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1. Determine how play deficits cause intellectual, social, emotional and physical harm to children.
2. Articulate the development and interrelationships of cognition, play, language, socialemotional skills and literacy.
3. Assess a child’s play development and language skills using the Westby Play Scale.
4. Recommend appropriate activities and strategies to develop young children’s language/social-emotional/play skills at each level.
5. Employ play to promote the cognitive, language, social-emotional and self-regulation skills that underlie children’s effective social interactions and literacy comprehension.
6. Establish how play can facilitate self-regulation, empathy and the foundations for reading comprehension.

Foundations of Cognitive-Play-Literacy Relationship: Frameworks for Assessment and Intervention

• Dynamic systems theory: integrating nature and nurture theories
• The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning
• A performance competence framework for assessment and intervention

Social-Emotional/Cognitive Precursors to Play: Birth-17 months

• Neurotypical and atypical patterns of socialemotional development
• Environmental influences on socialemotional development and play
• Temperamental variations in children
• Presymbolic play

Development of Pretend Play Dimensions (17 months – 5 years): Relationship of Play Dimensions to Language and Literacy

• Theory of Mind Dimension (understanding thoughts and feelings of self and others)
• Decontextualization Dimension (reduced use of props in play)
• Thematic Dimension (from familiar to novel pretend themes)
• Organization Dimension (sequencing and planning of play)

Interventions to Promote Playing to Learn

• Setting goals for playful learning
• Promote literate-style language through play
• Develop phonological awareness skills through playful practices
• Promote thematic pretend play to develop foundations for language and literacy

Carol Westby, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an internationally-renowned expert on play assessment and development, language-literacy relationships, current play theories, and the development of the four dimensions of play in young children (birth-5 years).

She is a fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and holds Specialty Recognition in Child Language. She received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Iowa’s Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, and the ASHA Award for Contributions to Multicultural Affairs.

Dr. Westby began her career in New York where she developed her renowned Play Scale. She has written and implemented projects to support personnel preparation, clinical service, and research, including Project PLAY (Play and Language Attunement in Young Children), that trained caregivers to increase the development of play, theory of mind, and language. And she has consulted with the New Mexico Preschool for the Deaf, which employs a play-based curriculum.

Dr. Westby has been a visiting professor at Flinders University in South Australia where she worked on a language/literacy curriculum, and at Brigham Young University where she consulted on SEEL, a systematic and engaging emergent literacy program that employs playful practice.

Dr. Westby has published and presented nationally and internationally on play, language-literacy relationships, narrative/expository development and facilitation, theory of mind, assessment and facilitation of written language, metacognition/executive function, and issues in assessment and intervention with culturally/linguistically diverse populations.
Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Carol Westby is a consultant for Bilingual Multicultural Services. Dr. Westby receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She is the author of numerous chapters and articles; and is published by various publishers including Jones & Bartlett and Pearson.

Non-financial: Carol Westby is the developer of the Westby Play Scale. Dr. Westby is a fellow of the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Save time and $10 off the price of other submission methods – purchase & take the CE test online for $9.99 USD per participant. Additional processing fees apply for other submission methods (i.e. mail, fax, etc.). Please contact our Customer Service at 1-800-844-8260 for more details.

Listed below are the continuing education credit(s) currently available for this non-interactive self-study package. Please note, your state licensing board dictates whether self study is an acceptable form of continuing education. Please refer to your state rules and regulations.

Certificates of Successful Completion are available for email, download and/or printing from your online account immediately following the successful completion of the post-test/evaluation.

**Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of mental health professionals. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your professions standards.

• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Speech-Language Pathology Assistants
• Occupational Therapists
• Occupational Therapy Assistants
• Reading Specialists
• Head Start Staff
• Early Childhood Special Education Staff
• Learning Disability Specialists
• Preschool Teachers
• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Other Helping Professionals who Work with Children (Birth – 5 Years)