For six educational and fun-filled weeks, children ages 4 to 8 have been immersed in the world of water at this year's Early Childhood Summer Clinic Enrichment Program with an aquatic theme. Two rooms in the Haley Center have been converted into both a fresh water environment complete with a baby duck and two little turtles, and a salt water environment with a sandy beach and tide pool.

For approximately 25 years now, the Department of Curriculum and Teaching's (C&T) Early Childhood Program has hosted this summer clinic— (not to be confused with a summer camp!) —that offers children from the area a chance to make new friends while participating in exciting and enlightening activities.

"This clinic is based on an academic curriculum. It is designed as it would be during the an academic semester," said Dr. Candra D. Thornton, assistant professor in C&T and clinic program supervisor. "The practicum students prepare lesson plans in all subjects including math, science and language arts. The practicum students are also able to spend one-on-one time with the children and work on reading at their individual level. We really try to work on what they already know and build upon that. "

This year, 30 children are enrolled in the program and have spent Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. learning and having fun with their peers. Many of the children have participated in previous Early Childhood Summer ClinicsEnrichment Programs, which offers the supervisors a unique opportunity to really get to know the children and see how they change and develop intellectually, Thornton said.

The Early Childhood Summer Clinic Program is not just a time for the children to learn and grow as individuals, but also a time for the practicum students to put theory into actual practice while working on their own teaching style.

"This is a huge learning experience for both the children and the practicum students. They are getting the hands-on experience that will help prepare them for their internship and then their career," Thornton said. "They are supervised, assessed and evaluated. The practicum students are finding ways to continually improve. This is an intense learning experience for them."

The Early Childhood practicum students work under the supervision of instructors Susan Barlow, Barbie Hall, and Barbara Thompson; Master's level students Paula Jones, Autmn Sims, and Katy Wright (students completing a graduate course requirement) conduct formal observations and assessments on the students' teaching performances.

Naomi Jackson, a senior in Early Childhood from Auburn, enjoys spending time with the children and feels like her teaching techniques have been improved by this experience.

"Working in this clinic and with these children has taught me a lot about how to teach," Jackson said. "I learned how to do different activities with the children such as shared reading and shared journal."

Jackson was introduced to the early childhood world as a high school student at Auburn High School through an elective she took focused on community service. She said as part of that class the high school students would go out into the community and work in different places. She went to assist a teacher at Auburn Early Ed and had her first taste of being in a classroom surrounded by the bright smiling faces of something she loves—children.

Another teaching technique the Early Childhood Summer Clinic Enrichment Program strives to embed in its practicum students is the idea that the children need to do the thinking and the work with teachers providing guidance by asking questions that engage the children in critical thinking and problem solving, said Barbara Thompson, adjunct professor instructor and co-supervisor.

"Our students provide the children with the materials to make the props that you see around the rooms such as the pond and beaver dam in the fresh water room and the submarine and palm trees tide pool in the salt water room. Then they ask the children questions to get them to think about how to create a realistic object," Thompson said.