Description
Child development theory focuses on the importance of play and hands-on learning in the early childhood years. The more you learn as a child development major, the more you understand the critical importance of play.
Many important social, emotional, cognitive, physical and creative skills are developed through play.
However, not all cultures value play in this same way, and some families wonder aloud to their teachers, “When will the children start learning?”
It is the job of a child development professional to educate parents about the value of play, but to help us understand why this might be a question for some families, we will think back to our own childhoods, and read and reflect on the experiences of our learning community members.
Thinking about your own childhood, how was play viewed by your parents? Did they tell you that you could play after you completed your learning assignments? Did they seem to feel that play was a waste of time when compared to homework of chores? If your parents valued play how did they show you this? How were your parents involved in your play?
What kinds of play to you remember enjoying most as a child? What parts of your development do you see that type of play enriching? What developmental domains do you believe that kind of play focused on? ( Social, emotional, cognitive, physical or creative)
Describe how you as a teacher will educate parents on the value of play and how different kinds of play develops skills in their children in the five primary developmental domains.
Links to an external site.
