There have been many theories about how play is beneficial to children and, as educators, we all have our own ideas and theories that appeal to us. There is not one concise definition of play but a number of agreeable commonalities that play is described as.
It is important, as an Early Years Educator that we continually reflect and develop on the ideas we have of children?s play and learning. In this assignment, I will first be examining my initial ideas of play and will then analyse these. I will review my ideas since starting this unit. I will then look at how my response has changed to what I feel are the advantages and disadvantages of educators having a breadth and depth of knowledge about developmental theories and expand on my reasons …show more content…
When playing children are developing their dispositions for learning and they are often highly involved and focused on an activity they enjoy; this is when I believe we are able to aid their learning. We can do this by adding to the activity, for example, if a toddler is enjoying a simple shape sorter we could move on to a more difficult one to challenge their learning. We can also cooperate with them verbally putting names to colours and shapes, this also helps build on relationships with children in your care, which in turn builds trust leading to more learning together. I also believe as an educator, I too learn about the child by observing or being involved in their play this enables me to programme round children?s individual interests to enhance their learning …show more content…
After further reading, I realise the importance of our everyday positive reinforcements to the children in our care and how punishments can negatively influence their future behaviours (McLeod, 2007).
When reading the ?Changing Images of Childhood? (Sorin, 2005), this further developed my understanding on the negative outcomes of punishments on children, particularly when reading about ?the evil child?. This article also challenges my view on treating all children as the ?innocent child? as children are not always sheltered from the difficulties in the adult world. This can often lead to challenging behaviour about which we need to be sensitive when we have to deal with it.
In a reading about ?Technology In Children Play? (K., 2010), this challenges my opinion on computers in child?s play. I can now understand how in a world that is technology based, we need to introduce computers to children but feel it needs to be monitored closely for safety and health reasons. This is especially important in older children who can develop addictions to computer games (K, K, S, I, & Young-Min, 2015).
It is important, as an Early Years Educator that we continually reflect and develop on the ideas we have of children?s play and learning. In this assignment, I will first be examining my initial ideas of play and will then analyse these. I will review my ideas since starting this unit. I will then look at how my response has changed to what I feel are the advantages and disadvantages of educators having a breadth and depth of knowledge about developmental theories and expand on my reasons …show more content…
When playing children are developing their dispositions for learning and they are often highly involved and focused on an activity they enjoy; this is when I believe we are able to aid their learning. We can do this by adding to the activity, for example, if a toddler is enjoying a simple shape sorter we could move on to a more difficult one to challenge their learning. We can also cooperate with them verbally putting names to colours and shapes, this also helps build on relationships with children in your care, which in turn builds trust leading to more learning together. I also believe as an educator, I too learn about the child by observing or being involved in their play this enables me to programme round children?s individual interests to enhance their learning …show more content…
After further reading, I realise the importance of our everyday positive reinforcements to the children in our care and how punishments can negatively influence their future behaviours (McLeod, 2007).
When reading the ?Changing Images of Childhood? (Sorin, 2005), this further developed my understanding on the negative outcomes of punishments on children, particularly when reading about ?the evil child?. This article also challenges my view on treating all children as the ?innocent child? as children are not always sheltered from the difficulties in the adult world. This can often lead to challenging behaviour about which we need to be sensitive when we have to deal with it.
In a reading about ?Technology In Children Play? (K., 2010), this challenges my opinion on computers in child?s play. I can now understand how in a world that is technology based, we need to introduce computers to children but feel it needs to be monitored closely for safety and health reasons. This is especially important in older children who can develop addictions to computer games (K, K, S, I, & Young-Min, 2015).