learn, and play! Learn More To learn more, contact Neil Walker at 412.728.2892 or neil@tryingtogether.org. Share this flyer with your network.
July 15, 2019 KidsPlay at Market Square KidsPlay provides free interactive and educational programming for children in Market Square, with local partners including Science Tots, the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, KidsBurgh, the Senator John Heinz History Center, and more. Active Dates Tuesdays, June 4 – August 27, 2019 | 10 – 11:30 a.m. Saturdays, June 8 – August 31, 2019 | 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Learn More To see a list of upcoming activities, visit the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership website.
July 2, 2019 Buzzword: Talk & Play Series 4 Join Buzzword Pittsburgh every Wednesday from July 10 to August 7 for Talk & Play Series 4! All events are free for learners ages five and under, with their caregivers, and will include activities that enhance vocabulary and literacy skills. A light dinner will be provided. Program Schedule The schedule of events is as follows: Wednesday, July 10 • Word of the Day: SECRET with Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Festival Opera Wednesday, July 17 • Word of the Day: INFESTED with Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Wednesday, July 24 • Word of the Day: PROTECT with Carnegie Science Center and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh Wednesday, July 31 • Word of the Day: ERUPT with Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Wednesday, August 7 • Word of the Day: SOAR with Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre More Information For more information, contact Jan Jones at jan@tryingtogether.org. Click here to view the Facebook event page.
May 28, 2019 Carnegie Library Summer Reading Extravaganza Join the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh on Sunday, June 9 from Noon – 5 p.m. in Oakland for its annual Summer Reading Extravaganza to kick things off. Families can enroll in the Summer Reading program and enjoy music, crafts, games, storytelling, food trucks, and more. Activities Library activities include: Family PlayShop, Global Library, Bouncy House, Inflatable Games, Chess Club, DataBurgh, Creative Tech and Super Science, Historical Tours of Main Library (offered in English and in Chinese), and more! Learn More To learn more about the Summer Reading Extravaganza, visit the event website.
May 1, 2019 STEM All Hands on Tech: Robot Playground Join the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Carrick branch for a day of experimentation, play, and learning by exploring interactive technology and a variety of robots. STEM All Hands On Tech programs support learning and literacy by introducing children to technology. This event is intended for children in grades pre-k to 5. Questions For questions, contact Jon Antoszewski at 412.381.6543 or antoszewskijo@carnegielibrary.org. This location is handicap accessible. See the event page.