Professor Robert Capuozzo featured on 'Kids These Days'

Robert Capuozzo, professor of Early Childhood Development at UAA and leader of the Saturdays with Dad parenting support group at Providence Medical Center, joins Kids These Days Alaska radio program host Shana Sheehy in the studio this week to talk about "The Value of Pretend." Shona Strauser, Education Director at Perseverance Theater in Juneau, also joins Capuozzo and Sheehy.

About the show:
With Halloween coming, people young and old are looking forward to dressing up and pretending to be something else for a day. Make believe is fun, silly, freeing and it's also important to a young child's social-emotional development. Many say that "Play is a child's work" so just how do pretending, playing and imagining help us to grow up? This week's show will explore the value of make believe and look at play-based education philosophies and how flexing a young imagination is linked to empathy, self-control and better social skills throughout life.

The show airs on KSKA Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 2 and 7 p.m., on KRUA Thursday, Oct. 27 at 12 p.m., on KTOO Monday, Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. and is available online.