ece351 week 1 discussion 2 RESPONSE, Psychology homework help

Challenge them by asking a question that you would address when attempting to persuade a parent with an alternate view and provide recommendations to extend their discussions. 5 sentences.

Week 1 Discussion 2

Why is play so important?

When people think about play they often think of children running around having fun and not really accomplishing anything during that time, but this is not true. Play helps children learn, whether they are running around outside or playing pretend doctor’s office they are actually learning quite a lot. When children are playing they are using all their senses and both physically and mentally they are learning. When a child plays with blocks he is learning about number concepts, patterns and relationships, geometry and spatial sense, measurement, and using vocabulary and language to interact with his teacher and friends. When a child is in the art area he controls his fine motor skills, coordinates eye-hand movement, explores cause and effect, and recognizes patterns, colors, and shapes. In the dramatic play area children are learning about drama by pretending, problem solving, number concepts, and people and how they live. In every area of our classroom the children developing their social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language skills. Having adults who ask meaningful questions and interact with the children help the children think, and encouragement helps them to want to learn more.

By looking at children’s play, teacher/researchers could learn about children’s interests and prepare the curriculum to build on children’s intrinsic interests (Frost, J., Wortham, S., & Reifel, S. (2011). According to Darwin’s theory of evolution play is a natural phenomenon and Groos interpreted child play as practice for what was to come, a form of preparation for helping us adapt (Frost, J., Wortham, S., & Reifel, S. (2011).

As an educator I will communicate with parents the importance of play through conferences, home visits, parent education meetings, and by having parents and caretakers volunteer in the classroom. While volunteering there will be posting in each area of play describing what the children are learning while in that area.

References

Frost, J., Wortham, S., & Reifel, S. (2011). Play and child development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice-Hall.