March- Learning Through Play

-
March
Learning Through Play


Play, according to Webster’s dictionary, is  recreational activity; especially : the spontaneous activity of children. This means, it is unstructured and derived from the interest of the child. A mis-conception to a lot of people is that play is just children having fun. While this is very true they are learning a tremendous amount that will help to develop skills that will assist in their future approaches to learning.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has created a list of five essentials to make play meaningful.
  1. Children make their own decisions.
  2. Children are intrinsically motivated
  3. Children become immersed in the moment
  4. Play is spontaneous
  5. Play is enjoyable
Allowing children to to play allows them to use skills in all developmental areas. Parents can engage children by asking questions, which is an important part of language development in young children. Describing what they are doing, asking them what they are doing, and asking them about what they are going to do next foster the development of critical thinking skills. Play also allows children to use their imagination and lets them use their creativity blossom. Play enhances social skills and stimulates the brain in young developing children. So while play may seem simple, it is crucial in the development of young learners.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creating the perfect environment to improve behavior

-
Image
Welcome to another school year!  Each month we will post a new topic on our blog. At open house we handed out PBS Parent Packets.  Some of you might be thinking, what is PBS?  PBS is short for Positive Behavior Support.  We have been implementing PBS in our building for 10 school years.  PBS is a proactive approach to systematically teaching and responding to behavior in a positive and consistent way and providing support and interventions as needed.  This is a 3 tiered model.  This year for our blog topics, we are going to dive into Tier 1- our universals and give you tips on how you can incorporate some of this at home.  The first tip of the year is the quote (there is a visual below): “The goal of Positive Behavior Support is not “perfect children”. Rather the goal should be creating the perfect environment for enhancing their growth.”- Randy Sprick. For example, in a classroom setting if there is a book shelf right next to the circle time rug and students are pulling books off the
Read more

February- Stress Management

-
Stress Management Stress is a normal reaction to challenges and changes and an inevitable part of all of our lives – even our kids! Some stress can be a good thing, but overwhelming stress can be damaging to your health and have negative effects on parenting skills. It’s good to have some tricks up your sleeve for trying times! https://adrenalfatiguesolution.com/parenting-stress/ http://www.parenting-ed.org/handouts/stress_management.pdf https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJiUUbxyZ78 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJiUUbxyZ78 FUN FACT: Parents who are more sensitive to their infants’ needs and respond quickly to emotional cues tend to raise children who are better at regulating their own emotions. Successfully managing your own stress is vital to being responsive to your children! DID YOU KNOW? There are free programs available for parents that provide counseling, resource linkage and hands on training to help ensure healthy children and healthy families. For m
Read more