The Play's the Thing: Teachers' Roles PDF

# The Play's the Thing: Teachers' Roles ## Stages of Play The play of 3- to 5-year-olds is different from the play of children before age 3, as well as from that of primary-age children. Developmentally appropriate practice (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2009) i...

# The Play's the Thing: Teachers' Roles ## Stages of Play The play of 3- to 5-year-olds is different from the play of children before age 3, as well as from that of primary-age children. Developmentally appropriate practice (National Association for the Education of Young Children [NAEYC], 2009) in early childhood programs implies practitioners making decisions that match age-related characteristics of development and learning. It also implies responsive, materials, experiences, and interactions are relevant, meaningful, and respectful. Sustained opportunities for self-chosen play provide the most effective way of responding to these differences. Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget have offered complementary theories of stages of children's development. Table 1.1, in which we consider the development of play and representation, summarizes their theories and serves as an outline for this chapter. With this framework established, we move on to look at the content of play-its scripts-and its mastery by children. The chapter concludes with the teacher's question, “But what do I do while they're playing?" which introduces the teachers' roles that this book is all about. ## Under Three: Exploration The child under age 3, says Erikson (1950), faces the challenges of developing, first, trust-the ability to connect—and then autonomy—the ability to separate. Piaget (Peterson & Felton-Collins, 1986) describes this as the sensorimotor stage, when knowing is physical. Neuroscience research affirms that newborns’ brains are shaped by sensory and movement experiences. Programs can do much more to stimulate infants! Babies need unrestricted movement—fingers, arms, legs, in clothes that allow freedom—and an array of interesting materials, such as papers and fabrics to touch, hold, crinkle, and fold, and colorful balls to bounce, roll, and capture (Lewin-Benham, 2010). For mobile toddlers and 2-year-olds, the developmental theme is exploration of the world through physical action and through the beginnings of oral language. Kept safe by watchful adults, the competent toddler is a vigorous explorer of and with her own body and what it can do, of other people and their reactions, and of the world of interesting things all around. She pokes and dumps and pulls, tastes and smells and strokes whatever she encounters, increasingly adding verbal commentary in order to communicate with others and to reflect her own experiences. The thoughtful caregiver for the very young provides an environment rich in sensorimotor experiences to be explored (Stallibrass, 1989), mediates to provide safety while teaching problem-solving and respect for differences (Gonzalez-Mena & Stonehouse, 2008), uses language suited to the child’s