My First Day At Discovery School

I feel my room design that I created myself, offers the most learning with the given space. Learning centers are set up around the perimeter of the room with an open floor plan for the center of the room. This allows for free movement of the children. The learning centers offer independent play, creativity, imagination, cause and effect play, independent learning, open ended toys in a safe, clean environment that also offers lots of exploring options. I believe children learn best when the childcare space is well organized, offers lots of different options for the children, with clear rules and boundaries set. My program is play based so I believe children need lots of play in their day; child and adult lead

In the toddler classroom, the children interacted with each other, however many of them were more interested in playing and exploring on their own. The children enjoyed free play at learning centers, story time, and outside play during my observation. The toddlers preferred parallel play in which the children used similar toys in similar ways, but did not interact with each other. For example, when one child began playing with the kitchen toys in the dramatic play center, soon all of the children began playing with the available plastic food items. However, the children were more interested in showing the teachers what they were doing and

The relationship between play and learning seems obvious to many child professionals and parents, and yet there are still lack of understanding surrounding the importance of children's play. Some people believe that children need to "work" not play, and that playing serves no useful purpose in a learning and development environment. This is surprising considering that play, with its high levels of motivation and potential enjoyment empowers children (as well as people

Making relationships: children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.”

Did you know that play expands a child’s learning and development? Once parents understand that play is crucial in their child’s life then they can begin to help their son or daughter be the best he or she can be. According to Lev Vygotsky “play shapes how children make sense of their worlds, how they learn thinking skills, and how they acquire language.” After spending time at the Bombeck Center I learned that children play in many diverse ways, thus learning numerous new things within each center in which they interact. Lev Vygotsky along with Jean Piaget researched the need for guided social interaction as well as the necessity for spontaneous, self-discovered learning. The Bombeck Center focuses on a play-based learning curriculum to ensure a child’s ability to access social interactions and self-discoveries at the tip of their fingers.

“Current theories about inclusive play revolve around the idea that play is important for life and that all play workers should be committed to creating play environments that are inclusive and that offer multi-sensory experiences for all children. Play environments should ensure children and young people can become involved in imaginary play and can help develop motor activity. They should also allow interaction in a safe environment. Play is seen as the language that can bring children of all different abilities together. All children and young people have the same basic needs and go through the same development stages, even though they may not all go through them at the same pace: some go through some stages more quickly than most, while others may become static in their development for a while. None of this should prevent access to any setting. Through play with other children they develop social skills and learn about behaviour, communication and friendship. Play is the tool for practical learning

Sometimes it is important for children to have time with their peers.  By playing with others, children discover their strengths and weaknesses, develop a sense of belonging, and learn how to get along with others. Consider finding a good children’s program through neighbors, local community centers, schools, or your local park and recreation department.

Through play, children are also able to form relationships with their peers, therefore developing socially. They are able to “learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills” all of which are important skills in a child’s world as well as the adult world (Ginsberg 183). This is especially prevalent in young school age children, who have had relatively few social encounters without the presence of their parents before entering school. These young children will often make life time friends by sharing a popular treat at snack time or borrowing a color crayon to another child who has broken theirs.

One of my rooms strengths are the way that the centers are set up. I have the noisy centers like the blocks, music, and dress up centers on one end of the room separated by book shelves and on carpets. In the middle of the room I placed the less noisy centers like the science and art. On the other end of the room there are the quiet centers like the library and cozy corner. Each area is well defined and labeled with pictures. If I could change anything about the room I would make it bigger and add an indoor large motor area with climbing structure or area to use large motor toys.

Observation is a key practice which enables the Playworker to look at the child without intervention, however we need other ways to analyse their play preferences as children love to copy whether it be adults or peers, so we are seeing what the child sees and not necessarily what the child likes and chooses for themselves, so this may not be a true reflection of their preferences. All children and young people may act in a different way when watched, some may love the attention but others may recoil through shyness and not show us their usual behaviour. One way of finding out the child or young person’s preferences would be to talk to them about their play preferences. This could be done on a 1:1 basis or in small groups depending on the

A total of 21 Felton Institute teachers and 12 parents provided feedback to the seven questions we were interested in finding out information regarding child’s play. Some takeaways from the primary research that was

I really liked the details that were taken place in this classroom. For instance, the creative Greek pillars in the front of the classroom, because they were learning about Greek Gods and Goddesses. I also really liked the suitcase in the back of the room saying “Road tripping through history.” I think these little things intrigue students. The day that I was there, students were working on a project. I think that this was great for ESE students because they were able to cater to their individual needs. The project allowed for freedom as long as the key components were incorporated. I did not like the atmosphere that was taken place between students and the teacher. When I think of a classroom I think of a sense of family and uniting and that is not the feeling I got in this classroom. I felt like it was, fend for yourself environment. This is something that I really don’t want to happen in my future

Social play becomes more prominent during preschool age when children being to socialise with other children and practitioners within the pre-school. They tend to carry on playing alone but will play near a wide range of their peers. The development change involved in this types of play is pre-schoolers cognitive development. Social play involves children interacting with their peers and practitioners in the setting this can be done using speaking, signing and body language. When participating in social play this can involve game rules that the children have to communicate and consider when playing together.

I thought that the teachers did an amazing job with their classroom set up. When I walked in the classroom everything was organized nicely labeled and put together. One section had all arts and

| * May quarrel with other children about who gets to play with a particular toy * Uses pretend play as a way of initiating friendship * May still use transitional objects to overcome fears * Enjoys cooperative play * Learns to share with others * Makes other meaningful relationships as their social world expands