Play-Based Curriculum and Assessments in the Early Childhood Setting
As an educator for young children in the field of early childhood, I’ve always tried to do my best for them. I have given thought as to how I could help make a difference in a child’s education and how could I improve my tactics and strategies as a teacher. I want to pursue the continuance and importance of play- based curriculum and assessments in the Early Childhood Education as one of its standards in assessing child development. The concrete documentation of how a student socializes and develops skills is needed to assess their growth and development (Peck, C., Singer-Gabella, M., Sloan, T., & Lin, S., 2014). Activities that are planned for the child should be structured
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The likelihood that the parents will be involved in the education and progress of their children is slim. The reason being is not because they neglect their children; but they are unaware and possibly uneducated about the importance of play with children at their early ages of birth to 8. Early childhood learning is assessed through how the students play and socialize amongst each other. Play based assessments consist of six parts: unstructured and structured facilitation, child-child interaction, parent-child interaction, motor play and snack play (Bruns & Cooley, 2010). The sequence order of the assessment …show more content…
Assessment plays a big role in the schools accountability. It is used to measure teacher effectiveness, student achievement, and progress (Delluca & Bellara, 2013). In our schools, we have a majority of ESL and ELL learners with families from low socioeconomic backgrounds. With the play-based curriculum, the students will be able to build their language skills through pretend play. Their socializing skills will improve because they are able to communicate with others as they play. My plan is to present my findings to the Board of Education because they are in charge of the program. First, I will select two groups of classrooms and repeat the experiment mentioned in Delluca and Bellara’s (2013) report. When the research is done, I will present the findings to the Board of Education, the Commissioner of Education, and teachers of the Head Start Program. It is already known that our classrooms are mixed with non-native English speakers but if I have the exact number of known non-speakers from low socioeconomic backgrounds, then the plan to have play-based curriculum would be more feasible. Although, in order to make this plans happen, I would need the assistance of volunteers who would help advocate for the future of our children. Our children need to start and build a foundation for success in the future. Since their brains are always compared to sponges, it will be the right
Leong was featured in the May 2003 issue of the NAEYC’s Young Children. The article explores the conflict between children's play and meeting academic standards; more frequently, teachers are forced to limit playtime in order to teach essential skills to students; however because of limited imaginary play, increased academic demands of young children, and more realistic toys, children are almost unable to imagine. Although play has been proven to benefit children’s cognitive and social development, administrators do not consider it to be an important aspect of young children’s education. Because of this, preschool and kindergarten teachers are put in a challenging predicament; in order to compensate for children’s lack of play, teachers would need to prioritize play development at the level in which they prioritize phonics awareness and fine motor skills development. Although it is difficult to do, it is not impossible to incorporate play into the curriculum. Teachers can facilitate mature play by providing multi purpose props, encouraging children to create their own props, and allowing time for children to plan their roles and scenarios for dramatic play. In addition to play helping children develop foundational skills and concepts necessary to master math and reading, it has been shown to increase classroom cooperation, the effectiveness of instructional time, and the number of friendships developed in the
Early Childhood is marked by a time in children’s lives when they develop “a confident self-image, more effective control over their emotions, new social skills, the foundations of morality, and a clear sense of themselves as boy or girl” (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). According to Erik Erikson, early childhood is a period of “vigorous unfolding,” one where children have a sense of autonomy and a new sense of purposefulness or initiative (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011, pg. 45). Play is a means for children to learn about themselves and they begin to adopt the moral and gender-role standards of the society in which they live (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011). A negative outcome of early childhood is the guilt children feel as a result of excessive punishment and criticism by the adults in their lives (Berk, Kauffman & Landrum, 2011)....
Many theorists have tried to define play as a concept, however, no two agree on a set definition. Their backgrounds and induvial lifestyles influence the way they see the importance of play. Reed and Brown also believe that there isn’t an agreed definition of play because is something that is felt rather than done (Reed & Brown, 2000 cited in Brock, Dodd’s, Jarvis & Olusoga, 2009). In spite of this, it is clear that most theorists uphold the ethos that play is imperative to a child’s learning and development. There is a wide range of different studies and theories which helps us develop our own perception of what play is. In my personal experience I have found play to be a way of expressive our emotions, exploring and learning new things, thus
...ile the parent has difficulties on understanding the importance play has on a child at home. Before the twentieth century, parent’s had difficulties in living up to society’s image of a perfect parent which ensures a child’s intellectual, physical and emotional development was the first priority (Pugh & De’ath, 1989). Starting Strong III (OECD, 2012) agrees by stating the challenges involved the parent showing a lack of time constrains and motivation to engage in the setting. While it was found in Philips & Eustace (2008) study that parents were less confidence and had difficulties in communicating due to the unwelcoming environment of the setting. Therefore, it was essential that educators reconsidered strategies of approaching parents, allowing them give feedback and offer a range of flexible options in making partnership with parents ideal (Pugh & Duffy, 2010).
The second section will evaluate the importance of play on different aspects of social development and in various stages of an individual. The third section will analyze how viewpoints on function of play on development are shaped by historical and contextual factors such as culture and economy. Developmental psychologists use various research methods such as naturalistic observations, interviews, experimental research and examining the natural context of children’s everyday interaction within the family to study the role of play in children’s development. They apply different approaches to study different types of play. Play by nature, creates a natural learning environment for the child.
This section of the code calls early childhood educators to be “caring, empathetic, fair and act with integrity” as well as “foster the joy of learning through play-based pedagogy” (CECE, 2011, p. 11). I felt that I showed these values and beliefs throughout my experience by creating lessons based on my students developmental needs and personal interests.
Early childhood teachers often say that “play is a child’s work” while some parents ask ‘Did my child just play all day?’” (Rice 1). Many people do not realise how important play is and what role it plays in the development of their children. Teachers provide opportunities for children to have spontaneous, unstructured child-initiated play experiences by providing stimulating materials to “enhance and entice children into play” (Rice 2). These materials include loose parts and are open-ended and spark creativity by providing children opportunities to think, plan, and carry out their play (Rice 2). Limited learning may take place if teachers do not make play easier and maximize the benefits (Rice 2). Teacher support is also a necessary component
Interestingly it was through this process of sharing our professional experiences that we established the central idea of our exhibition. We had determined that the importance of play in the Early Years was a theme that was often debated by parents, colleagues and policy makers. By choosing this as our topic we hoped to have an enhanced understanding of the historical implications of play in Early Years Education, resulting in professional competence and the ability to guide and mentor others on the significance of play. Rodd (1996) endorses this importance of Early Years Professionals having the skills to build, establish and maintain credibility in the fast-changing sector of Early Years.
A major question that is continuously being researched and observed is whether children’s play is beneficial to children’s development. While many scientists have proved that play is, in fact, helpful in the development of children, I want to research how the different types of play affect children’s development, specifically children that are transitioning from late infancy to toddlerhood. The four different types of play that I will focus on observing is exploratory and manipulative play, functional or relational play, social play routines and pretend play. Furthermore, I would observe the children’s agency during their play and the social structures that can prevent children from playing, thus, resulting in lack of development.
Wood, E. Attfield, J. (1996) Play learning and the early childhood curriculum. London: Paul Chapman.
..., J., & Garzoli, E. (2007, November 11). The Effectiveness of a Play-Based Curriculum in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from http://teachplaybasedlearning.com/8.html
The children are put through different learning experiences and tasks, for the professionals to evaluate and observe their different development stages. All this helps to understand the children’s adult characteristics for future life as every child’s play experiences are crucial to their adult life.
Thinking back on my childhood, I first remember all the times I played outside in my backyard. I would pretend to dig up dinosaur bones or create imaginary realms of ancient lands; there I would perform diplomatic services for the people in need. I was usually alone, and those are some of my fondest memories. When I first decided to become a teacher and thought about what is important to my philosophy on how children learn, I immediately knew I was a strong believer in play. Although, many decision makers such as legislators and school district leaders believe in more academic types of learning styles, my paper will discuss why play is so powerful and important to children.
I am very much the type of person that prefers hard copies such as books, magazines, or newspapers so I started there. I looked at past textbooks I have used during my time in school and found two that were extremely helpful; the first titled Play, Learning and the Early Childhood Curriculum by Elizabeth Wood and Jan Attfield, and the second titled Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School by Edward Miller and Joan Almon. After finding two books, I decided it was time to look on the Internet. Instead of using the normal Google search, I decided to use Google Scholar as a way to find dependable sources. I used the key words pay based learning, childcare, and teaching styles. From those key words alone I found many scholarly articles and experiment papers. One article I really liked was by Ageliki Nicolopoulou, a professor from Lehigh University located in Pennsylvania. What stuck out about her article was that she also used the text by Miller and Almon. Another source I reference in this paper is How Dramatic Play Can Enhance Learning by Marie E. Cecchini, which I quickly mentioned above. Dolores A. Steglin wrote the last article I used. Her article Making the Case for Play Policy: Research-Based Reasons to Support Play Based Environments was really helpful when I started to link the NAEYC Code’s and Early Childhood Educator Competencies to play based learning strategies. I also used
In Kindergarten school, some parent believes play is the best way for young children to learn the conceptions, skills, and set a solid foundation for later school and life success. In the other hand, many parents disagree and believe play is a waste of time, messy, noisy, and uneducationall. I believe play is not waste of time, but it something worth to fight for, in this presentation I would show parent the main importance of some of the numerous kinds of play, and why play is a fundamental basis for improving children’s ability to succeed in school and life.