Why did you choose early childhood education as your career?
Early childhood educators have the very real opportunity to make a difference in young lives, and also influence future generations. They get to ensure that children get off a good start in their lives and in their learning. They get to teach students things that they’ll carry for life.
Why is research important in early years?
Those people working on the front line with young children and their families, whether they know it or not, have a vast wealth of knowledge grounded in real life experiences and through developing practitioner research this knowledge can be used to improve service delivery without the need to bring in outside observers …
What does it mean to be a professional in early childhood education?
First of all, an early childhood professional is someone who has the personal characteristics, knowledge and skills necessary to provide programs that facilitate children’s learning. This seems like a simplistic definition. An early childhood professional is someone who promotes high standards for themselves.
How does play support a child’s development?
Young children can develop many skills through the power of play. Play helps to nurture imagination and give a child a sense of adventure. Through this, they can learn essential skills such as problem solving, working with others, sharing and much more. In turn, this helps them develop the ability to concentrate.
Why is free play important in early childhood?
Free Play Reinforces Classroom Learning We know from studies that Free Play is important to for healthy brain development, allowing children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, cognitive and physical abilities. Free Play is a tool for developing a child as a whole.
How does pretend play contribute to a child’s development?
Through pretend play, children learn to do things like negotiate, consider others’ perspectives, transfer knowledge from one situation to another, delay gratification, balance their own ideas with others, develop a plan and act on it, explore symbolism, express and listen to thoughts and ideas, assign tasks and roles.
How Imagination is important for the development of a child?
Imagination fosters cognitive and social development. Everyone wants to raise children who reach their highest intellectual and social/emotional potential. In early childhood education, critical thinking skills and creative problem-solving abilities are goals for children’s development.
How do I pretend to play with my preschooler?
10 Ways to Enrich Your Child’s Imaginative PlayJoin your child! Say “Yes” Let your child take the “lead” role. Present a problem to fix. Provide details to enrich the pretend play. Add to the scene. Provide basic props and costume pieces. Connect pretend play to books.
What is functional play in child development?
Functional play can be defined as play with toys or objects according to their intended function (e.g., rolling a ball, pushing a car on the floor, pretend feeding a doll). Play is a way children learn to make sense of the world. Functional play is a powerful tool for developing cognitive and social skills.
What are the 5 stages of play?
This list explains how children’s play changes by age as they grow and develop social skills.Unoccupied Play (Birth-3 Months) Solitary Play (Birth-2 Years) Spectator/Onlooker Behavior (2 Years) Parallel Play (2+ Years) Associate Play (3-4 Years) Cooperative Play (4+ years)
How do you encourage functional play?
Toy play (or ‘functional’ play)Sit in front of your child so your child can look at you, communicate with you, and see what you’re doing. Offer two or three toys your child enjoys. Join in with what your child is doing, rather than trying to guide play. Encourage your child to play if your child doesn’t copy you.
What are the 4 types of play?
Smilanksy’s four types of play One of Smilansky’s main findings in her research was that children engage in four types of play: functional play, conditional play, games with rules, and dramatic play. Functional play is play where children engage in activities that utilize muscles or the sensorimotor.
What are the 7 types of play?
7 Types of Play & What They AccomplishScience breaks down the types of play. Dr. Attunement Play. Attunement play is the early building blocks for all forms of play. Body Play & Movement. Object Play. Social Play. Imaginative & Pretend Play. Storytelling-Narrative Play. Creative Play.
What are the two main types of play?
There are three basic forms of play:Solitary Play. Babies usually like to spend much of their time playing on their own. Parallel Play. From the age of two to about three, children move to playing alongside other children without much interaction with each other. Group Play.