Learning Cannot Always Just Be In The Classroom Which Is

I believe that children learn through play. In play, children make choices, solve problems, converse, negotiate and resolve conflicts. They practice and develop physical, social, intellectual, and language abilities. As they play, children are able to express and work out emotional aspects of everyday experiences and events they discover upsetting. Through playing together and participate in different roles, children also develop in their skills to perceive something from another person’s perspectives and to involve in leading and following behaviors—both of which they will need to get along well as adults. In all these ways, play can be a milieu

I observed a classroom of four-year-old students who are enrolled at the Child Development Center on the George Mason University campus. This observation lasted about fifteen minutes with a total of twelve students in the classroom. At the time of my observation the students were engaging in free playtime where they are allowed to play games, make crafts, and interact with their fellow classmates. I was seated in the corner of the classroom where the children could not easily see me or get distracted by me. I stayed seated throughout the whole observation so the students would not be affected by my presence. Many different activities were happening at the same time, but a couple standout situations reminded me of many subject areas we

I observed the children in outside play, so many of the play behaviors stayed the same. Most of the children played in groups, but a few played parallel to other students, as well as solitary. I observed constructive

We know that a rich and varied environment supports children’s learning and development. It gives them the confidence to explore and learn in secure and safe, yet challenging, indoor and outdoor spaces.

A world of structured, gray, and unamused faces isn’t the environment for crazy, colorful, happy kids; so why should we force this onto them earlier than needed? David Kohn’s article “Let Kids Learn Through Play” speaks of this issue, shedding new light onto the subject. In his article, Kohn highlights many of the misconceptions that come with early childhood learning, and many drawbacks that may come from the rising trend. He also talks about the struggles young students will face in a structured learning environment, and how it may actually be harmful towards them, instead of beneficial. As I was reading, I found myself agreeing with Kohn's points, not sure why formal education needed to be started

The interaction a preschooler has with the surrounding environment, whether it be physical or social, has a significant impact on the child’s development. Ramani (2012), had taken a look at playful environment versus a structured environment to see which one benefited children more when it came to social interaction and joint problem solving. The interaction shown in the experiment showed that a playful environment benefits children more because they are free to communicate and interact with other children, they were more observant of their environment, would imitate more to get their point across, and were overall more positive. Denham, Bassett, Zisser, and Wyatt (2014) evaluated the child’s engagement with the surrounding physical and social environment, along with taking a look at the ways social-emotional learning can predict how academically ready the children are.

The developmental theories can not be more evident than during the out of class assignment at the daycare facility. During this independent assignment, I was able to observe and interact with pre-school children in an environment that is both encouraging and facilitating to a child’s developmental growth. So, just as Piaget in his developmental theory believed that children takes an active role in the learning process, acting much like little scientists as they perform experiments, make observations, and learn about the world; the pre-school teachers allowed them to do just that. Indeed, the teachers at the day care provided room for the child to learn and explore while at the same time adhering to a structure that set boundaries and limitations. Thus, the pre-school children, begrudgingly, learns to follow a meticulous schedule of activities and rest.

Learning is possible when children are provided a high-quality environment. Early childhood educators will set an environment that promotes curiosity and encourages children to explore their environment. Children are able to learn through hands on experiences. “Hands-on learning is the most effective way young children make sense of their environment and form their own understanding of how the world works” (Browne, 2013. P.130). I believe that children learn through play. “Play is a natural way for children around the world to express themselves and is a basic need of children throughout their school year” (Browne, 2013. P.132). We can effectively provide this environment by emphasizing on providing children a

Nashville-based group LifeWay Research gathered 2,000 Protestant and non-denominational church attendees for a research sponsored by LifeWay Kids for the book “Nothing Less: Engaging Kids in a Lifetime of Faith.” All of the respondents go to church at least once a month and have children ages 18 to 30.

Have you ever walked into a preschool classroom and wondered what they are doing and why they are doing it? The Highscope Classroom to an untrained eye may look like the kids are just "Playing". The classroom is full of conversation and play and the teachers are actively engaged with the children, on the floor talking with and or playing with them. What is the theory behind all this play?

Throughout my observation, I was able to see some child-child interactions and child-teacher interactions. The teachers are there to guide them on activities and let the students create things with the materials that are provided. When there is a conflict between two students, the teacher would guide them to resolve the problem on their own. The students feel safe in the classroom by how the area is set up since it wasn’t crowded, enough space to walk and everything is organized. That type of environment lets a child feel comfortable and willing to play. As an observer, even though I am not in the classroom, i can feel the warmth atmosphere that the classroom gives out and the natural lights from outside make it less dim and dull for the people who are inside the classroom. Overall, the classroom I’ve observed have good spacing and materials for the student to manipulate. And i can see that it is a safe environment to be in to play

The same director is in charge of birth through 4th grade. This particular age group looks at three questions. 1) God loves me. 2) God made me. 3) Jesus wants to be my friend forever. All of the lessons and activities are geared to helping the students recognize and understand these three basic truths. These are from the curriculum, but the church feels these are foundational truths that are important for the early childhood children to know. They also help the children look for ways they can apply these truths in their own lives. For example, this month they are focusing on “Jesus wants to be my friend forever,” and the lesson looked specifically at how everyone needs Jesus and how Jesus can help us when we need

The desire for an overly structured environment is I believe what most parents imagine for their young children entering schools. Some parents have the misconception that the more structured and routine a classroom is, the more success there is for the students. Now, this is not true for all families or for all students. Some students do respond very well to structure, but it is important to understand what is “behind the curtains” in your child’s classroom. What I mean by “behind the curtains”, is exactly what goes into planning each activity conducted throughout the day in the classroom. Most of the ideas applied in this classroom are those of a nineteenth century educator, John Dewey. John Dewey often criticized the educational practices of “traditional formal teaching”. He strongly believed that children need some guidance and suggestions to perform successfully in a learning environment. I would like to explain via the framework of Dewey that just because a classroom may have a lack of physical structure or it may look like there are more “play-based” activities than other classrooms does not mean that it is not an educational classroom.

During elementary years, Quinton’s mother underwent an operation for what he vaguely recalled was a thyroid disease. He remembered praying at a church with his father for a very long time. The emergence of faith narrative at this point suggested an intuitive-projective stage according to faith development as proposed by Fowler (1995. Quinton’s illustration demonstrated an initial awareness of proximity seeking to God in times of distress through prayer as modelled by his father. According to Fowler (1995), at this stage the child observes and imitates the practice of the adults’ behaviour in an intuitive manner while developing the ability to align value and logic behind their religious practice (Fowler, 1995; Roehlkepartain et al, 2006).

“It has been said: not all learning takes place in classroom. Compare and contrast knowledge gained from personal experience with knowledge gained from classroom instruction. In your opinion, which source is more important? Why?“