How does play in early education classrooms influence and shape our leaders of tomorrow? The answer lies in what we are teaching our children through our chosen curriculum. As Dr. Karen Wohlwend challenges on the voice of literacy podcast, do we want our children to possess only a discreet set of skills that helps them one time on one test, or do we want them to be innovative, creative, and able to be fast on their feet?
By incorporating play into the classroom, you can actually help build children's literacies. Allow more time for play and provide the children with open-ended opportunities for exploration. From their play you can introduce new literacies that build on their interests. One example, as provided by Dr. Wohlwend in Playing Their Way into Literacies, is if a child shows interest and aptitude for making something, you might encourage her to create a "how to" book of instructions to teach others to make the same object. By also providing examples of "how to" books around the classroom, you've now bridged both reading and writing to the child's play and created a social environment in which they can learn. From this one idea, you can reach many children from a range of different learning styles, and it all starts with play.
So how does this play make our children leaders? "Governments and industries need people who are adept at flexible creativity and innovation" and children learn that through "the practices that play uniquely provides: improvising with new technologies and practices, inventing new uses for materials, and imagining new contexts, spaces, and possibilities" (Wohlwend, 2011, p. 127).
Baker, E.A., Wohlwend, K. (2009, February 16). Play with Disney princess dolls and children's literacy development. Voice of Literacy. Podcast retrieved from http://voiceofliteracy.org
Wohlwend, K.E. (2011). Playing their way into literacies: Reading, writing, and belonging in the early childhood classroom. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
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