The Power of Play

News and Reminders: It's summer! Please remember to bring closed toe water shoes (no flip flops!) and a hat.

I recently heard about a new book, Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tell Us About Raising Succesful Children. The little piece I heard on NPR went into the importance of early childhood and the interactions we have with children during these formative years. The authors also discuss alternate ways of assessing children, looking at different skills than we typically measure. They focus on collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence. They break down those skills even more to how they are related to one another and what they look like at different developmental stages.

I have not yet read the book myself, I just ordered it. If anyone wants to form a book club and read it together please let me know. Here's a link to the NPR article.

The Power of Play

Have you ever thought to yourself that there is a lot of free play at our school? That maybe there is too much time for free play and there isn't enough structured time that is teacher directed? Play should be the central component of any early childhood program. It is critical to children's development.

Years of research on children's learning and development document the many benefits of play for children's intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and language development. Children at play are actively involved in creating themes, exploring and establishing environments, solving problems, and developing shared understandings.

Children play in many ways. They play independently, sometimes near each other but with each child engrossed in his own activity. They engage in what is called "parallel play", perhaps using each others' toys or even talking, but not coordinating their play. They also play cooperatively, organizing roles and scenarios for group play. As they get older, children are capable of more cooperative, coordinated play. Children go through different stages of play, and all stages are valuable.

As kids play with each other, they learn to see other children's points of view and begin to become more empathetic and caring. They come to understand customs and rules in their own culture and appreciate those of others. They learn tp use language in new ways to describe their play and to interact with others. And in play, children develop muscles and coordination.

It is through play that children are able to try out new skills, come up with new ideas, test out relationships, and take risks. There are failures and successes throughout play. The more time children are given for free play, the more they are able to develop and practice those life long skills that we utilize each and every day as adults. Getting along with others, recognizing others' feelings and emotional states, clear communication skills, willingness to take risks, solving a complex problem, managing emotional reactions to difficult situations, and flexibility of thought are just a few of the skills adults use that got their start in early childhood.

Adults support children's play by providing space, opportunity, and materials. Building these foundations in children's earliest years does not happen by accident. Allowing children the space and time to play is done with intention and lots of reflection. As teachers, we are constantly observing, scaffolding, and discussing the environment, the materials, and what we are seeing happening among the children during play. We are constantly considering children's developmental progression in math, cognitive flexibility, social interactions (both successful and unsuccessful), identifying and regulating their emotions, among many others.

So, when you hear someone say "All they do is play." maybe you could fill them in on how important that time for play really is and the amount of work it really requires.



Due to the short week, we will be skipping our classroom updates and just have a few photos instead, enjoy!