Do children get enough play time?

As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education on p. 57-59 the author talked about a child named Vivian and how she experienced her first day in prekindergarten. The child's school rarely had any time for the children to engage in free play. They mostly did worksheets, and photocopied activities in school. According to Peter Campbell, children in prekindergarten ages 4-5 are expected to do work suited for first graders ages 6-7. What should you do if the child's not ready for first grade work in pre-K? I feel that if the 4-5 year olds are ready and know how to do the work it should be fine. However, if other children are having a difficult time I think they should be given their age or grade level work and not advanced work that is too difficult for the children.

While I read, "What About Play" I was surprised to read that children consume forty hours of media each week (mostly on screens). The text also talked about children and how they hardly get the chance to play while at home because some parents are increasingly using electronic games as "babysitters". Do you think it's appropriate for children to get more or less media throughout the day? I feel that children can learn a lot more through play and interacting with their peers. We experienced a child in our program who enjoys playing and being by himself, while observing him he pretends to be Thomas trains and sometimes he will talk to himself. He also mentioned that he plays games on the computer a lot. He's also the only child in his family and we try to encourage him to play with others, but sometimes he'll just walk away or say "no I don't want to". I feel that he might be uncomfortable playing with other children and he doesn't really know how to express himself. What do you think might be the appropriate thing to do for this child?

Is there a right or wrong way to solve a problem or solution?

As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 41-42 the author talks about the story "The Three Little Pigs" and how there homes where built differently with straw, sticks, and bricks. She also mentioned stereotypes and the "many approaches to solving a basic human need" such as living things need places to live. In the reading, "Why we Banned Lego's" the author talked about a curriculum which, they have experimented with children on building with Lego's. The children built a large Lego town where they could explore the values of power and ownership. However, the teachers decided it was best to banned Lego's because the Lego town leaders took charge and told others they couldn't join in and help with the project. When that topic or experiment didn't work the teachers from Hilltop introduced another game called Lego trading. Each colored Lego had its own point value which, also had problems because there were some children who kept winning and others had no chance in winning. Therefore, some of them lost interest in that game. Is there a way for children to cooperate effectively?
In our program we try to think of curriculum topic that children are interested in and we also include topics that are important for the children to know such as, family, friends, community helpers, feelings or emotions etc.

Is there a seperation between boys and girls when it comes to toys and games?

As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 29-33 the author talked about different toys for boys and girls. Usually toys for boys are action figures, race cars, etc and for girls it would be princesses, dolls and many more. Do you think parents or others react in a negative way if boys are playing dress up or with dolls and if girls are playing with action figures or race cars? At our school we recently experienced a boy who enjoys wearing princess costumes in the dress up corner. One day the child's father dropped him off at school and the child wanted me to help him put on the costume. I helped him put it on while his father was talking to someone. The child's father saw that he had the princess outfit on and he was shacking his head while saying "Ah no no". However, the child didn't react to what his father was saying then he began to play again. I think that children just want to experiment with different clothing and what they want to play with. While I read, "Where are the Game Girls?" the author did a curricula where her students researched on boy and girl games to find out what types of games would be appropriate for both boys and girls. The students also got to design their own game inventions that girls and boys can play. From the reading, "Playing with Gender" the author talked about boys playing in the dramatic play area where they pretended to care for their babies while girls wanted to do sports, ride bikes etc. What can we teach children about gender?

What makes a classroom experience valuable?

As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 123-130 the author discussed the importance of culture, which may encourage us to move from one place to another. She also talked about her experience with children when she takes them exploring such as field trips or different environments that are both fun and educational for young children. At our program, we usually take the children on field trips once a month to teach them about the environment. For example, in the beginning of the school year we took the children to IAO Valley where we taught they about the different cultural pavilions such as Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Korean etc. We take photo's of the children so they can reflect on their experience at IAO Valley. We also help encourage their learning by having them draw what they enjoyed the best on the field trip. How can you tell if the children are learning through this experience? I believe they are learning because they talk about what they have seen and some of them might be able to name the different areas. While I read "Bringing the Earth Home" on p. 131-132 the author talks about professional development for childcare programs. What do we value while working with young children? Some of the things we try to value in our program is for the children to learn, problem solve, and have fun.

I chapter 6 New Possibilities for ECE the author talks about her experience on teaching women. The women shared their life stories and what they do when they work with children and they also discussed numerous topics.

How do we teach our students?

As I read, Rethinking Early Childhood Education from p. 49-53 the author talked about teaching different winter celebrations such as Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa etc. She was teaching children that not everyone celebrates Christmas because they have their own values and beliefs. When I was taking my first practicum class at Head Start there was a child who's family didn't celebrate any holiday's including his birthday. I feel it's important to follow their beliefs and find other ways or activities for the child or children to do around the holiday season. After I read 'Staying Past Wednesday' on p. 155-157 the author talked about a kindergartner named Jessica and how she and her brother died. How do you teach children about death or loss? I feel that this is an emotional subject to talk to children about. However, it's important that they gain an understanding of what death means. I recently, experienced a three year old girl at our school program, her mother died in a car accident when she was only two years old. She was also in the car with her mother when this happened and she is now being raised by her grandparents. Every so often when she falls or gets hurt she will cry for her mother and would sometimes say "mommy not here." What should you do to help children cope with death? If children are feeling sad we try to comfort, talk, and help them get through the hard times.

In chapter 5 New Possiblilities for ECE the author talked about her experiences on teaching child health, safety, and nutrition to college students. The women in her class worked in small groups to discuss the importance of safety such as, always have someone supervising the children. For the topic health they discussed the dangers of what would happen if you shake a baby such as, brain damage and blindness. The women also shared their life experience with the class.