Play and pre-school curriculum Flashcards
How did the play theory begin?
Children learning through play began with Froebel. He believed that development occurs through play
What is Montessori’s view on play?
She thought of play as children’s work, and home and preschool as workplaces where learning occurs through play
What is John Dewey’s view on play?
- Children learn through play activities based on their interest
- Thought that children should have opportunities to engage in play associated with everyday activities (eg: Grocery store, doctor’s office)
- Felt that play helps children helps prepare children for adult occupations
What is Jean Piaget’s view on play?
- Believed that play promotes cognitive schemes and is a means by which children construct their knowledge of the world
- Children learn social knowledge, vocabulary, and proper behaviour from others
- Children learn about physical properties, gain knowledge of environment and acquire logical-mathematical knowledge
What is Lev Vygotsky’s view on play?
- The social interaction that occurs through play is essential to development
- Play promotes language and social skills which enhance cognitive development
- Adult play with children is as important as children’s play with their peers
What are the purposes of play?
- Therapy
- Preparation
- Sensory learning
- Intellectual development
- Social development
How is play used as therapy?
- Child’s mechanism for working out a previous experienced traumatic event
- Used to assist children in acquiring concepts and knowledge
- To rehearse actions to various real-life scenarios in a safe environment so that when confronted with a difficult situation, it wouldn’t be so stressful
How is play used for preparation?
- According to Dewey, play is a subconscious activity that helps an individual develop mentally and socially, it should separate from work as play helps a child grow into a working world
- As children become adults, they no longer play but seek amusement from their occupation. Play prepares them to become healthy working adults
How does play help with sensory learning?
- Montessori claimed that ‘play is the child’s work’ and that children would be best served spending their playtime learning or imagining
- Montessori play is sensory, using a hands-on approach to everyday tools like sand tables. The child sets their own pace and the teacher is collaborative in helping the child play to learn
How does play help a child’s intellectual development?
Piaget’s stages directly relate to play. He stated that intellectual growth occurs as children go through assimilation, or manipulating the outside world to meet one’s needs (play acting) and accommodation, or readjusting one’s own views to meet the needs of the outside environment, or work
How does play help a child’s social development?
- Vygotsky suggested that children use play as a means to grow socially. In play, they encounter others and learn to interact using language and roleplay
- Children still need adult interaction to master each social skill and to be ready to be introduced to new learning for growth of the outside environment, or work
What are the stages of play in child development?
- Onlooker
- Solitary
- Parallel
- Associative
- Cooperative
What is the onlooker stage in play?
The earliest stage, babies watching other children play but not joining in. Instead the child follows an adult, talks to other children or simply sits and listens
What is the solitary stage in play?
When children play alone. Older toddlers and infants are typically in this stage. The child plays alone and with some degree of focus
What is the parallel stage in play?
Playing independently but side-by-side. Children sit near each other and use the same type of toys but the focus of each child remain on their own individual play. Children talk aloud to each other but not about the same topic
What is the associative stage in play?
During associative play children interact frequently. The children share materials but create individual products and narrate different stories about their artwork
Example, children sharing crayons but draw different things
What is the cooperative stage in play?
Cooperative play involves a high degree of complexity. Children share materials, work together to create a theme and storyline for the play, adopt roles to carry out the play and assign roles to others
Example, the children bring all the trucks together to play mechanic shop, working together to designate the trucks as ‘the fast one’ or ‘the flying one’
