APSU’s Little Govs CLC Day of Play fosters early literacy
By: Ethan Steinquest September 21, 2023
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - From rock painting to puppet shows, children enjoyed a variety of activities designed to build pre-literacy skills at Austin Peay State University (APSU) on Sept. 16 for the inaugural Little Govs Child Learning Center Day of Play.
The free event was funded through a grant from the Nashville Predators Foundation, and organizations from across the community teamed up to fill Little Govs CLC’s playground with hands-on learning opportunities for children ages 1-8.
“All the skills involved in these activities promote fine motor skills, and that’s the foundation for pre-literacy,” said Claudia Rodriguez, the director of Little Govs CLC. “We wanted to focus not only on language and literacy, but on supporting the skills needed to develop in those areas.”
Dozens of families attended the event, and each one brought home a gift bag filled with reading and writing materials. Rodriguez said emphasizing language and literacy was important to combat delays in speech that the center’s employees have observed since COVID-19.
“Reading success is directly linked to how we expose children to books and activities at an early age,” she said. “[And] the first three years are really when you have to focus on it … because when they’re delayed in language, they’re not able to communicate with other children and make friends, which impacts the social development of young children. Emotional development is impacted too because they can’t tell you how they feel, and therefore they may have a harder time with self-regulating.”
Mary Jo Huff, an award-winning author, recording artist, storyteller and early childhood educator, headlined the event with a puppet-themed storytime session. She also helped children create their own puppets, which they used to act out creative scenarios.
“It’s important to make eye contact with children, answer their questions and listen to them,” Huff said. “People don’t listen enough to what the kids have to say, and so that’s a big deal for me. I love watching them play by themselves and create their own rules, without anybody telling them how to do things. Whatever way they want to play, it’s their way.”
Krystal Burgard, a graduate student earning a master’s degree in leadership, said her children Austin, Dylan and Ethan particularly enjoyed making puppets with Huff and spending time with their friends.
“We’ve actually been very loyal to the center for years,” Burgard said. “I love how they work with the community, and it’s such a wonderful representation of the diversity of students here. We like to come out and support it whenever we can, and it’s one of our favorite places to be with the kids.”
Other community partners at the event included: ArtLink; Tennessee Child Care Resource & Referral Network; Tennessee Early Childhood Training Alliance (TECTA) APSU; Friends of the Forest; Nashville State Community College’s Early Childhood Education Department; author Jenifer Goncalvez; Sunny Day Studios; Rick’s Comic City; Family Disability Support; Wanda Givens of the Cheatham County School District; and the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library in partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
“It’s incredible to see that there are so many organizations that really want to support children and families in their educational journey,” Rodriguez said. “But they also understand how important it is for children just to play, and it’s incredible.”
After seeing the level of interest from partner organizations, Rodriguez decided to expand the Little Govs CLC Day of Play into a community-wide event and invited families from outside the center.
“Anytime the center does events that are open to the community, it allows people an opportunity to see this space and all of the amazing things they’re doing here at Little Govs CLC,” said Kelly Pitts, assistant director of Austin Peay’s Office of Research & Sponsored Programs. “This first annual Little Govs CLC Day of Play has been a success, and I hope that will fuel the course for them to get more grants for activities like this in the future.”
Pitts worked with Rodriguez and her team to receive grant funding from the Nashville Predators Foundation for the event, and she also has two children enrolled in the center.
“My twins, Maddox and Roman, have loved the activities today,” Pitts said. “I was a little nervous when it was raining this morning, but we threw on our raincoats and grabbed our umbrellas, and it hasn’t stopped anyone. Their favorite thing so far has probably been using spray bottles on the tarp to make color, provided by Sunny Day Studios.”
Rodriguez said the children enjoyed exploring the stations across the playground throughout the day, and parents were encouraged to provide similar opportunities for interactive learning.
“We hope that we’re modeling that today so that families can really take the opportunity to do the same at home,” she said. “If you make reading and writing fun, every child will participate, and you can get these same learning concepts in along with a sense of joy. We want to create a joy of learning because that’s the missing piece in a lot of things.”