(01/29/08) Volunteer with Children

Interested in volunteering with children? The CHASE program is a
student created and run after-school program for children ages 5-11 at
the Clarendon Hills public housing development on North Street just
off campus. CHASE is working with the Community Action Agency of
Somerville to accomplish the goal of creating a safe and self-
sustaining after-school environment in which children can receive
homework help as well as have fun participating in our various
activities. If you are interested in volunteering during after-school
hours once or twice a week come to the general interest meeting
Tuesday February 3rd at 9:30 PM in the Hillel center located behind
Miller hall. All are welcome!

Thanks for your help!

Leigh

(01/29/08) nature program internship at The Growing Center

Dear CD Majors, Minors & Grad Students -
Please see email below in case you are interested.

******************

Dear Sarah,

Here's an interesting internship in Somerville for those interested in
working with preschool aged children, curriculum development, and
nature. I thought child development majors might be interested.

-Tai Dinnan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <Growingcenter@aol.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 12:41 PM
Subject: nature program internship at The Growing Center
To: Growingcenter@aol.com

Hello-

As part of our Spring 2009 programming, we are seeking interns to help
with developing and implementing an after school program for
preschoolers titled 'Soil, Air, Sun & Water – What We Need To Grow'.
A complete description of the internship and program is provided
below. Please pass this information on to anyone you know who may be
interested.

And a quick reminder....You are invited to join the Friends of the
Community Growing Center board for a 2009 Planning Meeting on Tuesday,
February 10 at 6 PM, at 16 Holyoke Rd, Somerville (near Porter
Square). All welcome to come help plan a full year of activities and
advocacy to get people outside, enjoying nature, learning about
gardening and growing, experiencing cultural activities
together--building a stronger healthier community. RSVP to Lisa at
lisa.bruk@gmail.com or 617-666-2969.

Sincerely yours,

Aileen

Aileen Bellwood

Site Manager & Volunteer Coordinator

The Somerville Community Growing Center

www.thegrowingcenter.org

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Internship: An Afterschool Nature Program for Preschoolers at the
Somerville Community Growing Center

Are you are creative, energetic, engaging and genuinely interested in
connecting young children to the natural world? This program is only
one year old and there is much room for creativity! We will be
leading children in outdoor exploration through any of the following:
hands-on investigation, active movement and play, songs, games,
stories, projects. First, we want to develop the curriculum for the
selected theme. I would truly value incorporating your input into
this effort. I hold a Ph.D. in environmental biology and invite you to
bring a complementary set of skills for working with young children in
an experiential education setting. I am looking for someone who loves
working with preschoolers and knows how to create developmentally
appropriate lessons. A degree (or genuine interest) in environmental
education or the natural sciences would be beneficial. Spanish or
Portuguese language skills or musical skills (the ability to lead
children in song) would be a plus. The primary goals of the program
are to foster an appreciation for the natural elements of water, air,
sun and soil and, above all, to have fun in the outdoors.

Are you dependable, responsible and organized? Responsibilities will
include helping to prepare lessons and gather materials for each
session. You must be available for setup and cleanup. For most of the
sessions, that would involve arriving no later than 1:30 p.m. and
departing no earlier than 4:00 p.m. If you can stay until the session
ends at 4:30 p.m., it would be ideal. Many of the children will be
coming to the Growing Center from a public preschool (The Capuano
Early Childhood Learning Center); some of the children will be
homeschoolers.

The program is scheduled to take place Monday afternoons from April
6-June 15. (Please note that there is also the possibility of
scheduling the program on Friday afternoons from April 3-June 12 if
Monday afternoons do not fit in with your schedule). We will begin
meeting in late February/early March (at a mutually agreeable time) to
design a curriculum and lesson plans. There are a number of resource
books and supplies present at the site to support the program. There
is also an opportunity to continue gardening and playing with the
preschoolers on Monday or Friday afternoons through the summer and
fall.

The internship will be supervised by:

· Aileen Bellwood, Ph.D. in Environmental Biology and mother
of a preschooler,
Growing Center Site Manager

· Lisa Brukilacchio, O.T.R and Ed.M., Environmental Educator,
co-founder and Board Member of the Growing Center

If you are a student seeking credit, it can be arranged pending
approval of your educational institution.

If you are interested or have any questions, please send an email to
Aileen Bellwood at growingcenter@aol.com. If you have a resume, send
it as an attachment in a second email. If you are really interested
but have concerns, please don't hesitate to send an email. To learn
more about the Center, visit our website at www.thegrowingcenter.org.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spring 2009

An Afterschool Program for Preschoolers at the Somerville Community
Growing Center

Soil, Air, Sun & Water – What We Need To Grow

Description: The after school program is designed to connect
preschool age children to the natural world. We will explore four
natural elements--soil, air, sun and water--from the perspective of
plants, animals, and humans using hands-on investigation, active
movement and play, songs, games and stories. We will plant seeds,
nurture them and watch them grow. This will give us the opportunity
to look at what plants need to grow and how this relates to other
animals (including humans). In order to encourage continued outdoor
exploration, caretakers will also learn about other programs at the
Growing Center and be encouraged to share other local resources. The
primary goals of the program are to foster an appreciation for soil,
air, sun and water and, above all, to have fun in the outdoors.

Location: The Somerville Community Growing Center, 22 Vinal Avenue,
Somerville. The Growing Center is just outside Union Square. For
more information and a local map, visit our website at
www.thegrowingcenter.org. In the event of severe weather, we will
meet at the Somerville Recreation Center at 19 Walnut Street a couple
of blocks away. In the event of light rain, we will meet at the
Growing Center and take the opportunity to experience and explore wind
and water. Both locations are accessible by public transportation.

Days: 8 afternoons from April-June

We will meet on either Monday afternoons on the following days: April
6, April 13, April 27, May 4, May 18, June 1, June 8, June 15

OR

Friday afternoons on the following days: April 3, April 17, May 1,
May 8, May 22, May 29, June 5, June 12

Time: We will meet from 2-4:30 p.m. Our schedule will look something
like this:

2:00-2:15 free play

2:15-3:30 discussion & activities

3:30-4:30 free play

The garden will open at 2:00 and the program will formally begin at
2:15. This will give people who are walking or taking public
transportation enough time to get from school to the Growing Center.
The program will formally end around 3:30, but the garden will remain
open until 4:30 for free play.

(01/20/09) After School Program in need of help

To all Child Development Graduate Students:

My name is Leigh Cooper and I am running an after-school program for
children ages 5-11 at the Claredon Hills public housing development.
The development is located right off campus on route 16 and we provide
homework help and run educational activities twice a week from 3-5
p.m. Our goal is to create a self-sustaining program within their
community to give children a safe and productive place to go after
school, especially because a large majority of their parents work. Our
program just started last semester at Claredon Hills and this coming
semester will be joining forces with a similar group based in the
Mystic Valley Learning Center to share volunteers and knowledge about
what has been successful with the children. What we are looking for is
one or two graduate students to volunteer with the program once or
twice a week for a few hours to give feedback on how the program is
running and what it could use and to aid us in properly disciplining
the children. This is a great!
opportunity to get some field experience and we could really use the
expertise of those more formally educated in child development.
Unfortunately at this point in the programs development I don't think
I can arrange to have this offered for any type of official course
credit but eventually once the program is more established I will
contact the head of the department to try and arrange it. Our program
should begin again in early February and while the days of the week
the program will be running are to be established, they will most
likely be Mondays and Thursdays.

If you have any interest please contact me at Leigh.Cooper@tufts.edu

Thank you and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and new years!
Leigh

(1/16/08) Job Opportunity

Tufts University will be hosting an information session for Wediko
Children's Services' NH Summer Program. The New Hampshire Summer
Program is a residential treatment program for 150 boys and girls ages
7-18 with serious emotional and behavioral disorders (SED). Please
come to Dowling Hall, Room 745A on Tuesday, January 20th at 5:30pm to
learn more about their paid summer internship opportunities. Below is
a description of the NH Summer Program internship positions.

Job Descriptions:

Residential Counselors: As a part of a clinical team, work directly
with a group of 8-10 children or adolescents with serious emotional
and behavioral disorders (SED).

Special Education Assistants: Plan and implement active, learner-
centered language arts, math, and science curricula. When not
fulfilling the duties related to the classroom, Special Education
Assistants join Residential Counselors in supervising a group of 8-10
children with SED.

Therapeutic Activity Assistants: Specialized staff with training in
aquatics, athletics, and visual & performing arts, or other areas,
create and implement active, learner-centered curricula. Activity
Assistants, when not fulfilling the duties related to their
activities, join Residential Counselors in supervising a group of 8-10
children with SED.

Supervision and training are provided throughout the program by
clinical psychologists, social workers, special education
professionals, and licensed nurses.

Qualifications: Students must have completed at least two years of
college to meet and master the job demands of a direct care position.
Other positions require relevant credentials. The desire and ability
to work long hours on a staff team helping troubled children, at times
under stressful conditions is also required. Previous experience with
children or adolescents is desirable, but is not a prerequisite.
Similarly, relevant course work is helpful, but personal qualities are
even more important - such as the ability to work hard, the capacity
for working on a team, and the ability to use constructive feedback.
The ability to meet the physical demands of a rugged 450-acre campus
is also required.

Job dates: June 27 - August 23. All staff participate in lectures and
case conferences during two weeks of orientation - one week before the
children arrive, and one week after the children leave.

Benefits: Positions are paid, and include 750 hours of supervised
therapeutic experience and training, room & board, and an AmeriCorps
Educational Voucher worth $1,250 may be awarded to U.S. Citizens. All
staff receive five days off during the 45-day session.

We do not have a set application deadline. Hiring decisions are made
on a rolling basis, but send in your materials as soon as possible.
Please email tbeckum@wediko.org for more information and application.

Tiffany Beckum

Wediko Children's Services

Summer Program Administrative Coordinator

tbeckum@wediko.org

(617) 292-9200

(1/16/08) Job Opportunity

Dear Students,

I am looking to hire a student to provide support for two writing
projects by conducting literature searches, summaries and reviews.
The hours would range from 10-20 hours/week depending on the need,
until the projects are completed. Both projects need staffing
immediately.

Please contact me if you are interested in being considered for the
position.

Ellen

(01/14/08) Teaching opp at local schools

Great opportunity to enrich stardards-based classroom lessons with a
focus on local issues:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maple Syrup Lessons in Somerville Schools: Tufts students team up
with community members to teach a 6- week series of lessons on the
history, science, and cultural tradition of Maple Syrup to K- 3rd
grade classes in the Somerville Public Schools. The series ends with
an exciting field trip to the Somerville Community Growing Center for
a day of fun, outdoor activities, tastings, and to watch our
Somerville Maple Sap boil down to syrup!

Flexibility during the day is helpful-- we will take many things into
account in planning schedules with teachers and classrooms. Training
provided. Must be able to commit to help teach at least one 50-minute
class a week for 6 weeks. Great opportunity for someone who enjoys
working with students, is enthusiastic, and comfortable in a classroom
setting.

Program Dates: end of January- mid March.
Contact Aviva, aviva.asher@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(01/11/08) MA-Applied Internship available this semester

There is an excellent research internship available this semester
(spring) working on a study at Boston Medical Center. This could be a
capstone internship or a graduate level community field placement (CD
199). The study examines early identification of developmental delays
in young children and commuinicating screening results to families. An
MA student who graduated last spring is the project coordinator, and
you would work under the direction of the P.I. The position would
include one or more of the following: qualitative coding of focus
group data; exploring data about parent self-efficacy and satisfaction
during well-child visits to the pediatrician; help collect data in the
clinic for a pilot study; researching and writing a lit review about
developmental screening. This internship would provide excellent child
development and research experience.
If interested, please email me (martha.pott@tufts.edu).
Martha

(01/06/08) Research Assistantship Opportunity

Prof. Marina Bers is looking for a MA or PhD student with interest and
expertise in research in early childhood education (with a special
focus on research methodologies and evaluation in early childhood
development) to work as a Research Assistant (RA) for an NSF grant
that looks at the role of tangible computer programming in helping
young children learn. This is an interdisciplinary project with the
Computer Science department at Tufts.

The student will commit to a two year RA that will result in either a
Masters 's thesis or a qualifying paper (in the case of a doctoral
student) and will receive a stipend based on the current departmental
rate and his/her experience. He or she will collaborate closely with
students in the Computer Science department and will attend the weekly
DevTech research seminar. No previous knowledge of computer
programming or robotics is needed. However, the student needs to be
willing to learn. Experience conducting literature reviews and working
with Kindergarten-aged children is a plus.

Please send a CV and a couple of paragraphs about your interest in
working as an RA in the DevTech group (http://ase.tufts.edu/devtech/),
and more specifically about your interest in this particular project
to marina.bers@tufts.edu. Project summary is bellow.
Project Summary
This is a challenging time for early childhood education (K-2). On the
one hand, there are steeped up federally-mandated academic demands and
a growing concern to respect children's developmental stages. On the
other hand, there has not been yet a profound re-examination of the
content, in particular in the area of technology, that young children
are able to learn, nor do we have research-based evidence to evaluate
children's developmental possibilities with innovative technologies.
However, in order to advance the technological fluency of our nation's
youth, we need to start in the early years. This project proposes that
when given age-appropriate technologies, young children can actively
engage in computer programming and robotics activities in a way that
is consistent with developmentally appropriate practice. In
particular, it proposes the creation of novel human-computer
interaction techniques to support learning with technology in early
elementary school, with a focus on kindergarten. This technology will
allow us to gather research-based evidence regarding the
intellectually powerful ideas that young children are able to
understand, and build-upon, before reaching what Piaget called the
operational stage. In turn, this will allow us to revisit our
developmental assumptions. At the heart of this proposal is the claim
that, for a variety of reasons, modern graphical user interfaces (GUI)
are ill-suited for use in early elementary school classrooms,
especially for computer programming activities. Thus, this project
will focus on two aspects: 1) It will build on emerging tangible user
interface (TUI) technology to create a tangible programming language
for young children to control a robotic artifact. In short, rather
than using a mouse or keyboard to write programs to control robots,
children will instead construct programs by connecting "smart" wooden
blocks shaped like jigsaw puzzle pieces; 2) It will integrate
inexpensive building materials such as recyclables, with the use of
select robotic parts, such as wheel and motors that give functionality
and movement. Current robotic construction kits utilize materials such
as LEGO, which can be very expensive and challenging to use for young
children with small hands. Our approach creates a unique opportunity
to separate the intellectual act of computer programming and building
in the physical world, from the confounding factor of modern GUIs and
complex mechanical constructions. And, in turn, provides a means to
build a better understanding of developmental capabilities of young
children with respect to computer programming.
The project team includes experts from the fields of child
development, learning technologies, computer science, and human-
computer interaction from Tufts Unversity. It has an extensive
trajectory in engineering-base educational research through robotics.
Over the course of three years, the project will build on existing
research to develop novel technology and a complementary kindergarten
robotics-based curriculum , as well as a research protocol and robotic-
based experimental tasks that will enable us to carefully study
children's learning. The project will evaluate the effectiveness of
both the technology and the curriculum in kindergarten classrooms by
using the experimental tasks as well as ethnographic methods.
Intellectual Merit
The intellectual merit of this project resides in its potential
contributions to the fields of child development, early childhood
education, and human-computer interaction. From the point of view of
human-computer interaction, the merit of this project lies in the
novelty of the proposed interaction technique as well as the proposed
formal design process and evaluation. From the point of view of child
development and early childhood education, this project proposes to
take an unprecedented look at what young children can accomplish with
technology when given tools that are truly age-appropriate. The
project also proposes a novel methodology for studying young
children's thinking when engaging in programming and robotics.

(01/06/08) Research Assistantship Opportunity

Dear Grad Students:

A wonderful paid research assistantship is available to a student
interested in early learning. Marina Bers has a two-year fellowship
on her NSF grant that is crying out for an Eliot-Pearson graduate
student! Marina can go elsewhere in the University to find a student,
but really wants someone with developmental interests and background.
She is working right at the cutting edge, at the intersections of
child development, early childhood education, and human-computer
interaction. See below for a description of the opportunity in more
detail. This is a great opportunity, so don't miss it! If you want
more information about the possibilities it includes, do set up a
meeting with Marina.

Mon Cochran
Interim Director, ECE Program

(1/5/09) After School Program in need of help

To all Child Development Graduate Students:

My name is Leigh Cooper and I am running an after-school program for
children ages 5-11 at the Claredon Hills public housing development.
The development is located right off campus on route 16 and we provide
homework help and run educational activities twice a week from 3-5
p.m. Our goal is to create a self-sustaining program within their
community to give children a safe and productive place to go after
school, especially because a large majority of their parents work. Our
program just started last semester at Claredon Hills and this coming
semester will be joining forces with a similar group based in the
Mystic Valley Learning Center to share volunteers and knowledge about
what has been successful with the children. What we are looking for is
one or two graduate students to volunteer with the program once or
twice a week for a few hours to give feedback on how the program is
running and what it could use and to aid us in properly disciplining
the children. This is a great!
opportunity to get some field experience and we could really use the
expertise of those more formally educated in child development.
Unfortunately at this point in the programs development I don't think
I can arrange to have this offered for any type of official course
credit but eventually once the program is more established I will
contact the head of the department to try and arrange it. Our program
should begin again in early February and while the days of the week
the program will be running are to be established, they will most
likely be Mondays and Thursdays.

If you have any interest please contact me at Leigh.Cooper@tufts.edu

Thank you and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and new years!
Leigh