Posted Byjudi on February 14, 19100 at 16:25:16:
In Reply to: Re: inappropriate practices posted bybobbi on October 19, 1999 at 22:56:00:
: Thanks for the words of encouragement! I am trying to do new things to gain interest, and maybe I can get a discussion going in trainings the agency leads on the issue of 'just playing' vs. 'sitting' for an activity. I know kids learn best by play, but learning to listen or participate in an acivity is also a part of learning. Thanks for your suggestions.
I think in all of these discussions many are confusing academics with real learning. Kindergartners learn through play, exploration, investigation, and discovery. We can get them to sit and learn to memorize but that will not help them learn on any cognitive or intellectual level. This is when children are most curious--we need to nurture that. I am afraid that we have already lost many people who have no joy or love of learning, no curiosity, see only cute crafts or commercialism and rarely appreciate beauty. Children do not experience the outdoors as they used to. It is regarded as "just play". What are we doing? There was a time when children in the preschool and kindergarten years could at least experience what they really need...to question, explore, find out about the world around them through playing and taking risks. It is crucial for young children to play in order to learn about who they are and how to interact with others. Teachers should be their "consultants" not instructors. If more teachers would pay close attention to children they would learn about child development and the way that learning takes place. Too many teachers have no idea. Think about the things that you have learned--really learned, learned deeply. How did it come about? Most people do not remember what they were taught in school to memorize for a test. There is a wealth of information about the subject of how people learn. We know how they do it, but we do not use that knowledge in education. We just keep doing the things that we have been doing for 100 years...and it is getting worse. There is a ray of sunshine though--and this website is one of them!