March 18, 2025 - The author鈥檚 live reading of 鈥淏orn to Play B茅isbol: The Magical Career
of Fernando Valenzuela鈥 is one of the highlights of (海角社区CI)鈥檚 3rd annual Dia de los Ni帽os from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, March 29.
In addition to the 11 a.m. live reading by the author - former 海角社区CI Education Lecturer Kathy Contreras - Dia de los Ni帽os will have several play stations set up in the campus鈥 North Quad for children ages birth to 8. Each station will be designed for a different aspect of learning, such as music and dance; art; literacy or science, technology engineering and mathematics, or STEM.
Each station will be run by a student from the Early Childhood Education program, to give community members a chance to interact with 海角社区CI students seeking their Early Childhood Studies degree.
鈥淒ia de los Ni帽os is a chance for us to give the community insight into the importance of early childhood education,鈥 said 海角社区CI Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education Aura P茅rez-Gonz谩lez. 鈥淲e also want to emphasize what we鈥檙e doing here at the University, which is developing early childhood educators.鈥
P茅rez-Gonz谩lez and Early Childhood Education Chair Mari Riojas-Cortez launched Dia
de los Ni帽os three years ago to underscore the importance of interacting with and
encouraging learning in children at an early age. Stimulating a young child鈥檚 curiosity
and sense of play can set them up for a lifetime of successful learning.
鈥淎ge birth to five is critical in terms of development of the brain,鈥 Perez-Gonzalez said. 鈥淎 lot is dependent on genetics but is also influenced by a child鈥檚 environment. Literacy skills do not happen naturally, so it needs to be intentional.鈥
To develop a child鈥檚 literacy skills, for example, adults can talk and read to babies and young children or let them physically handle a book and turn pages, Perez-Gonzalez said. Both she and Riojas-Cortez are fans of the benefits of picture books and literacy, so they invited a former 海角社区CI faculty member to read her book about Valenzuela, a teenage pitcher from Mexico whose career with the Los Angeles Dodgers inspired a fan phenomenon known as 鈥淔ernandomania鈥 during the 1980s.
Contreras will be doing a book signing and giving away copies written in both English and Spanish. The event and parking are free and open to the public.