the power of play (reading notes)
As inthe changing world of play
chapter 1: love, play, and work
Infancy & early childhood
Infancy (first two years) play, love, and work are almost indistinguishable; play is most central
Early childhood (roughly 2-6 years), children learn and create symbols (play), but also adapt to the demands of the environment (work)
“The young child’s creation of new words is a good example of how a personal creation (derived from play) can also be a practical adaptation (function as work).” ** page 6
Play is the dominant and directing mode of learning during this age period and children learn best through self-created learning experiences
Elementary school years (6-12)
Primary dynamic is the disposition to work (adapt to the external world)
Young children learn to adapt to the demands of the social world, and an element of play makes it less “onerous”
In latter years of childhood (8-12), children learn important social skills, attitudes, and values by creating their own games and rules
Adolescence
Love becomes dominant predisposition with the advent of puberty
Love invested in both work and play toward the end of the period
Early adolescence (12-15), learning and play take a backseat to love
Late adolescence (16-19) play, love, and work reach a sort of equilibrium
Adulthood
Play, love, and work are fully separated
Play is a means of recreation
Creative outlets bring in love disposition , can result in a work product
Adults have potential to unite the dynamisms of work, love, and play (flow)
chapter 2: toys aren’t us.
Too many toys, too often
Argues that the “sheer number of toys owned by contemporary children weakens the power of playthings to engage in dramatic thinking.” (PAGE 16)
“Abundance, like familiarity, breeds contempt.”
Advertisers use toys to promote social acceptance and positive self-esteem
Constant flow of toys devalues the ones they have
Toys arent made of the same material, kids dont get what they used to from the sensation of the toys
Electronic toys take away child’s sense of control over what they are doing
Toys used to socialize children into the adult culture (girls with baby dolls, boys with tools)
Character, skill, and learning toys have changed from thier original purpose to fit a consumeristic view for children
chapter 3: screen play and iconic literacy
Electronic media
It is the extent of the child’s active participation as a viewer that determines the medias impact
Young children are preliterate, have a intuitive grasp of icons (emojis) -> may be why they take to readily to electronic media
Assessing Media Impact
Take several factors into account
Content: children who watched more cool content (low-defintion, low-intensity, activity-imducing)
Individual differences among viewers
A child’s personal and emotional needs: Can transform what the media does/means to them
TV for Tots
Tv programs appeal to children based on interests, cant really determine if they are harmful or not
“The most important stimulus to healthy growth and development for infants and young children is affectionate human interaction” (PAGE 47)
Videos, gaming, tv should not infring on time needed to engage in active play
Computers for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers
No use in infant computer programs, exist to entice parents
Preschool exposure to computer programs can be educational and fun
Limited to half and hour or so at most
Computer Games for School Aged Children
Little transfer of skills acquired in the games to everyday practical or academic skills
Do engage child;s active thinking and problem solving skills -> mental exercise
Contributes to iconic literacy
Difficut to understand the effets of idenity facet of screen play
Computer games in education
“From the theory of play perspective, computer games allow for student input (play), challenge and excitement (love), and learning about the world (work). PAGE 59
chapter 4: child play and parent angst
parental angst about giving children both education stimulation and social experience leads to parental overprotection, over scheduling, and over programming
Parent Pressures
Parental overinvestment
parents put too much pressure on their children to perform
when play becomes an obligation it is no longer play
overinvestment can cause trouble when it leads to hyperparenting
Media Alarms
media alarms (negative events that are over shared and blown out of proportion) make parents hesitant to let children play on their own
effects of parental angst
anxiety over protecting children’s physical well-being has overtaken the feeling to protect innocence
children can no longer play as they used to which prevents them from learning to innovate and learn risk-taking behavior
organized sports can become an obligation, meaning it is no longer true play
play, learning, and development
chapter 5: misunderstandings about how children learn
three misunderstandings
the “watch me” theory of learning and instruction
not effective
children can only imitate actions they can already perform
“it is vitally important to support and encourage self-directed activities from the infant and young child.” (PAGE 92)
“effective learning involves self-initiated, pleasurable activities - love and play.” (PAGE 94)
watching the learner is the basis of effective instruction
“little sponge” theory
the idea that children learn the same way and as quickly as adults
they dont, so theory is not probable
“look harder” theory
inability to understand that children see they world differently
they should look “harder” to understand
failure to appreciate the child’s reality
The young child does learn by constructing and reconstructing the world through his play-generated learning experiences
learning through play
children create learning experiences through mastery play. innovative play, kinship play, and therapeutic play
mastery play
children construct concepts and skills
playful experimentation with hands, feet, and senses is dominant mode of mastery for infants
object permenance
skill mastery and innovative play
play serves as a means of learning skills and a way of expanding and elaborating them
kinship play
children who dont know one another communicate through self-initiated games
initiation into social learning and cooperative activities
therapeutic play
children use play to deal with stress
ie imaginary friends
chapter 6: playing for a reason
the age of reason
4-6 marks shift in dispositions of play, love, and work
age of reason
the tools of reason
age of reason - concrete operations
between 5 and 7
reasoning tools are a prerequisite for formal instruction
age of reason and child rearing
language, preference for characters, remembering rules indicate a child’s level of reasoning
need to be sure that children have reasoning skills before introducing formal instruction
avoid frustration and ensure motivation
“formal instruction is work. FOr it to be effective, play and love need to be made part of the process.”
attaining the age of reason
self directed play expeirnces nourish and supporth the cild’s maturing mental abilities
building the units of math, reading, and science
the role of play in becoming social
games provide a set of rules that govern how to behave under certain circumstances
for a social institution to survive, its members have to suborfinate their personal needs and desires to the socially agreed on set of rules and rituals
adults can be ignorant of the pervasiveness of children’s games
“Because there are few spaces and opportunites for children to engage in these self-initiated games, we Americans are losing our preeiminance in our own national sport- baseball.”
foriegn players most likely grew up playing for the fun of it, learning is most powerful when it involves self-initiation and personal motivation
games with rules contributes to children’s socialization and capacity for innovation and invention
choosing “It” teaches children to suboordinate personal wishes to the rules as decided by the group
a lot of socialization goes on before the game even begins
in elementary school years, children understand behavior in terms of motivation and intention
as children master the rules of the game, they grow in their depth ofmoral understanding
content can affect how children make moral judgements
play can faciliatate healthy cooperation and competition
adults should structure situation rather than activity
playacting gives children the opportunity to take teh perspective of both hero and villian (putting oneself in another persons shoes)
some consider this the major socialization ffunction of children’s games
children need and create their own space for play
therapeutic play in childhood can seve individual growth purposes
bread sandwiches, cope with hunder and frustration at not being able to provide
in childhood therapeutic play seves both a soicla and personal function
expressing anger and frustration
deal with demons of past, challenges, and anticipations
will find ways to make and break their own rules and will find spaces in which to grow despite adult efforts to constrasint their spontaniety and creativity
the power of play
lighthearted parenting
lighthearted parenting: parents make an ongoing effort to integrate play, love, and work in their everyday lives
use humor to socialize and discipline, share passions, establishing family patterns of family play, games, and experience sharing
usnig humor in parenting brings together play, love, and work
humor related to developmental stage works best
discipline lightheartedly
accomplish three important goals
manage own negative feelings in a positive and constructive way
provide children zn effective and constructive way of andling thier own emotions
provide a healthy model of parenting for children oto use in the future
humor can transcend negative emotions associated with conflicts
disciplining with humor uses contrary-to-fact propositions, which encourages imaginative and creative thinking
sharing passions ensures that children both play and develop lifelown habits of play
sharing passions by example frees children to engage in activities they are not obliged to perform (play), builds strong family bonfs (love), and teaches soically valuable skills (work)
making time for family gives children teh assurance that they are important in our lives and you care about them deeply
schooling with heart, mind, and body
praises Dewey’s method of learning
integrates play, love, and work into education by combining creativity, self-motivation, and practical learning
new educational reality
technolgoy and permeable boundaries
child;s needs, interests, and ability level should determine the curriculum
PICTURE
play-based curricula
montessory, waldorf schol
“combining love, play, and work is the means of successful academic acheivement, It is when all three are brought together that children have the best chance of learning hte context of their unique personal circumstances.” (page 210)
things parents can fo at home to embrace new technological pedagogy
Dumb Books Caper (search for errors in textbooks), encourages critical thinking
Case of the Missing Use (find the missing use of an object), encourages creative thinking
E is for Ending, ask kids to come up with another ending for a story. think of possibilites, what might be reather than what is