“One of my favourite things has been building cars out of Lego,” says Juna Murphy. Juna is one of the preschool children who attended this four-week program with her mom, Cherie.
“Block Builders is an adult and child participation program, where we use Lego blocks to help families prepare for the transition to Kindergarten,” says Tara Flanagan, who is the Family Literacy Coordinator for Cariboo-Chilcotin Partners for Literacy. Each parent and child session involves an activity challenge, storytelling, building things, and fun.
The program helps kids build skills in the following areas:
- Creative – coming up with ideas, expressing oneself and transforming them into reality;
- Cognitive – concentration, problem-solving, following directions, and flexible thinking;
- Emotional – building self-confidence, self-control, and reflection;
- Physical – being active, understanding movement and space;
- Social – making decisions, collaborating, communicating and understanding.
All of the activities are designed specifically for children entering kindergarten. They get used to the routine of entering a space, taking off their boots, hanging up their clothes, and going to their seats in the circle. They learn to print their names, create their own creations using Lego, and also how to build objects out of Lego following step-by-step instructions. All these things are important skills for children to be kindergarten ready.
“It’s great to connect my kids to other kids. They become familiar with the school and the routine. I like to be present but also in the background. It’s a good transition into kindergarten,” says mom, Cherie Murphy.
Each family gets their own Block Builders lego kit to take home, and all the activities can be easily duplicated, because the home is where family literacy starts. “I think this was a great way of introducing concepts to parents which the parent can take home and continue building on,” says parent, Kim Harty. And Kim is right because literacy begins at home. Parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents are our children’s first and most important teachers. We all have an important role to play in supporting our children’s learning.
CCPL is offering two Block Builder programs: Thursdays, Jan. 30-March 6, 1:00-2:00 pm at 150 Mile School. Wednesdays, April 30-June 4, 5:00-6:30 pm Marie Sharpe School. Contract Tara Flanagan to register tara@caribooliteracy.com
Submitted by Carla Bullinger
Literacy Coordinator, Cariboo-Chilcotin