I strongly believe that children learn best through play. This belief has been developed and strengthened by reading, researching, and working with children. Children's work is their play. It is through child-led, creative play that they learn best. So what is the teacher's role in this and how do I encourage children to engage in other activities and learn skills they will need for school, if play is how they learn?
This blog post is not research based, and I am not going to refer to experts or other people. All views expressed are my own opinions and beliefs and are based on what I have found through my experience with working with young children. So here goes...
Children learn through repetition. They develop skills through practice. I learn songs by listening and singing them, over and over. I learn the ukulele by practising regularly. My drawing ability increases dramatically if I do it every day. Children are the same, all around the world. We all learn by watching, listening, doing. And doing, over and over and over. The trick is to engage children's interest by teaching the same thing in different ways.
For example - counting. Counting can be learnt through counting songs, and playing games. I share some of the games I play with the children here. There are many games and activities that support learning to count, such as Hide & Seek, What's the time Mr Wolf, playing Card Games (eg Last Card or Snap), dice games, board games (eg Snakes & Ladders or Ludo) target practice by throwing beanbags at numbers drawn on the fence, counting how many people are at your table and counting out the right number of plates, bowls and spoons for your table, counting how many cups of flour goes into the playdough, how many shells have you put on your sandcastle, or counting to 30 as you wait for your turn.
So... If children learn through play, and the children are avid about trains at the moment, how do I get them to practise the skills they will need for school?
I try to find as many ways as possible to link in activities that relate to children's interests but that also help to reinforce and develop skills that they need. So if children are interested in trains or aeroplanes... I teach them to make tickets using a ruler, pencil, and scissors. I find I might set out to teach one child to make tickets, but I end up with a table full of children wanting to make tickets, and they need to wait for a ruler or for me to help them and show them how to do it. Or they can watch another child and learn from each other. They might make signs such as Train Station, or Departure Lounge, or Baggage Check In (I will do the lettering and they colour in the letters). We watched "Alphabet Train" on YouTube, and children then asked to make our own Alphabet Train. I made an alphabet train where you could lift the flap, so children can lift the flap to find a picture of something that starts with each letter of the alphabet. The children were the ones who came up with the suggestions for each letter, and they coloured them in, as well as the train and the 26 carriages.
We created an airport role play, where children went to the travel agent, chose their destination, and the travel agent (another child) created a ticket for them. They then went to the check in desk, where they put their bags through the X-Ray machine, got their tickets stamped, boarding passes issued, went through security before boarding the plane. They then read books or magazines while they waited for the pilot to prepare for take off. Weeks later, children are still making their own baggage check-ins in the block corner, as well as using the blocks to build elaborate gas stations, airports, and garages to hold their monster trucks that they bring in for Show & Tell. All this develops language, communication skills, sharing, fine motor skills, name recognition, book skills (turning the page, holding it the right way up), patience, resilience (what happens if it falls down?), self control, co-operation, problem solving, negotiating, listening to each other, maths (balance, symmetry, length, weight, shapes) not to mention the enjoyment, fun and wellbeing that they experience through play.
In the sandpit, children are digging tunnels, flattening roads, building bridges, filling up channels with water and sailing paper boats, as well as flying paper planes. Sandpit work helps develop children's strength and big muscles, as well as teamwork, language, relationships, and a sense of achievement with what they accomplish. Also a sense of wonder, dismay and disbelief as their paper boat disintegrates in the water.
Board games are easy to create according to children's interest. You could create a boardgame that involves cars, trains, planes or trucks (or one of each!) You can find some ideas for creating some simple dice and counter boardgames here. I created a variety of Christmas themed boardgames that can be easily adapted to whatever your children are interested in. I made an interactive Super-hero boardgame with the children which is lots of fun to play. The children also helped to make a Dinosaur Board Game. Board games are great for learning to take turns, share, wait, developing patience, counting, and following rules. Older children will be able to help create boardgames too, and often have some brilliant ideas. Some other transport-related ideas to encourage numeracy and literacy (again, which can be easily adapted to suit different interests) can be found here.
When the children showed an interest in doctor play last year, we set up a waiting room, chemist, and doctors office. Children sat in the waiting room reading magazines; the receptionist wrote down the names of the children who were waiting (this particular child then sat down with our Attendance Register, and copied out the name of every single child in the room - this was her idea and something she requested to do); the doctors saw the patients, fixed their broken arms and wrote out prescriptions: then the 'ladies' in the pharmacy sold the medicine (wooden blocks) to the patients. I told one of our Dads, who was a doctor, about their play, and the next day he came in with a real stethoscope for the children to use, bandages, gowns, hats, gloves... We created an emergency room with large cardboard dividers and a couple of beds, an old computer, and a waiting room with more magazines and books. This doctor play went on for nearly 2 months! I found some non-fiction books on our bodies at local op shops, and children sat down wanting to listen to entire books! The children would then pore over the books themselves, talking about the pictures, drawing upon their own knowledge of the human body, and asking questions and for clarification where necessary. Teachers drew around children's bodies, and children drew in their own organs, and teachers recorded what the children said about their body. They made X-ray art by drawing around their hand and gluing cotton buds down as the bones. This play helped develop fine motor skills, thinking, problem solving, talking, communication, writing, book confidence, co-operation, pencil grip, an understanding of how to look after themselves, and a growing understanding of how their body works. We learnt how to brush our teeth, and there was a big focus on washing our hands and flushing the toilet, which was carried through to children's homes, where children would lecture their parents and siblings about washing hands! We also discussed healthy foods/unhealthy foods, and the benefits of fruit and what the different vitamins and minerals were good for. I googled this on my iPad, thereby using technology with the children, as well as role modelling that it is ok not to know the answers, and how we can find out what we want to know.
Alongside these interest-related activities, we also have other things and routines in our room that form part of our preparation to school programme:
Name recognition - each bag hook has a child's name beside it; children also find their names on the wall where it says "I am not here" and put their name where it says "I am here". Children also often use these names to copy when writing their name on their artwork. I encourage children to write their own name on their art as much as possible. We also have a Sign In sheet for children - this is optional, and not every child will do it, but children who want to have a go, or are confident at writing their name, are encouraged to do so. If a child is reluctant because they think they can't do it, I encourage them to trace their name on the light table.
Show and Tell. This happens every day, and each child has a day where they can bring something to school and talk about it. I encourage them to describe their item, and to say at least three things about it. They then ask "Any questions?" and they choose someone with their hand up. They get three questions. It is amazing to see the confidence that children display over time. Children with English as a second language go from saying "This is my toy. Any questions?" when they first begin to do Show & Tell, to speaking for nearly 5 minutes, describing every little thing about their item!
Mat Time. We have three mat times a day. The first mat time is Show & Tell time, as well as music and movement to get the brain and body moving and waking up, to prepare us for the day. Click on the clink for some fun movement songs that my kids enjoy as well as a range of counting songs that we do at mat time.
The 2nd mat time is just before lunch, and is story based. I share some felt storyboards for telling stories that I have made. You can learn about making story-telling stones here, which are an interactive way of telling stories with children.
The 3rd mat time is just before afternoon tea, and is usually a game and a story or a couple of songs. Click on the link for some games we like to play at mat time.
This is just a little bit of what we do and how I encourage children to develop skills they need for school through using their interests. I welcome your thoughts.
Click on the link for more of my teaching resources
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