Early Childhood Play Inquiry - Assignment Example

Early Childhood Play Inquiry Research continues to indicate that play time is very important for child development in their earlyyears (Jan, 2005). However, while this is a clearly established fact, there are few studies which have shown exactly how parents, educators and adults in general can help youngsters to be able to achieve positive development from play. There are a number of issues which arise from this fact. First, there is a deep need to identify which kinds of play are useful to the child and secondly, there is a need to identify how parents and the educators are supposed to be able to design play activities which will help their children to achieve positive develop. According to Abbott (1994), it is not all types of play which will be beneficial to the child in terms of their early childhood development. Structured play however, as Abbot (1994) says, is able to help the child to analyse situations, investigate various materials and elements and come up with their own conclusions about the world around them. This process is very helpful to the child as it helps the child’s mental faculties to develop and in a positive way and also helps the child to interact with the world around her in a way that will increase her skills and her thinking processes Abbott (1994). In this regard, play becomes an essential part of learning and without it the child may have to take much longer before they are able to assimilate the world around them. As Abbott (1994) warns, play must be designed with the main intentions to help the child to learn rather than just having fun. According to Bruce (1996), children and adults have a lot in common with regard to how they learn. These commonalities include issues such as the learning from firsthand experience, learning through games and rules and representing their experiences through symbols such as music, drawings, drama etc. However, unlike adults, children only make sense of their experiences and what they learn through play (Bruce, 1996). This is why it is absolutely necessary for adults and especially early childhood teachers to be able to link play to the curriculum. Once they learn about this, it becomes very necessary to be able to help the child to link what she learns in theory and to the real world. In other words, to a child, the play section is like the laboratory for a high school student where they go to make sense of the theories they learn in school. The teacher therefore has to ensure that this “laboratory” is well equipped for the child to be able to explore as much as possible. Gap between practice and theory The biggest problem is that there cannot be a guarantee that the educators and other practitioners such as nurses in early childhood institutions will put to practice what has been put forward by scholars in theory. This gap continues to expand as practitioners don’t reflect on their practice but just push through the curriculum without much consideration as to what they could be missing. What is worse is that even the most educated and the most experienced practitioners also fail to have this kind of practice and this gap can lead to less quality of early childhood education and deny the young students the kind of platform they require to be competitive in their later years in the academic arena as well as in life (Abbott, 1994). This issue of the existence of a gap between the theories of play as an important aspect of learning has been discussed in detail by a number of scholars. For instance, Adams (2005) has addressed this issue form a practical point of view by looking at the way in which different professional practitioners have lapsed in implementing the theory of play and education. According to Adams, there is a wide gap between practice and theory with regard to the role of play in a child’s early years of development. In a study done by Adams (2005), professional practitioners fail to reflect in their practice and this leads to them neglecting the importance of having good play time with the students. This is especially so because play as Abbot (1994) says, is a lot of hard works. She says that play can be a lot of hard work for the child as well as the teacher because it requires a lot of planning. This could be the reason why many practitioners are unable to live up to the theories which have been put into place to help them to achieve better in their practice by helping the students to develop better. Documenting the learning process If play as part of learning is to be used effectively, there is a need to document so as to create a road map for the child’s learning curve. The documentation process is important as a way to help the practitioner to be able to track his or her performance as the student goes on with learning. However as Arthur (2008) says, documenting the learning process is important as it is a way to identify learning competencies of the individual student as well as the groups. Documentation of the learning process also helps in encouraging the collaboration between the practitioners and the families of the child. The families of the child can use the documentation as a way to continue at home what the teacher has started at school. This continuity of the learning process from the classroom to the home environment can be very important for the child and the learning will have a more useful experience when it is done. In this regard, it is necessary to guarantee that there is a clear documentation process for the child’s play lesson in order to guarantee a way to look at the way the child is developing. At the same time, the documentations can be used as a way to understand the child in terms of their behaviour and this can be used as a way to help the child become better. For instance, the documentation can be used to understand difficult behaviour and this can be used in modifying the program in order to help the child cope with any issues they may be having (Arthur, 2008). Symbolic function and the role of play in developing it According to Bodrova and Leong (2007) symbolic function is one of the most important early developments for a child. A child’s symbolic function is her ability to use one object or action to represent another that is completely different. For instance, taking an empty juice box and using it to represent a car is one of the signs that a child’s symbolic function has developed. This is something that is best achieved through play. As children play, they learn to use objects to represent real life objects and also use actions to simulate real life actions. This is something which is very useful for children of ages between the ages of 3 and 5. By allowing these children to play with various objects, it is easy for the children to be able to learn how to use different objects to be able to represent other objects. This will definitely help them to be able to learn faster and developing their thinking processes. It will also help in ensuring that the child is able to relate with the real world in a more useful manner. Child development is a process of relating with the environment which is made of objects, people and actions. By helping these children to be able to relate with this environment through play, it becomes much easier to be able to understand the environment. Play can never be belittled in any way due to the power it has in moulding the child both at childhood and in their later life. According to Curtis and Carter (2000), objects around which a child grows are important in defining that child and how the child will view the world. Playtime is the time when the child comes into contact with the most objects and it is therefore increasingly necessary to have a way to guarantee that the child will not be affected in a negative way as they continue to interact with the objects around them. Curtis and Carter (2000) use the example of Walt Whitman’s quote to illustrate how the surrounding of a child can affect the way a child develops. In this regard, organising a good play area for the child is not just a matter of giving them a place to play in and some items to play with, it also involves making informed decisions in terms of choosing the right objects, materials and games to help the child develop in a positive way (Curtis & Carter, 2003). It is necessary to understand that while play is useful in a child’s early development, it does not discriminate on which kind of development or experiences it will give to the child. References Abbott, L. (1994) Play is fun , but it s hard work , too ! The search for quality play in the early years In: Quality Education in the Early Years. Edited by Lesley Abbott and Rosemary Rodger. Buckingham England ; Philadelphia : Open University Press, Chapter 2, pp. 39-52 Adams, S. (2005) Practitioners and Play : Reflecting in a Different Way In: The excellence of play / Edited by Janet Moyles. 2nd ed. Maidenhead : Open University Press, Chapter 15, pp. 213-227 Arthur, L. et al. (2008) Documenting and planning for childrens learning In: Programming & planning in early childhood settings / Leonie Arthur ... [et al.]. 4th ed. South Melbourne, Vic.: Thomson Learning Australia, Chapter 9, pp. 265-321 Bodrova, E.& Leong, D. (2007) Developmental Accomplishments and Leading Activity : Preschool and Kindergarten In: Tools of the Mind : The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education. Elena Bodrova and Deborah J. Leong. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.:Pearson Merrill; Prentice Hall, Chapter 10, pp. 123-140 Bruce, T. (1996) What is Play? In : Helping young children to play / Tina Bruce. [London] : Hodder & Stoughton, Chapter 2, pp. 7-21 Christmas, J. (2005) Is it OK to Play ? Perceptions of Play in a Small Rural Primary School In: Perspectives on Early Childhood Education : Stoke on Trent, UK ; Sterling, VA : Trentham, Chapter 13, pp. 141-149 Curtis, D.& Carter, M. (2003) Provoking Wonder , Curiosity , and Intellectual Engagement In: Designs for Living and Learning : Transforming Early Childhood Environments. St. Paul, MN : Redleaf Press pp. 121-147 Curtis, D. and Carter, M. (2000) Observing How Children Seek Power , Drama , and Adventure In: The Art of Awareness : How Observation Can Transform Your Teaching.. St. Paul, MN. : Redleaf Press, pp. 65-76 Curtis, D. and Carter, M. (2003) Provoking Wonder , Curiosity , and Intellectual Engagement In: Designs for Living and Learning : Transforming Early Childhood Environments. St. Paul, MN : Redleaf Press pp. 121-147 Read More