Sharing Web Resources

NAEYC has many resources on their website to choose from including publications, accreditation, professional development and public policy. One topic I found particularly interesting to me that is relevant to my professional development is the matter of childhood trauma and how it impacts children’s abilities to learn, create healthy attachments, form supportive relationships, and follow classroom expectations.  It also has negative behavioral, emotional, neurobiological, and developmental repercussions throughout children’s schooling and their adult life. Children who experience trauma are two-and-a-half times more likely to fail a grade in school than their nontraumatized peers. They score lower on standardized tests, have higher rates of suspension and expulsion, and are more likely to be placed in special education classrooms.  When evaluating children for special needs, that is an important area to include in the process.

NAEYC is an advocate for play and has tips for parents to help them understand how important it is for their child’s development.

Here are 10 things every parent should know:

1.  Children learn through their play.  Don’t underestimate the value of play. Children learn and develop: cognitive skills – like math and problem solving in a pretend grocery store; physical abilities – like balancing blocks and running on the playground; new vocabulary – like the words they need to play with toy dinosaurs; social skills – like playing together in a pretend car wash; literacy skills – like creating a menu for a pretend restaurant.

2. Play is healthy.  Play helps children grow strong and healthy. It also counteracts obesity issues facing many children today.

3. Play reduces stress. Play helps your children grow emotionally. It is joyful and provides an outlet for anxiety and stress.

4. Play is more than meets the eye.  Play is simple and complex. There are many types of play: symbolic, sociodramatic, functional, and games with rules-to name just a few. Researchers study play’s many aspects:  how children learn through play, how outdoor play impacts children’s health, the effects of screen time on play, to the need for recess in the school day.

5. Make time for play.   As parents, you are the biggest supporters of your children’s learning. You can make sure they have as much time to play as possible during the day to promote cognitive, language, physical, social, and emotional development.   

6. Play and learning go hand-in-hand.  They are not separate activities. They are intertwined. Think about them as a science lecture with a lab. Play is the child’s lab.

7. Play outside.  Remember your own outdoor experiences of building forts, playing on the beach, sledding in the winter, or playing with other children in the neighborhood. Make sure your children create outdoor memories too.

8. There’s a lot to learn about play.  There’s a lot written on children and play. Here are some NAEYC articles and books about play.  David Elkind’s The Power of Play (Da Capo, 2007 reprint) is also a great resource.

9. Trust your own playful instincts.  Remember as a child how play just came naturally? Give your children time for play and see all that they are capable of when given the opportunity.

10. Play is a child’s context for learning.  Children practice and reinforce their learning in multiple areas during play. It gives them a place and a time for  learning that cannot be achieved through completing a worksheet. For example, in playing restaurant, children write and draw menus, set prices, take orders, and make out checks.  Play provides rich learning opportunities and leads to children’s success and self-esteem.

We as parents want our children to excel academically so we simply accept school's decisions to remove play from the curriculum, when in fact it is one of the biggest mistakes schools can make. Bottom line: Let the children play!!

References

http://www.naeyc.org/yc/article/creating_trauma-sensitive_classrooms_Statman-Weil

http://families.naeyc.org/learning-and-development/child-development/10-things-every-parent-should-know-about-play               

http://families.naeyc.org/learning-and-development/child-development/10-things-every-parent-should-know-about-play