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Kids investigate library

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Have you noticed small children with clipboards in the halls of the main campus building? Did you see them drawing the vending machines in the cafeteria and wonder what they were doing?

The children attend the IVCC Early Childhood Center on the east campus, and their visit to the main campus is part of an in-depth project they are conducting this fall.

Marilyn Worsley, the assistant director of the center, said, "Children at the center have repeatedly asked what their parents do at 'their school.' By exploring and investigating the college, the children can get a better understanding of why they are at the child are center."

Teacher Sallee Beneke said the project began with visits to several area of the campus: the mailroom, nursing lab, dental lab, cafeteria, library, auditorium and the biology lab. The children asked questions of the people working in those areas and drew pictures of things that interested them.

When the children returned to the center, they discussed which area they would like to investigate in depth. They voted on the library.

Beneke said over the next few weeks small groups of children will return to the library to study it more closely. They will develop a list of questions, research to find the answers and begin to make things that demonstrate what they have learned.

Teacher Jan Kirkham said, "This is my first experience with project work involving three and four-year old children. I'm looking forward to working with them as their interest and knowledge develop."

Each semester the children at the center conduct an in-depth investigation of something that is a part of their lives. Past projects have included the meadow behind the center, the cars in the college automotive lab, houses, and ants.

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