Child development expert comes to El Cerrito

Early childhood development expert Bev Bos will present her philosophy and teachings to the El Cerrito community when she discusses “Exploring the Real Power of Play” on Saturday, October 5, at the El Cerrito High School auditorium, 540 Ashbury Avenue, El Cerrito. The doors will open at 9:30 a.m.; her talk begins at 10.

Bos wants us to live for the moment when it comes to our children.

“This minute, this second—that’s what’s important,” Bos writes in her 2005 book (with Jenny Chapman), Tumbling over the Edge: A Rant for Children’s Play. She encourages us to infuse the early childhood environment at home and school with basic, natural materials that foster each child’s sense of wonder — facilitating healthy intrapersonal, interpersonal, emotional, cognitive, and physical development.

Bos argues that real play is universal and essential to the development and well-being of children, and that there are serious consequences that result from not playing. Her Oct. 5 presentation will focus on how children spontaneously engage in play, and it will include images of the Roseville Community Preschool environment. The format for the morning includes music, storytelling and the opportunity for participants to examine the power of real play from their own childhood and families. A short film, Caine's Arcade, will be shown.

The workshop is sponsored by the El Cerrito Preschool Cooperative, 7200 Moeser Lane, a nonprofit co-op founded in 1940 that embraces Bev Bos’ philosophy on play.  Tickets are $12 in advance through brownpapertickets.com, or $15 at the door. College students and West Contra Costa Unified School District employees are $10. Group discounts are available. Adults only, please. For more information, please email marketing@ecpckids.com.