26Feb, 2022
    Why play-based learning is essential for Early Childhood Education

    If we close our eyes and go back to our school days; we can see desks lined up in a classroom, a board, and a teacher. You can even feel the load of all the books in your backpack, the smell of the books and notebook pages, and the feeling of having endless hours of homework. Was it worth it? Do we really use all those things we learned from homework, textbooks, and long lectures in our daily lives? Back in the day, we were at least free to run outside and explore the outdoors with limited supervision from adults.

    Back to the present, all these years later and yet, it’s the same traditional education! Large groups, outdated lessons, and big expectations, with a high workload starting in the early years. Many of these things are associated with stress, anxiety, frustration, and even depression among children. Play experiences at school are often limited to recess. When children go home, they spend less time playing outdoors and more on tablets, TV, and smartphones, all of which are linked to addiction and mental health issues. My question is … is it worth it?

    I believe we know better. We have the answer but we are too afraid of letting go of what we are used to and trying things outside of our comfort zone.

    CHILDREN NEED TO PLAY.

    CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN THROUGH PLAY…. no matter their age.

    CHILDREN NEED TO PLAY AT HOME.

    PLAY IS THE WORK OF THE CHILD as Piaget quoted, many years ago.

    When did we forget? We aren’t reinventing the wheel here. Play has been around forever. Science proves that play is vital for mental health and brain development. Play develops social skills and engages children because it is what they like doing best.

    We have been too busy upholding a system that we forgot about child development and what is best for them. We thought that by removing play from the curriculum and the equation, we would achieve academic success and more successful human beings. On the contrary, we have been creating robots, human beings who are memorizing rather than understanding… just to pass a grade level.  We forgot the most important thing: we are forming HUMANS.

    Please, don’t get me wrong… standards are needed to guide our way as educators, to know where we are headed, and to set expectations. The problem lies in how we are translating these standards into practice. Play should be the vehicle. Academic success will be achieved through hands-on, meaningful, and purposeful learning experiences. Children will live their learning process, rather than memorizing it to pass a test.

    If you think of our lives as adults… we use credit cards, do our taxes, make budgets, finance houses and cars and write and sign many documents. Were you taught any of these skills in school? Can academics be merged into any of these areas? Can we make our school curriculum visible for our future lives, to get prepared for the real world? I believe so.

    According to the World Economic Forum, children need three sets of skills to be successful human beings in adulthood.

    1. Foundational Literacies: literacy, numeracy, scientific literacy, ICT numeracy, financial literacy and cultural and civic literacy. In other words, all academic subjects.
    2. Competencies: critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, communication and collaboration.
    3. Character qualities: curiosity, initiative, persistence and grit, adaptability, leadership and social and cultural awareness.

    Is our current school system addressing the needs of the generations today? I don’t believe so. We are 22 years into the 21st Century. Education must change TODAY. Our children deserve better. A healthy childhood and a developmentally appropriate education are the best gifts we can give our children.

    How can we help this change?

    At home:

    • Limit screen time
    • Promote independent play 
    • Promote loose parts play and open-ended play opportunities
    • Foster outdoor play

    At school:

    • Integrate your curriculum
    • Plan less but more powerful and integrated learning experiences
    • Include play into your curriculum
    • Include play into your classroom, no matter the age
    • Make loose parts your default teaching tool
    • Understand standards to an extent that they can be integrated into playful experiences
    • Ditch homework, worksheets and tests. You can find developmentally appropriate ways of assessing children!
    • Teach parents about developmentally appropriate practices
    • Show progress to parents in innovative ways, making learning visible through play
    • Make sure you teach for the 21st Century, integrating 21st century skills into your curriculum and play experiences
    • Make sure the child is the center of the learning process
    • Relax, let go and ENJOY teaching!

    The life of children is in our hands. I am advocating for PLAY and teaching through developmentally appropriate practices. I believe that together we can make a change.

    26Feb, 2022
    Why parent involvement is so important in early childhood education

    Today’s parents are more involved than they’ve ever been with their children’s development.

    Except, it seems, when it comes to preschool.

    Many parents drop their kids off in the morning while the teachers take over, and then pick them up at the end of the day without giving their learning much thought.

    To get the true benefits from early childhood education, parents need to consider how they can support what their children are learning throughout the day.

    The benefits of parent involvement

    Some of a child’s most important cognitive development happens during their preschool years. By taking an active role in the early childhood education process, parents can help ensure that their child has all the support they need to develop to their full potential.

    Parent involvement helps extend teaching outside the classroom, creates a more positive experience for children and helps children perform better when they are in school.

    It is essential for parents to support the learning that happens in preschool settings at home as well. Parents who are in tune with what is happening in their child’s preschool classroom or child care facility are better able to establish a connection between what is learned at school and what takes place in the home. This connection is a key component of a child’s development and supporting further learning.

    Not only does family or parental involvement help extend teaching outside the classroom; it creates a more positive experience for children and helps children perform better when they are in school. Having a parent communication app such as Brightwheel can help with ensuring parent’s are kept up to date with the learning outcomes and milestones being reached in their children’s classroom. 

    What Role Can Parents Play in Early Childhood Education?

    Parent involvement in early childhood education can extend the experiences that a child has in the classroom to real-world activities that happen in the home. A parent who understands what their child is working on at preschool has a better sense of their child’s competency and which areas they need to work on to improve confidence and ability.

    One of the most difficult challenges for early childhood educators is figuring out how to better engage parents in their child’s learning. By establishing good lines of communication between your childcare center and parents, as well as making a strong effort to involve parents as an important partner in their child’s education, you can make a positive impact on their learning ability.

    Tips For Encouraging Parent Involvement

    Invite parents to learn more about you, your staff and how your childcare center operates.

    Making families more comfortable with your center and the educators who work there will go a long way in making them feel at ease and more likely to be involved. Ensure teachers are always greeting and interacting with parents, whether in person or through a daycare management app. 

    Ask parents if they’d be interested in participating in your classroom.

    Do they have a special talent that they would like to share with the class? Would they be interested in volunteering to help in an art project or read a story?

    Ask parents if there are any topics they would like to see incorporated into your curriculum.

    Once they are aware that they can have a say in what is taught in the classroom, parents may want to help shape what their child learns throughout the day.

    Create a daily report or journal for each child.

    Use these daily reports to outline their individual progress and offer a way for parents and educators to communicate and give feedback.