The importance of early childhood education took to the big screen recently, courtesy of the DuPage Children’s Museum.
A Special Screening
The Hollywood Palms hosted the western suburban premiere of the documentary “No Small Matter.”
“‘No Small Matter’ is the first feature-length documentary really exploring the importance of the most important investment in our country we could possibly make and that’s early childhood education,” said Thomas Sullivan, the DuPage Children’s Museum’s director of education and programs.
Bringing Those Ideas Home
The documentary argues for the benefits of learning through play, which is a belief shared by many local educators.
“One of the things that we’ve done in D203 is we’re really taking a strong belief and value in our early childhood process and we’ve got a commitment within our blueprint that really uses our early childhood services,” said District 203 Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Dr. Christine Igoe.
Panel Discussion
The museum invited local experts, including Igoe, to speak on a panel following the screening of the film. They explained how investing in early childhood education shows benefits long after the student leaves Pre-K.
“It makes them much better prepared for the workforce once they leave high school and even getting into college years. So what you do very early on with that brain growth and development, enriching their experiences, it makes them that much better off later in life,” said Fakelia Guyton, director of the DuPage Early Childhood Collaboration, who also spoke on the panel.
Naperville News 17’s Casey Krajewski reports.