Quotes from Stanley Greenspan M.D :
Quote from Deborah Leong, Ph.D:
“Children need play in order to play. Good, old-fashioned fun-with an empty box or a simple rag doll-provides something very important to later growth and development.”
Excerpts from writings of Deborah Leong:
who believed that just as physical tools extend our physical abilities, mental tools extend our mental abilities, enabling us to solve problems and create solutions in the modern world. When applied to children, this means that to successfully function in school and beyond, children need to learn more than a set of facts and skills. They need to master a set of mental tools.Tools of the mind is a research based early childhood model combining teacher professional development with a comprehensive innovative curriculum that helps young children to develop the cognitive,social-emotional,self regulatory and foundational academic skilla they need to succeed in school and beyond.
"Most primary school teachers would probably agree that they don't expect kindergartners to enter first grade with a complete mastery of spelling and addition. After all, it is in the early elementary grades when children learn these academic competencies. However, teachers of entering school-agers do hope that the children who come into their classrooms can concentrate, pay attention, and be considerate of others. These areas are developed not by using flashcards or computer programs, but through interacting with peers during play." -Dr. Elena Bodrova & Dr. Deborah J. Leong in Why Children Need to Play (Scholastic Early Childhood Today, Jan. 29, 2016; Central pg. 6
Leticia Lara LCW, the Regional manager of Outreach and Professional Development ZERO TO THREE stated “When I think of the word “passion” and the meaning to the word “passion”, what comes to mind are: What are my values? What are my beliefs? What are the ideas that lead me to action? What do I do so naturally that perhaps seems natural to me but may be challenging to others? What’s in my heart? I also want to say that my passion has been evolving through the years. It’s an ongoing process. It’s like a ripple. You throw a little rock and you have sort of the center- but it grows” (The Passion for Early Childhood)
Sandy Escobido, the Deputy Field Director for the Los Angeles Preschool Advocacy Initiative CA Community Foundation said “We as professionals in the early childhood field have an opportunity to shape a child’s life for the better...”
References
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/why-children-need-play-0#top (By Deborah J. Leong PhD, Elena Bodrova PhD) in Why Children Need to Play (Scholastic Early Childhood Today, Jan. 29, 2016; Central pg 6.
https://inspiringyounglearners.wordpress.com/2012/11/23/quotes-from-contributors-in-the-early-childhood-field/
https://www.google.ae/search?q=quotes+by+stanley+greenspan&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjIiei27M_KAhVB2hQKH
Media segment by five early childhood professions
I like the first quote about the old-fashioned play. Nowadays, it seems the words "play" and "toy" are inseparable. With the overwhelming of marketing efforts, more and more focus are on the toys, which are in fact "things". However, my own memory tells me the best play are always "activities" and not a particular object. During my childhood, my brother and I had lots of freewheeling imaginative play. There was so much fun pretending to be superman, policeman, teacher, doctor etc.. Our most favorite game is running a "store" that sells candies (made by tissue and scrap paper) and stationery (such as pencils, erasers etc.) We even had our own cash (by cutting up old magazines into rectangles). This kind of "fun" can never be replaced with any toys or fancy machines such as Ipads.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post and it is true children learn a lot through play and what is important when they enter kindergarten is to know the basic.
ReplyDeleteChioma I agree with your quote to sum it up as we use to say "children learn through play." Many parents think "what are they learning all day when they are just playing." I tell my parents all the time when children are "playing" they are also building necessary skills like: communicating, language development, sharing, taking turns, solving problems, social skills, showing empathy, expressing emotions, using their imagination, and that is just to name a few not even touching academic standards. Play is important because children learn through play:)
ReplyDeleteI got an inspiration from your first quote. We as teachers and caregivers don't need to structure a child's play at all times. We need to give them a free hand to create their own play.
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