My chosen topic for this simulation is play. Play is
essential for children’s social, emotional, cognitive, linguistic, and physical
development. Play is the way children develop and learn. It is also the way
they express their understanding of the world. Play enables children to develop
social skills, develop physical skills, learn concepts, and enhance
self-esteem. According to an article, “Play is crucial for your child's social,
emotional, physical, and cognitive growth. It's your child's way of learning
about his body and the world, and he'll use all five senses to do it,
especially in the first year” (Baby Center, 2014).
I chose play because there are many educators and
others who believe that play is a waste of time for children and most of their
time should be focused on academics. I believe that children need to play
because this is how they learn.
My personal experience is some of my most memorable
moments as a child involves play. As I watch my own children at play, I see
that they are expressing who they are, what they know and feel, and what they
are able to do.
The research chart has helped me to have a deeper
understanding of early childhood research. This course, so far, has helped me
to become more aware of the resources that are available to me.
I would greatly appreciate any advice or insight
that may help me through this process, as well as any resources you would like
to share with me. I would be more than happy to share resources with you if you
want or need me to.
Baby Center. (2014). Play: Why it’s so important?
Retrieved May 17, 2014, from http://www.babycenter.com/0_play-why-its-so-important_6772.bc
I think it is a great research project to look into the advantages of children learning through play. What ages will this pertain to? I have been interested to learn how kinder-3rd grade classrooms would do with a more constructivist approach to learning rather than the typical brick and mortar paperwork of rote memorization in learning. I would be interested to see studies of children, any age, that compares them to counterpart learners who did not learn through play that carried on for their entire school year and possibly even into adulthood.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right. There are many people that see play as a waste of time, but we as educator knows that it is part of their growth. As a friendly advice, I think that you will need to narrow your research, focus in one area, I think it is too generalize. What about play and emotions, play and academic success, play and behavior. These are a few examples, maybe you have something better.
ReplyDeleteHi LaShaunda,
ReplyDeleteI love that you're focusing on play for your research simulation. While there are many people who agree with you and I that play is very important for children's growth and development I do think there needs to be more studies that hopefully support it. Like Mirla said, I think it would be helpful to narrow your study a bit before beginning. Good luck!