Child psychology expert Dr Tessa Livingstone - who is the executive producer of the BBC television series Child of Our Time - will address the sixth annual childcare conference on Saturday at the Salthill Hotel. It opens at 9.30am and will be officially launched by Mr Barry Andrews, Minister for Children and Youth affairs.
The main theme of this year’s event which is hosted by Galway City and County Childcare Committee is “Value the Moment”.
“We are delighted to have Dr Livingstone as the keynote speaker”, says Mary Giblin, manager of the Galway City and County Childcare Committee.
After working with children in Europe and the Middle East Dr Livingstone has been making documentaries for the BBC for more than 20 years. Watching her own children Zoe and Charlie grow up focused her attention on children’s psychology in the most graphic way and showed how “fascinating, complex, precious, baffling and enjoyable” they can be.
In 1998 she started to create the BBC landmark television series Child of Our Time which was conceived as a 20 year longitudinal study of childhood. The project is designed to follow 25 children, born at the start of the millennium, as they grow up. The series has attracted a wide following from viewers.
“Dr Livingstone’s topic is ‘Value the Moment – The Importance of Play When Spending Time with Children,’” explains Ms Giblin. “As part of the 2008 Child of Our Time series, Dr Livingstone’s team studied play, the use of technology, and communication between children, parents, teachers and friends.
“The most surprising findings from that study were about play, they found that play is vital, it makes children happy as they discovered when they counted the number of laughs. The more children play, the more they laugh, especially when they are outside. In fact, they found that the children who played most, laughed up to 20 times as much as the children who played less – a valuable lesson for all of us.”
Peter Silva, chief executive officer of Peers Early Education Partnership is the special guest speaker at the conference. PEEP offers unique ideas and activities to support children’s learning in everyday situations by helping parents and children to play together in peer groups.
“We have been in contact with PEEP over the past year and intend to pilot a similar programme in Galway in 2009,” says Ms Giblin. “Initially we will target parents through childcare services, libraries, and parent and toddler groups with a particular focus on those who are socially isolated.”
For further information or to book a place at the conference telephone (0910 752039 or e- [email protected]
