As part of our Steiner Education module in Early Childhood Care and Education we have been asked to write a short essay to demonstrate an awareness and understanding of the core pedagogical approaches of the Waldorf Kindergarten to creative play, toys and dolls.
Waldorf’s emphasis on play in early childhood is well expressed by Joseph Chilton Pearce, “The great rule is: play on the surface and the work takes place beneath. For the child, the time is always now; the place, here; the action, me. He has no capacity to entertain adult notions of fantasy world and real world. He knows only one world, and that is the very real one in which and with which he plays. His is not playing at life. Play is life” (Pearce, 1977).
From studying Waldorf education
…show more content…
An example would be where we put our bobble hat over our hand to make a puppet. In children’s minds the bobble becomes the head and the hat becomes the body. This will inspire children to start making up their own stories again and encourage them to use their imagination (Schweizer, S. 2006). The toys used in a Waldrof setting may be wood, coloured silk or cotton whereas other childcare settings may have plastic toys or games. It is essential that the toys used help children re-enact life experiences as they actually happen. The less finished a toy may be then the more educational value it has and the greater it helps the children use their imagination in everyday life. Imagination is extremely important as it will lead to original thinking in their future as adults. Objects from nature make excellent toys for young children because they can be used in so many different ways and the cost is minimal. An example would be where wood can be cut up and used as props in stories. Children tend to thrive in the company of adults when they do what they call real work e.g. cutting wood. If toys are individually made by the children, rather than plastic bought toys, then they have a life of their own. Toys can be made very simple for creativity as this helps everyone to become resourceful. Too many people in today’s society
”Counting Chips and Chopsticks” by Elena Bodrova and Deborah J. 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.
“I still collect toys.Toys are a reflection of society. They are the tools that society uses to teach and enculturate children into the adult world. Toys are not innocent.” (Burden). When you think of toys you probably think about dolls or Hot Wheels. What you probably don’t know is the toys can vary into anything. Toys are usually used to entertain yourself, but what if they represent more than just that. It can be a famous cite, make you question society, or just make you think about how we’re treating each other. Anything can be a toy. You just have to be creative to make it more than a toy. Chris Burden, an amazing artist, famously known for creating artwork that reflect on society, in most of his work he used toys to help him. Burden is famously known for two pieces of artwork, Shoot and Urban
...eir senses by playing with ‘pretty playthings’ and ‘glittery toys’ (Cleverly & Phillips 1986 p.29) as this would encourage their love of the world and imagination. Locke (1889 p.88) suggests that children should be encouraged to play, and that through play, they can be taught. Wesley (Cleverly & Phillips1986 p.30) believed that children should not be allowed to play at any time as children who played grew into adults who played.
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.
Albert Einstein believed that “play is the highest form of research.” For a small child there is not an exact division between the things that are educational and the things that he or she does for fun or play. Through living and playing a child is learning and developing in many ways. Through analyzing the play episodes of a four year old girl named Noelle, I was able to relate my observations to research and theory regarding the development and benefits of play that influence the social, emotional, and cognitive development of children. The different types and classifications of play occur throughout different stages of a child’s development.
Eliason, C. F., Jenkins, L. (2008). A practical guide to early childhood curriculum (8th edition). New
Children have a natural inclination to play, alongside a natural instinct to learn and to be curious and inventive, which are characteristics of the human race in general. This quote taken from Janet Moyles is a good starting point for this essay. It is well known that children love to play. If a child were to be left to his/her own devices they would happily play and create new worlds anywhere they were left. It has been well documented and researched that children learn excellently through play. However they are not always given the opportunity to do so, instead being told to, ‘finish your work and then you can go play’. Obviously this is not always the case, but the fact that it is a common practice shows that we do not all fully appreciate the importance of play to children’s learning. This essay will attempt to show how children learn through play, making reference to current theory and practice. I will also give examples from my own first-hand experience of how children learn and develop as people through play.
..., J., & Garzoli, E. (2007, November 11). The Effectiveness of a Play-Based Curriculum in Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from http://teachplaybasedlearning.com/8.html
...ng in the educational context requires teachers as the competent adults or instructors, it demonstrates the importance of teacher presence in all areas of the curriculum especially in play. Whether through Piaget’s cognitive constructivism or Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, it is important for teachers to actively participate and interact with the children to foster their cognitive and social development. To scaffold children’s play, the teacher is important in roles such as creating the right play environment by preparing adequate materials, designing the playing space and ensuring adequate play materials, designing appropriate play experiences to structure and facilitate the children’s development and facilitating interactions among the children and between themselves and the children to facilitate and support meaning making (Module 2 & Module 3, 2012).
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.
Today I am going to talk about the importance of play as a vehicle for young children’s learning and development in the early years of primary school.
Let 's start with a picture of children play with blocks, Lego, soccer, or drawing, etc.
Creative Arts in early childhood education refers to children’s participation in a variety of activities that engage their minds, bodies and senses (Sinclair, Jeanneret & O’Toole, 2012; Kearns, 2017); to inspire all children with the opportunity for creative and imaginative expression. Duffy (2006) and Sinclair et al. (2012) state that creativity is the process where children use their imagination to problem solve, develop new ideas, independence and flexibility to accomplish tasks. Furthermore, when educators foster creativity, they are assisting children in making meaning through play and developing their growing capacity to communicate, collaborate and think critically to meet the demands of life in the 21st century (Duffy, 2006; Korn-Bursztyn, 2012; Sinclair et al., 2012).
Entering my kindergarten teaching experience in the last quarter of school year I had to quickly become familiar with kindergarten content standards and the school’s curriculum. To do this I observed my mentor teachers instructional time with the children and gained as much information as I could about the children’s educational standing by developing a professional relationship with the my mentor teacher and the children. I learned that the majority of my kindergarten children had not previously attended preschool and that this was their first year of school. I found that interacting with the children in social activities provided me with great insight to their literacy, math, science, and social studies development. In reviewing the children’s class projects, school displays, and an array of their work sample along with my mentor teachers year-long assessments I was able to recognize challenging, emerging and advanced content areas of the children’s core curriculum. These emerging and challenging content areas is what I centered my curriculum planning around. “Information about each child’s learning and development is used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. This may lead to changes in schedule, curriculum and teaching strategies, room set up, resources, and so on.” (Bredekamp and Copple, p. 249)