•Insights gained from your interviews regarding current advocacy efforts and needs in your area of interest within the field of early childhood.
According to Emily (the teacher that I interviewed), she is not too familiar with any advocate groups for the importance of play in early childhood education in our area. She had told me that lots of parents at the center that she works at also question the value of play. They would tell her that she feels as if the children are playing too much and not doing educational things. She said that she goes on by telling the parents all the important attributes of different types of play. Since, Toni did not hear too much about this area of concern of mine; I asked her about what is concerning her in the early childhood field. She said that one of her concerns is bullying; and that was actually one of the topics that I was debating about as well. She said that the local schools have campaigns, and classroom lessons on bullying. The have assemblies in which they put on skits to show what happens during bullying.
I had interviewed a second person at this center. Her name is Milisa and she is the director of the center. I asked her the same questions as the teacher that I interviewed and she said that she does not know of advocacy groups about play, but she feels very strongly about notifying families about why it is important for children to play at these early ages. She goes on to tell me that not only are they learning motor skills, but they are working on self-help skills, social emotional skills, cognitive skills, as well as all types of other skills.
•How these interviews may have influenced your decision about which area of interest and topics to choose for your research paper.
Honestly, even though she knew more about bullying advocacy plans/groups; I feel that I still have a strong bond with the topic of: Importance of play in early childhood education. I think that it might be harder for me to find actual advocacy groups based upon this, but I feel that this is something that I want to stress to families because I have been questioned so many times on the role of play in early childhood learning.
•Which area of interest you are thinking of focusing on for your paper as well as the related three specific topics.
The area of interest that I think I am going to stick with is: The importance of play in Early Childhood Education. There are several key topics that I am going to use in my paper and they consist of:
1. What are the different types of play?
2. What is the teacher’s role in play?
3. What materials are used in various types of play?
4. What are the benefits of play in each developmental domain?
•Questions you have for your colleagues related to your area of interest and/or three topics.
The question that I have for my colleagues is: Does anyone know of any advocacy groups or efforts that are being done in their area for sharing the knowledge of the importance of play in Early Childhood Education?
The second question is: If any of you work in the field already, do families in your center ask you about the importance of play. If so, what do you tell them?
Third question is: Do you feel that play is important in Early Childhood Education. If so why.. If not why…
I appreciate your advocacy topic and your interest in the role play has with our young and developing children. I have had experience with the negative concepts that parents (and other adults outside the classroom) have in regard to play. Often when we hand over a handful of information for them to read, it finds it way in the recycle bin. However, I believe newsletters with simple print which directly state what each function of play does toward the growth and development of a child might engage a parent long enough to receive that 'ah-ha' moment. A statement that I like to use is: Play is engaged learning.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to share a quote with you that I leave by my desk which inspires my early childcare efforts:
"Play is the highest form of research.”
- Albert Einstein
I could not tell you the amount of times I have heard from parents that all their child does at school is play. At the beginning of each year, our class does a demonstration for the parents about the importance of play. We have the parents and their children make play dough together, which shows that learning occurs in all aspects of our life. When they are finished making the play dough, we ask the parents to play with it. We then describe to the parents all the things they are learning while playing with the play dough. By the end of the night, our parents are completely surprised and thankful that we had a family night about play. Children benefit from play, how else would a child learn to resolve conflicts, find their own interest, and practice decision-making.
DeleteI think it is so important to incorporate play in everything kids do at the early childhood level. Through play children can experience math/reading skills, motor development, socialization etc. We need to worry less about 'educational' skills at this level and more about what their bodies need - motor development.
ReplyDelete