SifuentesAndrade+Project2

.docx

School

San Joaquin Delta College *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

Subject

Psychology

Date

May 8, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by BarristerRam3008 on coursehero.com

Dear Colleagues, I hope this letter finds you all in good health and high spirits. I am writing to share with you some valuable insights I have gained regarding the significance of play and creativity in our early childhood environment. As educators, it is vital for us to recognize the immense value of play and creativity in a child’s development. Play is considered the most effective means for children to learn and grow. After observing our students engaged in play, I recognized that play is a natural and spontaneous activity that allows children to explore, experiment, and create freely. During my observations, I noticed that when given the freedom to play and express their creativity, our students demonstrated increased levels of enthusiasm, engagement, and motivation. I want to highlight the five characteristics of play that I observed in the children’s interactions and activities. These characteristics proposed by Isenbreg & Jalongo represent what play is and how it serves as a vehicle for learning in children. 1. Play is voluntary and intrinsically motivated. 2. Play is symbolic, meaningful, and transformational. 3. Play is active. 4. Play is rule-bound. 5. Play is pleasurable. These five characteristics contribute to children’s cognitive, language and literacy, social- emotional, physical, and creative development. It is evident play is a valuable tool in classroom settings, offering numerous benefits to children’s development of learning. The Guidelines from the Association for Childhood Educational and the NAEYC affirm the value of play, delving into

how children learn through play. Drawing on those five characteristics, I plan to share with you what play offers to children in terms of learning. Much of the interactive experiences that I observed in our students reveal how play enables children to make sense of their world. When making sense of their surroundings and environment, children created scenarios, mimicked real-life situations, and experimented using cause and effect. This sense-making process facilitates the acquisition of new knowledge of skills, fostering their cognitive development. Play also offers opportunities for decision-making, problem-solving, self-regulation, and following rules. During play, I observed children facing challenges and obstacles that required critical thinking and decision-making. Being encouraged to solve problems independently and collaboratively, our students learned to take turns, cooperate, and resolve conflicts on several occasions. Furthermore, our students practiced self- regulation by controlling their impulses and emotions. When it came to playing games such as bingo or memory matching, they practiced following instructions and respecting the boundaries of their classmates. Moreover, play serves as a helpful tool for children to creatively express their thoughts and feelings, fostering their emotional development and self-expression. The dramatic play or storytelling area gave children the opportunity to act out their emotions, explore their identities, and experiment using different roles and perspectives. Through play, children also engaged in meaningful conversations, using and practicing language in authentic contexts. To further support early literacy skills, I integrated more storytelling and reading books into our lessons. By doing this, I could see our students beginning to articulate their thoughts and ideas while expanding on their vocabulary. Lastly, play promotes motor skills through physical exercise. During outdoor play, our students spent time running, climbing, jumping, and dancing.

I recognized the need for physical and tactile play as it deepens children's understanding of nature and what their bodies are capable of doing. Recognizing the value of play in the classroom is essential for providing children the developmentally appropriate activities to support their learning. Most importantly, play offers children the opportunity to create . Through my observations, it is evident that play plays a vital role in encouraging and fostering creativity in children. As children learn to think divergently, generate unique ideas, and explore alternative solutions in different contexts, the skill to create becomes increasingly valuable as children grow. Open-ended materials such as blocks, puppets, playdough, magnets, building sets, allows children to creatively manipulate, transform, and repurpose objects. Through these activities, many students that I observed collaboratively shared ideas, negotiated roles, and built upon each other's thoughts, leading to innovative outcomes. To embrace the value of play and creativity, it is crucial for us as educators to create an environment that supports and encourages these aspects. Isenberg & Jalongo address the six roles that describe the kinds of support teachers can provide. These roles are: observers, collaborators, planners, responders, models, and mediators. It is crucial for us to think about when and how to use each role when working with children. “As a teacher, one of your essential roles will be to support children’s play so that it becomes elaborate and complex. You will need a good blend of strategies that facilitate, not control, the way children think about their play . . . Scaffolding is particularly important given the range of teachers' roles in play settings” (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2018, p. 66). Rather than control or direct our students, our role as teachers is to support and facilitate children’s play experiences. This support can take various forms, such as identifying opportunities for learning, extending children’s play by adding toys or props, asking open-ended

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Recommended textbooks for you

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)

Psychology

ISBN:9780134477961

Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White

Publisher:PEARSON

Cognitive Psychology

Psychology

ISBN:9781337408271

Author:Goldstein, E. Bruce.

Publisher:Cengage Learning,

Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and ...

Psychology

ISBN:9781337565691

Author:Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, Tanya S. Martini

Publisher:Cengage Learning

Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)

Psychology

ISBN:9780393265156

Author:Sarah Grison, Michael Gazzaniga

Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company

Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a...

Psychology

ISBN:9781285763880

Author:E. Bruce Goldstein

Publisher:Cengage Learning

Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)

Psychology

ISBN:9781305652958

Author:Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz

Publisher:Cengage Learning

SEE MORE TEXTBOOKS

Recommended textbooks for you

Ciccarelli: Psychology_5 (5th Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:9780134477961
Author:Saundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White
Publisher:PEARSON
Cognitive Psychology
Psychology
ISBN:9781337408271
Author:Goldstein, E. Bruce.
Publisher:Cengage Learning,
Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and ...
Psychology
ISBN:9781337565691
Author:Dennis Coon, John O. Mitterer, Tanya S. Martini
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Psychology in Your Life (Second Edition)
Psychology
ISBN:9780393265156
Author:Sarah Grison, Michael Gazzaniga
Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company
Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research a...
Psychology
ISBN:9781285763880
Author:E. Bruce Goldstein
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Theories of Personality (MindTap Course List)
Psychology
ISBN:9781305652958
Author:Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz
Publisher:Cengage Learning