Enhancing Learning Through Play

By highlighting the learning potential with different play activities, this book shows how play can complement and enhance the social, emotional, perceptual motor and intellectual development of children in their early years.

By highlighting the learning potential with different play activities, this book shows how play can complement and enhance the social, emotional, perceptual motor and intellectual development of children in their early years.

By highlighting the learning potential within different play activities, this book shows how play can complement and enhance the social, emotional, perceptual motor and intellectual development of children in their early years.Each of these aspects are explored in depth, so that early years practitioners may understand why children behave as they do at different ages and stages in their development. Understanding children in their own context underlies decisions for intervention or non-intervention in their play, and this text shows how this can be done sensitively and in a manner which supports and extends their learning. Related issues of immense importance to children and their carers are discussed, such as, the development of emotional intelligence, gender bias and making friends, suggestions to help children who find play difficult.This book should be of interest to early years teachers, nursery nurses, classroom assistants and parents.

Publisher description

Learning Through Play translates the theory of play into practice while seamlessly integrating the Australian Curriculum, government policy and current trends. It aims to create a shared understanding of play and play-based pedagogies that positively influence the everyday practices of educators and improve the learning experiences of children. The book extensively covers the various contexts that children may engage with during the early years - the period from birth to age 8. Learning Through Play is structured to complement the Early Years Learning Framework and early childhood education studies. It begins by drawing on theories to discuss the centrality of play to children's development and learning, then delves into the practicalities and challenges of implementing these play-based approaches, and finally discusses the future of play in early childhood contexts. With several learning features that blend theory, context and practical skills, Learning Through Play will not only help pre-service teachers to understand play in principle and in practice, but also to advocate articulately for play-based approaches.

Describes play workshop experiences that give educators a deeper understanding of play-based learning and illustrate the power of play.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

A practical book for teachers consisting of 10 YC and TYC articles on the importance of integrating rich content-based, teacher-guided instruction with meaningful child-centered play to nurture children's emerging capabilities and skills.