Framework of Play and Learning

Framework of Play and Learning

A play-based curriculum is a significant curriculum for preschool or early childhood education. This Curriculum places activities and plays at the epicenter of children’s education. Normally, it is reserved for young learners, knowing that it is via play that children develop basic skills and knowledge. A play-based curriculum is vital for children because it helps them gain skills such as language, social, communication, fine motor and even creative and problem-solving skills (Van Hoorn, 2015). Every learner or child admitted into preschool comes from diverse learning levels. They join the school as different learners from diverse cultural contexts and have diverse teachings from families and parents. Therefore, preschool tutors should adapt and be able to work with all these diverse learners and ensure none is left behind. For tutors to be successful in their teaching, they need to encompass various techniques in their toolbox to assist every learner in attaining their developmental milestones and ready them for the next stage of life or class. The most powerful tool a tutor can use is to teach using a play-centered curriculum. Thus, the assignment’s focus is to demonstrate how as a tutor, I will effectively communicate with families about the need for a play-based curriculum for learners of ages 3-5.

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Play and Theory

Several theorists have varying views about play-based curricula and how children learn. However, George Herbert Mead and Jean Piaget were the two theorists that relate to my classroom teaching style. Both theorists believed that play is particularly essential to every stage of a child’s life. It is vital for a learner’s healthy development (Van Hoorn, 2015). In addition, both agree that a play-based curriculum encourages learners to try new things within the classroom. As a result, they can learn new and vital skills such as problem-solving, language, and communication skills. Teachers often need to help convince families and parents why play is an important part of learning and should be part of the Curriculum. As such, tutors should learn to equip themselves with vital information from famous theorists on the benefits of play-based learning, like Herbert and Piaget, who support it in classes.

In addition, Van Hoorn et al. (2015) affirm that it is good to tell parents how play will help the learners/children develop a sense of self, social capacity, intellectual capacity, physicality, and personality. Therefore, parents should understand that play is a significant aspect of learning because learners can learn and acquire so much while playing. Nonetheless, play should be guided or controlled so they align with the lesson plans, but there must be free play time within the class so that learners can build their confidence. Most importantly, a play-based curriculum is vital as it promotes learning in all developmental domains by promoting parallel play, pretence play, and building emotional and social skills.

Incorporating a Variety of Play

Integrating different and several different types of play is vital for maximizing the learning setting. Therefore, three types of play that are part of learning are directed, teacher-guided, and spontaneous play. All these types of play are important for helping children learn newer skills while developing healthily (Gestwicki, 2015). The teacher-guided play is ideal for introducing new activities and playing a game. This is because the teacher will direct the activity by first doing an example while explaining what is being done. The teacher will then select two or more learners and allow them to follow the steps and do the activity. This type of play is beneficial because it educates learners to learn how to follow instructions, build their self-confidence, learn new skills, acquire self-advocacy skills, and learn to share, negotiate, and be good listeners (Gestwicki, 2015). This type of play can be used to play games such as tossing balls among friends, bowling, and hopscotch. The second type of play is spontaneous, which happens when learners interact with their environment, individuals around them, and resources without the planning or intervention of an adult or teacher. This type of play is commonly known as free play, which should be the primary kind of play for learners while playing outside the classroom. Spontaneous play is simple as the teacher allows learners to play independently but remembers to monitor them to ensure each is playing well without fights, making their own choices, or playing independently. This type of Play benefits learners because it helps improve communication with friends, allows children to develop imaginative and self-help skills, become more independent, and helps build cognitive, communication, and social-emotional abilities.

Finally, Guided Play is a kind of play that an adult or a teacher controls. This type of play gives learners choices to make to get a specified result. The teacher starts and guides the activity for this kind of play, and the children follow. Van Hoorn (2015) states that the teacher controls teacher-guided play because a child is often directed on what to do and works with the tutor to complete a task. Teacher-guided play is strongly linked to activities like pretence and art play. Examples of this type of play include making art projects, making flowers, and other dramatic plays like acting as a cashier counting money or items. This play is beneficial because it helps learners build self-confidence, independence, fine motor, intellectual, and problem-solving skills.

How Play Supports Development

Play is a vital element for enhancing child development. Particularly among children or young learners, play helps in brain development. Besides, it helps children develop emotional, fine, and gross motor skills. Play brightens a child’s world and improves understanding, helping them have real-world experiences. Hammond (2019) insists that playing outside gives children several ways of developing vital skills crucial for their future and development life. Thus, both parents and teachers need to give learners enough time, at least 30 minutes a day, for free play outside, provided they can monitor or watch them to ensure they are not harmed, which will be very helpful. Children also want to experience the world outside, an amazing place that encourages a child’s imagination to run wild. Therefore, allowing children to play outside more often would boost their imagination and creativity. Several children today prefer sitting in their rooms playing games on TV or phone or watching cartoons rather than playing. This could be due to the restricted nature of parents or packed schedules for children to attend after school, like dance, soccer, and art, among other things. Parents and teachers must understand that play is fundamental to a child’s growth. Therefore, regardless of the tough measures or schedules, children need free play days. Children can improve their emotional and cognitive thoughts when they have time to calm down, play, or sit outside with friends to learn interactive and social skills.

Most importantly, play will help children develop good problem-solving, cooperative, and collaborative skills, which are vital for their future careers. Levs (2017) says that when children play pickup games alone without a parent killing their fun or overcontrolling, coaching will help children develop instincts and passion for playing. For teachers, encouraging free play outside class is also vital. As such, in my classes, I will allow learners to have free playtime where they can create, start, and choose their own toys and games, provided they follow the rules and are nice to one another. Winte (2018) says that the play world is the practice field where children learn to be adults. Pretence play is also vital as it helps in developing social and problem-solving skills. Inaguarbly, this information is important, as it will influence my career, especially while teaching, as it will ensure my lessons are play-based to enhance creativity and independence.

How Play will help to Create a Culturally Inclusive Learning Environment

The teacher’s main priority is to create an inclusive learning environment. Therefore, it is every teacher’s wish that their classes are inclusive and culturally fitting for all learners. I will create a play-based learning environment for my classes by forming learning and play centres that are culturally appropriate for all students from all life divides. Therefore, in all learning centres or our class, there should be clothes, toys, books, play items, and objects that include different cultures and persons with disabilities so that everyone can feel valued and part of the class (Hammond, 2019). In addition, as a tutor, I will be responsible for learning different backgrounds or cultures, languages, etiquette, etc. This will help me teach the students that it is right to be different and help design my learning and classroom in a culturally appropriate manner that does not discriminate against any learner. The other aspect is a teacher should acknowledge that learners have diverse learning levels or abilities. There are struggling, talented, gifted, and average learners in class. Therefore, as a tutor, I will ensure my class and lesson plans are more adaptable by modifying the activities to fit every learner’s level so that every child feels included and valued.

Assessing Learners Through Play

Learners can be assessed using various strategies or assessment approaches. Nonetheless, there are ways of assessing learners to ensure they attain their milestones on time. The assessments also assist tutors in understanding where children require extra support or reinforcement or areas where children can learn more because they are already excelling. Van Hoorn et al. (2015) say play is not only part of learning but also a vital factor in children’s physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Play can also be used to assess learners. Some assessment tools that can be evaluated through play are checklists and running records. Rolfe (2020) states that a checklist is a vital assessment tool because it is a pre-determined list that identifies the learner’s knowledge, aptitudes, and skills. A checklist will help to assess learners through play because it purposely assists in ascertaining whether a learner meets the needed learning criteria. Running records as a type of assessment is also an effective assessment tool because it will assist tutors in documenting learners’ or children’s stories regarding behaviour, health, performance, etc., by detailing everything a child says or does during playtime (Rolfe, 2020). Thus, running records and checklists are vital assessment tools for determining why a kid behaves in a specific way and often give in-depth information on different developmental domains.

These two assessment tools, checklists and running records, will allow me to differentiate my teaching to meet the learner’s needs. Specifically, they will assist me in identifying the different learner’s behaviours, likes, skills, dislikes, and challenges. Consequently, it would be simpler to tailor my instruction to fit most of the student’s desires, as they will help me gather much information about the learners. Van Hoorn (2015) states that assessing children is challenging because sometimes the children cannot do tests, and other assessment tools can be too challenging for young children. However, playing can allow children to engage in different activities, and running records/checklists as an assessment tool can help me assess their emotional, cognitive, social, and physical development.

How I will use Play to Teach across the Curriculum. 

Using play to teach across the Curriculum is a powerful way of making learning more fun and enjoyable for all learners. Children are more likely to be motivated to learn and get new information when play is encompassed in a curriculum. Therefore, when play is used to teach across the Curriculum, I will ensure that the preschool class is not just a class full of desks, chairs, and learning materials. However, for play-based teaching across the curriculum to be effective, the class should be full of play materials, toys, dolls, and learning and playing centers. Aiger (2017) states that incorporating play into a curriculum is vital for pre-schoolers as it helps build several skills. Some of these are fine motor skills, language development, emotional and social skills, and self-help and self-independence skills. These skills can easily be learned because play enables learners to use their imaginations and creativity to interact with peers. The impressive thing is every child can learn via play, even if they decide to learn in their own way. Therefore, designing my lesson plans and lesson activities to include play and creating a well-organized classroom with different learning centres and a welcoming and lovely class will make learning more enjoyable.

In addition, one of the learning centres I will use to teach play is the Art and Crafts Center. Young learners use different muscles, such as hands, fingers, and wrists, during arts and crafts activities. Therefore, the frequent use of these muscles will advance their strength and finesses. Ultimately, such muscle-building activities will make other tasks, such as drawing and writing, much simpler and easier (Ardoin & Bowers, 2020). Play will also be used at the writing centre, which will help with emotional development, as it will stimulate different attitudes, feelings, and motivations in a student. As a result, children will have a chance to express their emotions by writing or drawing.

Most importantly, adding the STEAM curriculum to learning is important for creating an educative and fun learning atmosphere. All aspects of STEAM Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math are essential focus areas for learners. Therefore, while preparing lesson plans as a teacher, integrating science or technology into a classroom would make the lesson more practical and enjoyable. For instance, a science lesson plan where learners are taught why water and oil do not mix will be more practical and simple. Its objective would be to apply science to explore the differences between water and oil and explain why oil and water never mix. The standard that supports this lesson is scientific inquiry, observation, and investigation. This will be followed by a practical activity of mixing oil and water. Such experimental and hands-on activities are fun and would teach learners about a concept more effectively. To enhance learning, tutors can also use books that discuss mixtures or even play a video recording or a YouTube video to make the learning more advanced and STEAM-aligned.

Literacy through Play

 Play-based learning can help improve literacy instruction. This is because literacy instruction allows students to communicate clearly and effectively. Learners who can never read effectively often fail to understand important concepts, score minimally on tests, and finally fail to accomplish their educational milestones as required. Kokkalia et al. (2019) say that literacy instruction is important as it helps enrich students’ lives and creates vital opportunities to develop important skills for their future lives. For example, literacy instruction helps children learn problem-solving, communication, language, and socializing skills. Coombe, Vafadar, and Mohebbi (2020) insist that dramatic play will educate and encourage children about expressive language and new vocabulary. As a result, play helps learners get inspired to communicate their desires to their teachers, peers, and mates. This will in turn, help them learn how to speak from the perspective of pretense play roles. For instance, the video proposed two important literacy skills: alphabetical and print awareness. These two skills will help children improve their letter, sound, and word recognition (CECE, 2013).

How the Tool Box Aligns with Ideas Shared in Framework Play

The toolbox I made for the last five weeks truly portrays the kind of educator I am and the type of tutor I desire to become. A teacher’s first priority is meeting the learners’ needs. As a teacher, I should always put the learners’ needs first. Therefore, I ensure every learner in my class is safe and happy. Assisting students to feel safer and more comfortable in a class is the first reason a class must be well-fashioned and organized. A welcoming, safe, and colourful setting will make children feel much safer in class. Therefore, my Curriculum and learning will be play-based and will include three different kinds of play: teacher-guided, guided, and spontaneous. These types of play will help open new opportunities for children by allowing them to explore activities and events that will enable them to acquire and learn vital skills. Learning will be very enjoyable and fun when play is incorporated.

The play-based Curriculum will also enable me as a teacher to differentiate lessons so that all learners are included and ensure play-based learning has activities or play materials that are culturally appropriate for all learners (William, 2023). Besides, this toolbox taught me to tailor my learning to include learners with disabilities and struggling learners. Therefore, it is vital that all learners feel represented and included within a classroom; whether they are dressing clothes, puzzles, books, or toys, they must fit and be suitable for all learners. Horstmann (2022) states that having toys, activities, or class materials that support all developmental domains will assist children in reaching newer milestones and learning new skills, such as collaborative, fine motor, and social skills. Even including STEAM and literacy instruction through play is all-important because they will assist learners in understanding content better and developing vital skills.

Conclusion

Remarkably, play is a vital part of learning. It enables students to acquire better communication, language, social, and emotional skills. Most importantly, play-based learning or Curriculum is very handy for learners, and this assignment concentrated on teaching parents and families the importance of having a play-based curriculum. Therefore, all the elements, from incorporating a play-based environment and the importance of play to well-organized classrooms, the addition of literacy instruction, and STEAM to a play-based curriculum, are essential. However, tutors must focus on building skills when children are young to develop vital skills through play, making school life more enjoyable. Learning via play helps keep children happier and interactive without realizing they are learning new skills in class. Notably,  play motivates learners and excites them so they can attain their dreams.

References

Aiger, A. (2017, June 13). Five Domains for Early Childhood Development. Retrieved July 31, 2017.

Ardoin, N. M., & Bowers, A. W. (2020). Early childhood environmental education: A systematic review of the research literature. Educational Research Review, 31, 100353.

CECE (2013). Five Predictors of Early Literacy. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqImgAd3vyg.

Coombe, C., Vafadar, H., & Mohebbi, H. (2020). Language assessment literacy: What do we need to learn, unlearn, and relearn? Language Testing in Asia, 10, 1-16.

Gestwicki, C. (2015). Home, school, and community relations. Cengage Learning.

Hamand, D. J. (2019). The Use of Learning Centers in the Kindergarten Classroom.

Horstmann, K. (2022). Re-Integrating Play-Based Learning (PBL) Activities into the Primary Classroom.

Kokkalia, G., Drigas, A. S., Economou, A., & Roussos, P. (2019). School Readiness from Kindergarten to Primary School. Int. J. Emerg. Technol. Learn., 14(11), 4-18.

Levs, J. (2017, October 2). Whatever happened to ‘go outside and play’? (Links to an external site.) Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/living/let-children-playoutside/index.html (Links to an external site.)

Rolfe, S. A. (2020). Direct observation. In Doing early childhood research (pp. 224-239). Routledge.

Van Hoorn, J. L., Monighan-Nourot, P., Scales, B., & Alward, K. R. (2015). Play at the center of the Curriculum. Boston: Pearson.

Wente, M. (2018, May 14). The kids don’t play anymore (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from.https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/why-the-kids-dont-play-anymore/article15446614/.

Williams, C. (2023, February 8). Differentiated instruction: Meeting the needs of all learners. Center for Student Achievement Solutions. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.studentachievementsolutions.com/differentiated-instruction-meeting-the-needs-of-alllearners/#:~:text=Role%2Dplaying%3A%20Encourage%20students%20to,problem%2Dsolving%20and%20conflict%20resolution.

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Framework of Play and Learning
[WLO: 3] [CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Throughout the course, you have gained a lot of knowledge regarding play-centred learning and how to integrate it into your curriculum. In your Final Paper, you will assume the role of an early care provider, administrator, teacher assistant, or another career path that aligns with your future work with diverse learners. Based on the career path you have chosen, you will construct a paper that presents your framework of play and learning for the age group of children with whom you plan to work. The overall focus of your framework will be to demonstrate how you will effectively communicate with family members about the need for play to be a part of the curriculum.

Preparation:

Refer to the Week 5 Instructor Guidance for tips and examples that will support your success on this assignment.
Review any feedback you have received from your peers or your instructor on previous assignments.
In your paper,

Summarize how a play-centered curriculum is supported by theory. (Refer to your Week 1 Play and Theory discussion for support.)
Explain how you will incorporate a variety of types of play into your learning environment. (Refer to your Play Toolbox Week 1 resource for support.)
Examine how play supports development. (Refer to your Week 2 Let’s Debate discussion for support.)
Describe how the play will allow you to create a learning environment that is inclusive of various cultural and academic needs. (Refer to your Week 2 Play-Centered Learning Environments assignment for support.)
Discuss how you will assess learning through play. (Refer to your Week 3 Play-Centered Assessments discussion and Video-Play Assessment assignment for support.)
Summarize how you will use play to teach across the curriculum. (Make sure to include specific examples of how the lessons and activities you developed in Weeks 4 and 5 support your ideas and are standards-based. Refer to your Week 4 STEAM Curriculum and Week 5 Language and Literacy Through Play discussions for support.)
Revise the Play Toolbox elements you created throughout the course and include the final versions at the end of your essay. (Paste these elements in order into your essay document after your references list.)
Explain how the toolbox you created throughout this course aligns with the ideas you shared in your framework of play.
Assignment submission requirements:

This assignment will be submitted to Waypoint and added to your ePortfolio. Please refer to the instructions below to submit your assignment.
For this assignment, you must submit.

A link to your ePortfolio in Folio. To do this, you will copy and paste the web address into the comments feature in Waypoint.
A Word document including your completed assignment.
Click on the Assignment Submission button. The Waypoint “Student Dashboard” will appear.
Browse for your assignment.
Click Upload.
Confirm that your assignment was successfully submitted by viewing the appropriate week’s assignment tab in Waypoint or clicking on Check Assignment Status within the Meet Your Instructor unit in the left navigation panel.
The Framework of Play and Learning paper

It must be eight to 10 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA StyleLinks to an external site.
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013Links to an external site..
Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice links to an external site. Resource for additional guidance.
Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.