Time to Play in Early Childhood Education - Report Example

Executed Activity Plan with detailed Evaluation Executed Activity Plan with detailed Evaluation In developing the detailed activity plan for the child Tina, the child was observed participating together with the other children in a foot painting activity. The actions of Tina during the process were the main factor used in determining of the correct plan to assess her development (Transition to early childhood special education: a guide for parents of children with disabilities, 2002). From her activities, it was possible to establish her attitude towards taking and following instructions. The behavior of Tina as to tend to avoid or ignore rules as well as the ability to participate more freely in the activity was the main guiding factor, when this was mapped on the EYFS, to develop a short term plan for her activity since her case was one of little details of ignoring rules. Tina’s age, developmental needs as well as other interests were also factored in. The plan developed for Tina, as earlier defined, was a short term. Short term plan is one that is frequently drawn and changed on a regular basis and is aimed and identify development in a specific concept or perspective (Department for Children, School and Families 2008). The short term plan can be done on a daily or weekly basis and will strive to assess the rate of integration of newly learnt concepts by a child. In designing and developing an ideal childhood development plan, that is effective, it was important that it follows a specific guideline which would ensure all the objectives therein, were achieved. The system or plan so developed was able to continuously monitor the improvements, stagnation or decline in the development of the child. A better plan is that which provides checks or screening modalities which will be able to identify any abnormalities as soon as they occur (Education, E. C, 2010). Therefore, the system should be comprehensive enough, and be able to use information or observations noted, in making instructional decisions directed towards improving the child’s development curve. Consequently, the plan used in activated child development should be one that is consistent across settings, though, may be adapted to contain specific needs and demands of a given child. The progress of the child should not be specific but should include all the parameters of development as well. During observation of the children taking part in the foot painting activity, various critical points developed to incorporate in the plan. In the course of the play, Tina had shown an interest in working with the paints and manipulating colors which was actually a child’s own initiative. It was therefore important to keep the interest of the child while guiding the child to follow instructions and rules of the activities (Moyles 1998). The rules and instructions are the duty of adults in the development of the child since they give and ensure the rules are followed. The reason the instructions were not followed was probably because there was no keen listening or the message of the instructions were not decoded correctly. The role of the adults in the playing activity was to set the physical environment and prevent injuries from occurring. They also had to ensure the playing rules were followed. Children try to discover their abilities as they strive to be better than each other. In this activity, adult’s role was to explain the rules and instructions to be followed to the children. The tables were set with everything the children required and in the right sequence, so that they would obtain them without much difficult. The children were guided by answering their questions (McLachlan & Fleer, 2010). Parts of the rules were also explained to the children who did not understand while allowing them to work on their own. Demonstrations were conducted to show the children, especially in the case of Tina, to help in achieving certain details in their modeling which they did not know. Instructions were given at each stage for example in asking Tina to put on her apron while starting to paint, which Tina obeys. Measures were put in place to ensure that the children were able to share the available materials without many problems. The pedagogy of play holds that play supports the learning process and the development of a child to a great extent and in various ways. This is because it maximizes children’s participation through social interaction, emotional interaction, physical and intellectual interaction with the objects, people and representations they encounter in the course of playing. This enables them to develop in the aspects of their thinking, problem solving, creativity and imagination, sharing as they learn to appreciate one another (Bruce 1987). Children also learn to symbolize their experiences through role play as they tend to imitate their seniors. The play pedagogy acknowledges that children are able to learn through copying what others do, memorizing, referring to prior knowledge, concentrating on the tasks given while also taking risks to try new things. The fundamental idea and principle of play pedagogy is that, through playing, children benefit from diverse experiences while developing identities and perceptions as they develop socially, emotionally and in their intellectual reasoning (Donaldson 1978). One of the principles of EYFS is that every child is unique and is a competent learner, capable, resilient and confident in the undertakings of learning and is always self assured. Through the pedagogy of play and the plan, each child is appreciated to undertake the activities, and Tina in particular, is observed to be able to ask questions and follow instructions, which demonstrate her competence and ability to learn (Tarlov & Debbink, 2008). Her confidence, also comes into focus when she moves ahead to defend her idea of modeling ice cream for her snake. EYFS principles also suggest that children can learn to be strong and independent if they enjoy a conducive, loving and secure relationship from people who take care of them. This is because they will be able to explore through playing while receiving the correct guidance. Tina explores her talents by painting the picture of her snakes under a tree and comes up with an explanation of where the other snakes might have gone to. From the activation plan, it can be appreciated that Tina is a child who learns at a slightly lower rate than the others and therefore asks to know how to make eyes for her snake. After being shown how to do this, she then successfully completes the task with the other models of her snake. Whereas other fellow children know that snakes do not eat ice cream, Tina still imagines that her own snakes must like ice creams just as she likes (Trawick-Smith, 2006). The play pedagogy allows children initiated play to enhance each child to develop independently at the rates which their body and senses integrate and effect, very different from the others but influenced by the activities of the others. According to the principle of EYFS, Tina is capable of learning best in a suitable environment hence the role of environment in her development. The fellow children, whom she interacts with, form a learning environment and therefore contribute towards her learning and development process. From the executed activity we learn a lot about Tina. It is possible that Tina was not capable of sharing with fellow children before but she is now made to share the three rolling pins with the others, which she does successfully. Tina has also developed to the point of understanding the relationship between colors and the natural features of animals. She clearly identifies that a snake is green and so models her snakes as green. This was an exercise where each child was to identify what to model, and since she picks on snakes, it shows her likes for nature and snakes (Lansdale, Kiernan & Friedman, 2004). She has likes for ice creams which she does not deny or hide. Tina is a child who is confident enough to ask questions whenever she does not know as she asks on how to make eyes on her snake models. She is also capable of following instructions because she follows the procedures of making the eyes as demonstrated by the teacher and makes her own. She also obeys the rules and puts on her apron when asked by the teacher. In summary, Tina is very confident as she can express herself in defending her views among her fellow children. She is also able to face up to her teachers and ask questions on what she does not know. She learns fast since instructions need not be repeated or procedures demonstrated to her, over and over again. Initially, Tina was not willing to ask questions whenever she did not know how to go about certain process in the course of her play. The trend changed during the dough play and painting activity, where she can now ask questions at each stage. She could also be able to learn fast the concepts demonstrated to her and follow instructions when asked to. It is obvious that the ability of Tina to remember and follow instructions has not been enhanced since she needs to be reminded at every stage (Whitzman 2008). The instructions were given at the beginning of the exercise but by the time of moving to do the painting; she could not be able to remember that she was supposed to have her apron on, which she does after being reminded. From the executed plan targeted towards Tina, it was expected to improve some learning areas in which Tina had difficulties. It was therefore expected that Tina could be able to grasp some concepts of following instructions, sharing and developing ideas based on their reality and existence (Tarlov, 2007). Tina achieves the aspect of following instructions but only when she can remember. It is therefore clear that, as planned, Tina is not capable of remembering and following instructions, an aspect that is not achieved. The ability to relate the symbols and elements is also not achieved as Tina models an ice cream for a snake when these two are totally unrelated. Planning is an important aspect of children learning and development process. This is because it helps identify what the child is expected to have learnt at a given stage in time and the development level that should have been attained after sometime. The activities and parameters of development are established and planned for so as to be able to gauge the development and incorporate appropriate mitigation mechanisms when the schedule is not according to plan (Flynn, Thorp, Evans & Takemoto, 2004). The plan helps in identifying and providing the requirements for development at each stage including playing gadgets such as toys. In the execution of the plan, it was necessary to plan as it helped in identify the learning or development needs. It also helped in designing the correct activity, providing materials and setting the benchmark for evaluation. The planning also helped in incorporating other children with the aim of comparing the development and learning rate. There are various theories and theorists explaining the development process of a person and more specifically a child. These theories or theorists provide the benchmark for evaluating the learning and developmental process of a child. Some of these theories are based more on the psychology of a child than the physicality of the same child. Sigmund Freud’s theory acknowledges the importance of the events in a child’s life include play and their impact on their personality as adults (Reid, 2002). For example, lack of some childhood developmental experience. The behavioral child development theory encompasses the role of environment in molding a child’s development. It emphasizes on observable behavior as in the case of Tina, who is observed not to follow instructions. Tina reacts positively to rewards such as encouragement and guidance to achieve her learning which are the main concepts of this theory. The social theory by John Bowlby proposes a strong link between the role of the caregivers and the future social aspect of the child. The help and assistance received from then teachers by Tina, helps her develop a positive social relationship with her human or social environment (Reid, 2002). The next step for the child Tina would be to include more and carefully outlined activities with proper guidance since it appears she has a low recall rate and will therefore struggle to cope with the learning pace of other children. The greatest positive is that she is capable of asking questions and implements instructions which she can recall. References Bruce, T, 1987, Time to Play in Early Childhood Education Department for Children, School and Families (DCSF), 2008, The Early Years Foundation Stage: Setting the Standards for Learning, Development and Care for Children from Birth to five. DCSF publications at: www.teachernet.gove.uk/publications Donaldson, M, 1978, Children’s Mind, Fontana Education, E. C, 2010, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education action plan 2010-2014. Carlton South, Vic.: Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs and Education Services Australia. Flynn, N., Thorp, E. K., Evans, K. W., & Takemoto, 2004, Multicultural early childhood team training (MECTT): infusing cultural competence in early childhood programs. Fairfax, VA: George Mason University. Lansdale, P. L., Kiernan, K., & Friedman, R. J, 2004, Human development across lives and generations: the potential for change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. McLachlan, C., & Fleer, M, 2010, Early childhood curriculum planning, assessment, and implementation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Moyles, J, 1998, ’ To Play or not to Play? This is the question’ in S. Smidt (ed) The early years: a reader Pence (eds) Valuing quality in early childhood services Reid, L. A, 2002, BC early childhood development action plan: a work in progress. Victoria: Government of British Columbia, [Ministry of Children and Family Development]. Tarlov, A. R, 2007, Investing in early childhood development. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Tarlov, A. R., & Debbink, M. P, 2008, Investing in early childhood development: evidence to support a movement for educational change. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Transition to early childhood special education: a guide for parents of children with disabilities. (Rev. ed.), 2002, Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Dept. of Education, Division of Exceptional Learners. Trawick-Smith, 2006, Early childhood development. A multicultural perspective ed Bibliography Whitzman, C, 2008, The handbook of community safety, gender and violence prevention practical planning tools. London: Earthscan. Read More