When pandemic conditions permit her return to a Manhattan kindergarten classroom, 72-year-old volunteer Brenda McGee is eager to practice child development strategies highlighted in recent virtual training presented by Cornell University Cooperative Extension-New York City (CUCE-NYC).
If the 5- and 6-year-olds are playing with puzzles or blocks, McGee, a volunteer in the New York City Department for the Aging’s Foster Grandparent Program, won’t simply make sure they’re playing safely or tell them what to do. Instead, she’ll pose open-ended questions to encourage experimentation and the use of spatial language (above, below, between) that researchers say creates a foundation for learning science, technology, engineering and math.