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?
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hi dawn!
ReplyDeleteThe story about Vivian seems to be more of a common thing happening nowadays in our public school system. Students are being pressured with standardized tests, and it not only stresses out the students, but the teacher and parents as well. Although most of us, don't like test-taking, do you think their is another alternative to it?
What do you think the value of play is for young children? In our ECED classes we have learned about how young children learn and develop. Similarly, we have also become knowledgeable about play---what it is, how it develops, its function in growth and learning, its role in early childhood education and care, and the role we have in supporting it. AT your school is it more play orientated or is there a strong push from parents for academics? How do you share with families about the importance of play?
-suzanne
Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI wonder about this statement -- I feel that if the 4-5 year olds are ready and know how to do the work it should be fine -- what might this say about young children? What if worksheets and related activities are not available for this age of children, does it change how they think and play? If this is a regular part of the classroom, do children become "schooled" in this rhetoric, not engaging in creative and exploring experiences in the classroom? Should only the children who can fit into the worksheet mode be treated as successful? What might this say about the purpose of school?
I had not thought about this from this perspective -- I wonder if educators, policymakers, and administrators have set-up school so only few have the ability to succeed. What do you think? Should worksheets ever be acceptable?
Jeanne
Hi Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI can see where you are coming from in that soem 4 and 5 year olds enjoy doing worksheets but I feel that this is usually because they are "playing school" or, they are receiving praise for the completion of their 'work'. Is it ever appropriate to dish out worksheets when chidlren acqire learning through hands on manipulation of real objects? What if we offered schools where only musical ability was deemed "important" and all of the childrne spent large portions of the day playing an instrument and writing music...even though they couldn't really connect the sound to the symbols on the page. As I am writing this, I could use that smae analogy for me to really understand where the chldren are coming from with being made to write letters that have no meaning to them. I know what notes look like and I could write them down in no particular order so that when someone came to play the music it had no melody. I would need a lot of hands on experience with an instrument and written music before I could understand...does that make any sense? I also have a child in my class who likes to play by himself. I try to encourage his friendships by noting who has similar interests and modelling how to enter the play of others but, he seems content and happy to play on his own. He speaks well and interacts without seeming uncomfortable he just chooses to spend time alone and you know what, an eight hour day with 11 other people, we all need some alone time! I wonder if this child is uncomfortable or if you are uncomfortable with him not playing with others. Is he happy?
Hello Dawn,
ReplyDeleteI do not think that children have enough time to play. They spend too much time to watch TV or use a computer. I researched that children watched TV for 28 hours per week in 1999, but the number has increased to 40 hours in the present. Wow!! I am worried this trend because watching too much TV has negative effects on young children's development.
I have one boy M who does not want to play with other children. He often shouts " No! Go away. Don't touch my toys" during free play time. We teachers tried to get M involved in corporate activities or playing with peers; however, he always says, "No thank you." The lead teacher talked his mom and found out that he always plays with grandpa at home. His mom concerns that M does not know how to share the toys or play with children who are his age. His grandpa allows him to use everything whatever M wants. His play time with grandpa has a big big impact on his play at school. I believe that M has a plenty time to play but he needs to play to learn how to interact with other young children.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI do agree about children being engaged with the media and technology too much. How did we let this go on so long? I do believe children being involved with video games and computers do not learn any social interactions. From this result, statistics shows that many children are scoring lower on verbal, reading, and writing tests.
This problem can also lead to interaction with peers. For example, the child who doesn't want to play with others. Maybe if you find the child's common interest with his peers there could be some results of interaction. Or maybe just give the child time for him to be comfortable with teachers and himself in order for him to be comfortable to interact with others.