Souris Cooperative Early Learning Programs.
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Children At Play
Intuitively we all know that play is an integral part of young children’s lives, and that being able to play, both alone and with others, is a hallmark of children’s healthy development. We also understand that play enhances children’s physical, social/emotional, and creative growth, and we daily assess this growth by observing children at play.
We observe children playing both indoors and out—running, jumping, climbing, playing ball, and dancing—and we note their increasing abilities to move with confidence and control, to balance their bodies, and to utilize eye-hand coordination. As they build with small blocks and play with manipulative toys, we observe the gradual strengthening of their small muscles.
We observe individual children engaged in different types of play at different times, and we quickly notice that their play becomes more complex and more social as the year progresses. We are able to assess children’s growing abilities to direct their own play, to make decisions about materials and props, and to assert their own ideas and opinions about what they want to play. As children begin to play interactively, we see growth in their abilities to follow the rules of a game, to take turns, to share materials, and to begin to cooperatively solve problems that emerge during the play.
And finally, as we daily observe children drawing and painting, building and constructing, and engaged in the process of hands-on creative play, often with little or no intervention from adults, we observe how play supports their growing abilities to express themselves uniquely and creatively, to explore new materials, and to use familiar materials in new and more complex ways.
Article written by Cynthia Hoisington found at: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=453
We observe children playing both indoors and out—running, jumping, climbing, playing ball, and dancing—and we note their increasing abilities to move with confidence and control, to balance their bodies, and to utilize eye-hand coordination. As they build with small blocks and play with manipulative toys, we observe the gradual strengthening of their small muscles.
We observe individual children engaged in different types of play at different times, and we quickly notice that their play becomes more complex and more social as the year progresses. We are able to assess children’s growing abilities to direct their own play, to make decisions about materials and props, and to assert their own ideas and opinions about what they want to play. As children begin to play interactively, we see growth in their abilities to follow the rules of a game, to take turns, to share materials, and to begin to cooperatively solve problems that emerge during the play.
And finally, as we daily observe children drawing and painting, building and constructing, and engaged in the process of hands-on creative play, often with little or no intervention from adults, we observe how play supports their growing abilities to express themselves uniquely and creatively, to explore new materials, and to use familiar materials in new and more complex ways.
Article written by Cynthia Hoisington found at: http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=453