Introduction
The physical developmental domain plays a significant role in a child’s development. My post contributes to the discussion forum by giving insight into a better understanding of the children’s thinking. It gives other members of the forum a better understanding of different activities performed by babies, toddlers, and young children and how the activities help the children in physical development. This will also help in the realization that the learning process is continuous, and at a certain instance, the child rarely forgets what they learned in each stage. For example, referring to my post, if music and bubble blowing is subjected to young children, they will still respond the way they did when they were toddlers.
Discussion
Play involves activities where children are given opportunities to learn and develop physical, cognitive, critical social, and emotional knowledge and skills. Play helps in impacting the four domains of development, namely, the cognitive domain, physical domain, social and emotional domain, and language and literacy (Altun, 2018). These four domains work in coordination throughout the child’s developmental process and sum up the individual we eventually see in adulthood. In New Zealand, play is considered a fundamental process in a child’s development hence the implementation of a curriculum that empowers them throughout the growth and development journey called the Te WhÄriki.
Through active physical play, children can develop efficient motor coordination, balance, stamina, strength, and various physical skills. This helps improve gross motor skills, thus helping with large movements such as crawling and walking in toddlers, as well as fine motor skills where children can pick up small objects. Children also learn through physical play to express their feelings (Gaskins, 2014; Rokx, 2016) by moving their body parts, for instance, nodding their heads. Smilansky, while building on Jean Piagetâs work, notes that children’s physical play can be constructive, whereby they use their fine motor skills in manipulating objects, hence coming up with objects that will continue being there even after play (Drown, 2014). These objects can be used later in other lessons as teaching aids.
Play helps in brain development as it engages children in activities that involve critical thinking and reasoning, imagination, communication, and problem-solving. According to Vygotsky play promotes healthy development and reinforces the brain by building a childâs social and intellectual capacity (Mac Naughton & Williams, 2008).play also promotes critical thinking and understanding the cause and effect, making and using symbols, exploring, interacting, and understanding the world and its role. For instance, telling riddles to children and leaving them to solve those helps in promoting critical thinking among them. Children in different developmental stages will tend to respond to problems differently based on their stage.
Cooperative play helps children to develop both socially and emotionally. Children who play in pairs can develop positive relationships, good social behavior, effective communication, and conflict-solving abilities. Role-playing also equips children with desirable qualities by society as they tend to reproduce what they observe in their immediate environments such as their parents, teachers, or people they admire in society. Children learn from what they already know; thus, their immediate environment helps in shaping their cumulative behavior.
Language encompasses all the means through which people think and communicate with each other. Play promotes language learning and development as it helps children learn new vocabulary and name objects through listening to each other. Their interaction with each other helps them refine their speech as they can correct the pronunciation of terms and learn negotiation skills. Through play, children can also develop language and communication skills which help them better listen and understand facial expressions and body language as stated in the Te WhÄriki (Giardiello et al., 2019). In New Zealand, children are exposed to a variety of languages besides English, Te Reo Maori, and New Zealand Sign Language. The Whariki holds that learning these languages enhances the learners’ identity.
The teacher, though not solely, plays an important role in promoting learning inside and outside the classroom. Through play, the teacher can help create an optimal environment through which children can feel noticed, confident and secure. The teacher can achieve this by doing the following: Firstly, the teacher can take learning outside the classroom. Learners find the process more captivating, showing great interest in learning (Sanchez et al., 2013). For instance, for science and environmental lessons, the teacher can guide learners in collecting different plants within the school and making observations.
Secondly, the teacher can make the learning process an adventure. This entails encouraging learners to imagine a scenario that represents the day’s topic. For example, when teaching about animals in a zoo, the teacher can ask the learners to imagine the classroom as a zoo and have pictures of different animals mounted in different parts of the classroom (Yang et al., 2022). Learners can therefore go around taking a look at the pictures. This creates a dynamic classroom environment where children can freely move around while engaging in learning.
Thirdly, the teacher can use the role-playing method of teaching. While teaching literature, the teacher can choose a story and act along with the learners instead of retelling the story. Active participation makes learning more exciting for the learners (Sanchez et al., 2013) and increases the chances of understanding and retaining the content. The teacher can also engage the learners’ imagination and sense of curiosity by asking questions such as “what do you think will happen next?” the teacher can make storytelling and role-playing a daily routine that prepares the child psychologically.
The teacher can use manipulatives. These are items used in the learning process to make it more realistic since children learn more easily by what they see. The teacher can introduce items such as blocks, puppets, puzzles, letter tiles, and toy cars. Letter tiles, for instance, can be used to teach spelling, whereas toy cars can be used to teach sounds. Lastly, the teacher should give learners a chance to show their prowess. The teacher should not show learners what to do but instead give them a task and allow them to design the roadmap to achieve the desired results. In this case, the teacher should only act as a guide.
The role of the teacher in developing children’s learning and development through play can be achieved through the following: Firstly, the teacher should maintain a holistic view of the child’s growth and development. This entails observing the child’s behavior during play and throughout the learning process (Altun, 2018). Since all the developmental domains impact each other, the teacher should consider the child’s relationship with their immediate environment. This includes the contribution of the parents, family members, peers, and society in shaping the child’s behavior. For example, while playing with puppets, the child learns how to express their feelings, communicate effectively, and build finger strengths. Creating their puppets enhances creativity too.
Secondly, the teacher should make a continuous assessment. This can be achieved through observation of the child’s behavior throughout the play (Omotayo et al., 2009). The teacher should do this continuously for a relatively long period of time since a single observation cannot be used to give reliable information about the child. The teacher is, therefore, able to identify the child’s interests, strengths and weaknesses (Carella, 2022). Consultations with close relations to the child can also help sum up the cumulative behavior of the child. During this process, the teacher should maintain a high level of professionalism by ensuring that they get consent from the involved parties and maintaining the confidentiality of the collected information to protect the child’s rights (Ăiftçi et al., 2022). The teacher is also supposed to be aware of the study’s intended objectives to effectively utilize the available resources and maintain cultural and societal ethics during the entire process.
The teacher should act as a guide, not a source of knowledge. The teacher should guide children through the process of learning rather than disseminating knowledge to them. This can be achieved by the teacher showing more interest in the learning process rather than the results (Dodd & Lester, 2021). For instance, the teacher should give a task and let the children design the roadmap on how they intend to get to the results based on their interests. The teacher should also give them a chance to make the required teaching aides rather than giving already made aides, making them actively involved in the process.
The teacher should enhance collaborative learning. This entails giving children tasks in groups. The teacher should ensure that a single group encompasses learners with different learning abilities and interests. This will be more helpful to children who learn efficiently from their peers rather than the teacher. The teacher should also identify teachable moments during play (Dodd, Nesbit, & FitzGibbon, 2022). The children’s interests and motivation especially guide this. Observing children as they play solely or in groups gives the teacher clues on what excites them based on their behavior and responses during play. For example, while modeling, children might note that splashing water in the soil creates bubbles (Nell et al., 2013). This might arouse their curiosity and make them want to know what happened. At that point, the teacher gains a teacher moment where they might want to explain the science behind the observation (Yang et al., 2022). The teacher may also use the opportunity to ask further questions related to the same.
After a period of observation, it can be noted that the child suffers from separation anxiety. As a teacher, I would first create a good teacher-child relationship characterized by warmth, affection, and good communication (Kushnir, 2022). Giving the child parental care feeling will help them transition easily from home to school (Maron-Puntarelli, 2022). I will try to put myself in the position of the parents for a moment, because it is quite difficult to see a child get sad and then be forced to leave. I will reassure parents that I will aid in their child’s adjustment and that their young child is not the first to experience problems doing so. This will help me establish trust with the parents, and the child will come to trust me as well.
Conclusion
The child will always look forward to being in school when it is school time and home when school time lapses, in contrast to being upset and distressed all day. I will also partner with the parents in supporting the child effectively. This will be important in maintaining consistency and complementary support at home and school (Smith, 2013). As a teacher, I will help my worried student gain confidence in me and a sense of security. In the first few days of school, I will try to make sure that I am always the one to welcome any apprehensive young students in my class (Tadeu & Lopes, 2022). As I build a schedule and rhythm for the handover, this will also help me get to know the parents.
Secondly, as a teacher, I will create a positive learning environment for the child. This may include giving them interesting tasks in groups whereby the child will have to interact with others (VillardĂłn-Gallego et., 2018). For instance, I will offer the anxious pupil a really special helping position, such as passing out glue sticks, placing worksheets, and dusting the board. After completion of the tasks, I will praise and reward each group for their good work (McLachlan, Fleer, & Edwards, 2018). This will motivate the child to always work with others while looking forward to the reward. Continued teamwork will help modify the child’s antisocial behavior and thus start playing and interacting with others more frequently (Moore, 2022). Creating interesting play activities during learning will also motivate the child throughout the learning process (Sanchez, Steece-Doran, & Jablon, 2013). The child will always be eager to come to school to do the same again. This will help create a smooth transition between home and school, thus, no more distress when parents leave.
References
Altun, Z. D. (2018). Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers’ Perspectives on Play and Teachers’ Role. International Education Studies, 11(8), 91-97. Web.
Carella, A. (2022). Childhood adversity, fantasy proneness, openness to experience, and the use of imagination in the work of fine artists (Master’s thesis). Web.
Ăiftçi, A., Topçu, M. S., & Foulk, J. A. (2022). Pre-service early childhood teachers’ views on STEM education and their STEM teaching practices. Research in Science & Technological Education, 40(2), 207-233. Web.
Dodd, H. F., & Lester, K. J. (2021). Adventurous play as a mechanism for reducing risk for childhood anxiety: a conceptual model. Clinical child and family psychology review, 24(1), 164-181. Web.
Dodd, H. F., Nesbit, R. J., & FitzGibbon, L. (2022). Child’s Play: Examining the Association Between Time Spent Playing and Child Mental Health. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1-9. Web.
Drew, W. F., Nell, M., & Bush, D. (2013). From Play to Practice-Connecting Teachers Play to Childrenâs Learning. National Association For The E.
Durmusoglu Saltali, N., & Ä°mir, H. M. (2018). We are parenting Styles as a Predictor of Preschool Children’s Social Behaviours. Participatory educational research, 5(2), 18-37. Web.
Drown, K. K. C. (2014). Dramatic play affordances of natural and manufactured outdoor settings for preschool-aged children. Utah State University.
Gaskins, S. (2014). Childrenâs play as a cultural activity. The Sage Handbook of Play and Learning in Early Childhood, 31â42.
Giardiello, P., Leydon, G., & Hargreaves, A. (2019). Te whÄriki. In Empowering Early Childhood Educators: International Pedagogies as Provocation. Web.
Kushnir, T. (2022). Imagination and social cognition in childhood. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, e1603. Web.
Maron-Puntarelli, C. (2022). Play as the Work of Pre-service Teachers: A Case Study of Inspiring Play as Pedagogy in a University Early Childhood Program. In Teacher Education and Play Pedagogy (pp. 27-47). Routledge. Web.
Mac Naughton, G., & Williams, G. (2008). Teaching Young Children: Choices In Theory And Practice: Choices in Theory and Practice. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
McLachlan, C., Fleer, M., & Edwards, S. (2018). Early childhood curriculum: Planning, assessment, and implementation. Cambridge University Press. Web.
Moore, J. (2022). Let’s Play! The Power of Play as a Teaching Tool in the Elementary and Early Childhood Classroom.
Smith, C. A. (2013). Beyond” I’m sorry”: The educator’s role in preschoolers’ emergence of conscience. YC Young Children, 68(1), 76.
Tadeu, B., & Lopes, A. (2022). Professionalism in Baby Rooms: Matches and Mismatches between Parents and Professionals. International Journal of Early Childhood, 1-18.
VillardĂłn-Gallego, L., GarcĂa-CarriĂłn, R., Yåñez-Marquina, L., & EstĂ©vez, A. (2018). Impact of the interactive learning environments on children’s prosocial behavior. Sustainability, 10(7), 2138. Web.
Wong, J. M. S. (2022). ‘Are we becoming professionals?’ Pre-service early childhood teachers’ perceptions of the professionalism of early childhood teachers in Hong Kong. Early Years, 42(1), 23-38. Web.
Yang, W., Xu, P., Liu, H., & Li, H. (2022). Neoliberalism and sociocultural specificities: A discourse analysis of early childhood curriculum policies in Australia, China, New Zealand, and Singapore. Early Child Development and Care, 192(2), 203-219. Web.