“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” Fred Rogers
When I decided to open my own center, one of the biggest decisions I had to make was what curriculum to use? There were many choices, but in the end I decided to implement what is known as “Play-Based Learning”. For some of you this may be a new term so I’d like to use this post to help explain what this term means and hopefully help understand its value in the preschool environment.
Curriculum choices can be put into two basic categories, teacher-directed and child-directed. Both approaches have the same end goal in mind…to prepare a preschool child for kindergarten and beyond. Both utilize a daily structure, an intentionally planned learning environment, and creative lesson plans to help children develop physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially. And both have experienced proven results in kindergarten readiness. Play-Based Learning is a child-directed approach.
The difference is this…the teacher-directed approach starts with the teacher. Typically, the teacher starts with a theme and comes up with creative ways to teach the theme and implement early learning standards. A child-directed curriculum starts with the child…the child’s interests and their natural curiosity to discover. The teacher’s role is first to observe and in doing so, seek to understand the interests of her students as individuals and as a group. By doing so, the teacher can create an environment that draws the children into learning experiences and provide opportunities for them to build on what they know so they continue to grow.
A Simple Story:
From day one, Ms. Samantha noticed that her new student Billy loved playing with blocks! Whenever he had the chance, he chose to play at the Block Center. So she created some learning experiences that used his love for blocks. One day, she asked him to build the biggest tower he could. Billy was so proud at how tall his tower got! They counted the blocks together (math). The next day, Ms. Sam helped him think about what they could do to build an even bigger tower and put their theories to the test (science). Then she showed Billy pictures of famous buildings from around the world. She gave him a variety of building materials and asked him to pick one of the buildings and to try and make something that looked similar (engineering, geography, imagination). Ms. Sam took pictures of Billy’s creations and put them in a notebook that she kept in the Block Center for other children to see (building self-esteem). One day, Ms. Sam invited an architect friend of hers to join the class for group time. He brought his drafting tools and blueprints of his designs. After his visit, Ms. Sam asked Billy to help her with a special class project. They divided the class into teams. The teams worked together to create their own unique structures (social skills, cooperative play, team building). Then they put them all on exhibit for the parents to see at the end of the day (class spirit). The parents LOVED seeing all of the children’s creations! But no one was more proud than Billy…(well maybe, just maybe Ms. Sam).
At Seedlings Academy, the entire facility will be broken down into “Interest Centers”. For large amounts of time, children will have the opportunity to choose where to play and for how long. Teachers will intentionally utilize these Interest Centers to guide their children through expanded learning experiences that will include writing and literacy, art and dramatic play, world culture exploration, gardening, and S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). There will also be opportunity every day for group learning experiences as well. We believe this approach will best prepare our students for their next big steps!
Please click here and read about another preschool using play-based learning approach.