C8- Analyse the importance of play in children’s learning, giving reasons why play should be included in planning. It is important to include play in a child’s learning and experience, this is because it enables them to explore and learn new things independently and through a way in which they understand. From play they are able to express their feelings and thoughts on the subject through interpreting the situation, events, or experience they’ve seen. It’s a good way of allowing children their own space to make choices of what, when, and who they play with, giving them many opportunities to build on relationships which is a good aspect in enhancing their communication skills and ability to work with others and co-operate efficiently. Play is a ‘’free flow’’ experience which enables a child to progress at their own pace.
Touch is a very important aspect of physical, mental, emotional, and psychological child development. Then I will explore its importance in child development in greater detail. Specifically, I will explore how it can heal and how its absence can negatively influence and even harm developing infants, children, adolescents, and even adults. Finally, I will look at how the communication of touch, and its meanings and implications, are socially constructed. Depending upon our society (and often or structured subgroups within it), we are taught from very young children how to act and feel through the sensory perception and reception of touch.
The areas that I have assessed as “good” and therefore need improving are: Enable learners to access resources appropriately – I feel that I need to make more time to be able to show the children how they can get the best from the resources that they have available to them. Whether it be increasing their construction ability with the junk modelling or how they can use the malleable play, I feel
E6 – Describe the initiatives which influence the provision of challenging environments for children C1 – Evaluate how the two initiatives contribute to the provision of an enabling environment for the children Rudolf Steiner was an influential initiative for the provision of challenging environments for children. Steiner designed a curriculum that is responsive to the developmental phases of childhood and the nurturing of the child’s imagination in a school environment. Steiner thought that schools should cater to the needs of the child rather than the demands of the government or economic forces, so he developed schools that encourage creativity and free-thinking. His teaching seeks to recognise the individuality of the child and through a balanced education, allows them to go into the world with confidence. "The need for imagination, a sense of truth and a feeling of responsibility – these are the three forces which are the very nerve of education."
One key factor is to ensure the child/children with special needs are not separate from those who are more abled. The setting must to adapt activities for them, make them more accessible, but do not separate them from the rest of the children. Children need accessibility, at their level, have toys showing disabilities such as crutches on dolls etc. pictures of disabilities, such as vision with glasses, hearing, walking crutches, and wheelchairs. Bring in books about special needs and how the child can play and ways they may help others.
Giving children a safe, nurturing environment in which they are able to learn how to use the tools required to build resilience is paramount. Strategies such as being able to say no, strategies to calm themselves when they are feeling stressed or anxious, calm areas, a timer, a talk buddy, a sprint, writing in a diary are tools which can assist in this. There are many ways that we can support children's self-confidence. It is important to recognise, praise and reward, in line with school policy, their achievements however small, celebrating even the small successes. Likewise it is just as important to accept that getting things wrong is okay and to understand how we can learn from our mistakes.
Writing a Behaviour Plan Behaviour Plans ensure consistency when managing a child/young person’s behaviour and helps us to look at things we can change to support the child/young person, rather than trying to change them. Environment The environment we provide has a direct impact on a young person’s behaviour. We need to consider what we can do or change in the environment to support the child. For example, looking at how playworkers are deployed at possible trigger times, use of visual support, organisation of routines and or resources. Supporting the development of new play skills After identifying what the child is trying to communicate through their behaviour we can identify what new skills the child needs to learn.
Intellectual Development - One of the best ways a child will develop this type is development is simply through learning. By opening their mind to new possibilities, they will be able to learn new things. If they are not very interested in learning or if it’s not presented to them in a way that will keep their interest and focus, they may not receive the intellectual nourishment that they need. Therefore, it is important that we come up with fun ways to have their intellectual development be that much
Other factors to consider are your child’s age, the parts of the toys, and the educational value. When selecting toys for young children, certain guidelines need to be met, so that the child is not at risk for harm in any way and so that they can learn effectively. Young children learn by putting toys in their mouths, so any toys selected for a young child to play with, must not have any small or loose parts as this can lead to choking or death. The toys should also be well made and durable so that parts do not break off. The toys need to be interesting and appealing to a young child.
It is also multi-sensory and experiential as children learn through activation of all senses, through action and experience as opposed to explanation. What is more, learning is interpersonal in the sense that learners are assumed to learn from one another in heterogeneous age groups. At a more advanced level, learning may be also said to be self-initiated e.g. during the so called encoding session learners ask the teacher about words they do