Submitted by Lisa V. (not verified) on March 23, 2008 - 15:41.
As a child, I vividly remember "playing" at school. I was a cook, a builder, and a teacher. During this time was when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher. As a parent as well, I see the many things that are learned through play. In addition to self-awareness, cooperation with others, and being dependent, children learn to be problem-solvers. They learn through stacking blocks how to build correctly. Through role-play, they are creating worlds in which we cannot completely control. They are becoming independent and this does indeed carry over to the classroom as they develop as students. Many state standards are changing - they are focusing on problem-solving. Teachers need to be co-learners, involving the students in the curriculum. Employees today want to hire someone who can take a problem and fix it independently. With the shift in technology, many manual jobs are being handled by computers. Those that are going to be valued in the work force are those who can make problems disappear with little to no supervision. I truly believe this starts through play.
Taking the value away from play
Submitted by Lisa V. (not verified) on March 23, 2008 - 15:41.
As a child, I vividly remember "playing" at school. I was a cook, a builder, and a teacher. During this time was when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher. As a parent as well, I see the many things that are learned through play. In addition to self-awareness, cooperation with others, and being dependent, children learn to be problem-solvers. They learn through stacking blocks how to build correctly. Through role-play, they are creating worlds in which we cannot completely control. They are becoming independent and this does indeed carry over to the classroom as they develop as students. Many state standards are changing - they are focusing on problem-solving. Teachers need to be co-learners, involving the students in the curriculum. Employees today want to hire someone who can take a problem and fix it independently. With the shift in technology, many manual jobs are being handled by computers. Those that are going to be valued in the work force are those who can make problems disappear with little to no supervision. I truly believe this starts through play.