If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
It’s not the first time I’ve heard talk about the huge change resulting in an Under 5s curriculum in the UK. The first time was December 12, 2007 in a Radio 4, Women’s hour discussion. The debate hasn’t really started but I suspect it will hot up during the teaching union conferences this year.
“Moves to formalise nursery education across England could deny toddlers the freedom to play, according to teachers.
Experts in education and child psychology have expressed concerns over the new “early years foundation stage” curriculum for nurseries and children’s centres.”
The Press association
The problem with any formalisation is that toddlers loose the freedom to choose. Whilst some formalisation is expected from the carer through structured programming having an Early years foundation may constrain teachers and carers into too much checking, monitoring with clipboards and less at promoting play.
As with all things time will tell. Early years teachers are very skilled professionals. They do such an amazing job without the added burden of testing and preset standards. Whose standards?
Knowing the best way these children learn is via play it seems so wrong that the government is pushing this aspect. On the other side, it does give a framework to carers, babysitters and peace of mind to parents who leave their little ones with them whilst at work.
The fundamental here is children need to play and have freedom to play. Learning at this stage can come without planning. A trip across the playground or to the car and they spot a worm or slug hijacks anything you had planned but is a no less important learning experience to stop and investigate.
It’s an interesting development- I’m really undecided about how I feel about it.
What are your thoughts?
For more information and recent comment
Changing Curriculum for Early Childhood Education in England
Government site on the Early years foundation stage
Children’s minister Beverley Hughes responds to criticisms of the government’s new guidelines on early years learning
What’s wrong with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)?
The basics in a nutshell
Technorati Tags: nursery education, play, education
|
March 28th, 2008
|
Daycare, playgroups, preschool, home schooling mums, many many many blogs they all do it. There are plenty of books, websites, classes and courses that show you how to do it.
What happens if you have a child that refuses to do it?
Firstly, this is more common than you think. Craft activities neatly fit into 2 distinct groups: product and a free flow. The product based craft is hard and very dependent on your child’s personality. The free flow type of craft works for most kids and allows more freedom for…ahem..experimentation.
Benefits of craft activities
There are so many reasons why we should encourage our kids to participate in craft activities. Here are a few reasons other mums have said.
- Brilliant for fine motor development, verbal skills, muscle coordination, concentration, achievement, learning to follow directions
- It’s fun!
- Form of expression/ form of creativity
- ˜Takes them away from the TV”
- Something is produced so spouse other people can see kids been doing things ( daycare)
- Open ended art
- Enjoying the process, being creative, making decisions, using their hands
Expectation
But what age and what do you expect them to be able to do?
Many times we try out our ideas of a craft and it just doesn’t work out as these mums explain.
˜I remember trying to do crafts with my first child when she was 2 or 2 1/2. I thought she’d enjoy them. Mostly it ended up me doing all the stuff and her watching me because she didn’t have the physical dexterity or fine motor skills to do the projects I’d chosen. I gave it up very quickly. By the time she was 3; she was inventing her own crafts and is now one of the craftiest kids I know.”
˜I organized a craft afternoon at my house and everything with his neighborhood friends thinking that it would generate more interest for him. Yeah right. LOL He runs around the room screaming with his hands in the air while the others quietly make their craft.”
Importance of pushing the comfort zone
My child loved crafts if he could do them for 1 or 2 minutes at a time. We did short projects and things that could be started and stopped. He loves to use stickers, glitter, glue and sequins. Eventually I made a few Ziploc bags full of bits and bobs so he could open pick and stick whenever he wanted. Now he sits longer when he has an aim in mind.
We decide where to put up his creations and he loves to show off to whoever comes through the door; a brilliant way to improve his self esteem.
Our purpose is to give them access to many different experiences so whilst I often have an end product in mind. ˜Let’s make an angel.” Just as many times I ask him what shall we make or what is he making? My child works well after some copying. His ideas take off. Some children can create from nothing. I found what fits my son’s personality and we work with that.
Here are some of the fine motor activities my son loved when he refused craft activities. He still does many of them now.
- He played with magnetic boards>early learning counting and moving little balls to tell the time.
- Sorted beads or beans into colors
- He colored pasta shells and stringed necklaces
- He laced animals and vehicles
- He had a tub of rice and beans to push things in, discovers pour etc.
All were activities that promoted fine motor skills; some with an end point and some endless.
Perhaps your child enjoys play doh right now and has no time for crafts. No problem. Play doh has its own rewards. Don’t follow the herd follow your child and encourage the fine motor experiences through other mediums.
If your child doesn’t like or refuses to do craft activities you need to find a way of getting a balance of development skills through other means. My eldest son loves to manipulate and move; play doh was perfect for him to push, pull, poke, squeeze, cut, roll, toss and shape. Also I found combining gross motor activity and a craft made the craft accessible for him.
There was a time he couldn’t care less about craft. He wasn’t ready so I enjoyed his other skills.
If your child is a child who does not like crafts or you’re a parent who doesn’t care for crafts you can try again in the future when they are older and see if they like it then. As a parent find other ways to achieve the benefits craft activities offer through other toys and activities. What do you like doing? Can they do something similar?
There are plenty of solutions to a craft activities refuser.:)
Try a new way….but above all -don’t panic. Craft activities are just one way of achieving developmental goals. There are so many other ways. You have to be creative.
l leave the final comment to one mum who sums up craft activities really well.
˜Playing with play dough, drawing/ scribbling (usually for very short periods of time), painting (with a bucket of water outside, on an easel, etc), mixing colors with food coloring, maybe some snipping with scissors, stamping with stamps and a stamp pad, playing with stickers, playing with glitter glue, maybe gluing collages, painting rocks are all fun. But the key is to keep it very short. And if it isn’t fun, don’t do it. Try again in a few months.”
What toys and activities have you used to promote the skills craft activities do?
|
|
March 24th, 2008
|
Welcome to the 9th edition of Carnival of Parenting Podcasts
It’s a place to share and find some new parenting podcasts from the podcaster and recommendations from those who listen to podcasts.
Top 8
Send in your favourite podcasts of the fortnight.
- Just one more book: : On this edition of Just One More Book!!, Mark speaks with Lita Judge, author and illustrator of One Thousand Tracings — a children’s book which tells the true story of the generosity of real people following World War II
- Mumcentric: Sensational kids. Sensational Kids is the inspiration of parents who found it difficult to obtain any occupational therapy & sensory integration therapy for their child.
Technorati Tags: Parenting, podcasts
After reading LittleMummy’s post on gift ideas for a 2 year old. It inspired me to compiled a list of the little guy’s favourite toys. Since he has an older brother he’s lucky enough to play with some toys that’s for an older stage. But he gives them a good go.
Thomas the tank Engine
Why the little guy likes it?
- Joins in with his brother racing the trains around the track
- Taking the track apart and trying to put it together in a different way.
- Making the train sounds.
- Linking the trains together and running them fast so they derail going down hill.
- Adding cars, people, animals to the track-testing different objects to see if they run on the track.
- Crashing the trains all with sound effects.
- Seeing how many trains can be clipped together and driven around the track.
Why we like it?
- He gets really engrossed and likes to stay with the trains for more than 10 minutes at time.
- He tries out his engineering ideas. ( trying to rebuild)
- Encourages cooperation on the track with his brother ( sharing trains, space, and direction)
- Uses his imagination to make sounds, play out scenarios from the book.
- So many different ways to make the track.
- Easy storage of the track and pieces
- Open ended play that changes depending on their stage.
|
|
March 17th, 2008
|
The kids are busy playing with various toys and each other….it’s been 20 minutes. Is this usual?
How easy is it for your children to play by themselves or do they require entertaining?
My aim with this blog has been to highlight other activities you can do with your children; start with your children and let their creativity take them to the moon. Some of these activities you do together ( e.g. dropping something stuck on pretend play) and some you start them off and they go by themselves ( E.g. Playdough or String picture). Either way trying to highlight alternative activities that don’t require lots of equipment or money but uses what we have at home. The main aim is the interaction and the play and not expensive equipment
Since children learn through play they need to do it…. alone, with others and in groups, It’s the alone bit that I’m concentrating on today.
I just read an interesting post by The Scheiss Weekly. Here is a very small extract the full article is definitely worth a read and a pause for thought.
“ Children do NOT need a parent to play with them every minute of the day. Children need to be forced to acquire the inner resources to entertain themselves. Most kids own enough toys to stock a store; put the kid in there and tell him he’s on his own because you’ve got grown-up things you simply must do. Be sure you can keep a close eye on him, if he’s tiny, but make him do some exploring on his own, for crying out loud. And speaking of crying out loud, don’t fall for THAT one, either.
A child who doesn’t have the inner resources to entertain himself becomes an adult who requires outside stimulation (shut up) at all times because they don’t have what it takes to sit quietly and dream, or think, or draw, or read, or open the damn toy box and find something to play with. Requiring your children to learn to entertain themselves encourages them to become imaginative and creative. Being at your child’s beck and call discourages these things.“
Whilst I totally understand this long range point of view I still read in forums of parent’s despair with rooms full of toys and the children hounding them to play with them or to watch the ever present TV.
Practically there seems to be a divide. Those who can and those who don’t know how yet and a big gulf inbetween with those who find it hard feeling inferior and unable to find the knack in how to do it……just let them play.
So this article is more for those parents who find it hard and need some ideas.
There is an uncomfortable time for both you and your child when they are trying to find something to do. Many children will resort to all kinds of things, including, whinning, crying, tantrums, destruction, pleading and just plain following you around. When do you give in?
I suggest you start them young by teaching them how to play. You play with them sometimes and allow them to play alone sometimes- nearby if necessary, extending the distance according to age, stage and safety, naturally. Some children will need to be taught how to play by themselves by making them do it and it will be harder but the key here is not impossible. Painful for some parents but again not impossible.
Ideas about How to do this?
- Talk to other parents and how they do it?
- Talk about your daily routines and how you get things done? Being open and interested in new ideas rather than judgmental.
- Let the new ideas sit with you and see if they fit your family values and your tolerance levels.
- Brainstorm ideas together about changing situations you’re not happy with……more heads are usually better than one
- Post on forums beware of the trolls, take advice with a pinch of salt and extract the essence that will work for you and your family.
- Take stock of how your home is set up. Are toys and activities easily accessible for the kids to use without having to ask you for everything? Some things have to be asked for, Have you taught them how to use scissors, find construction paper, peel tape, use glue- economically.
- Do you have a wide range of open ended activities your children love to do and can do for a while? Do you need to teach them how to do these activities first by joining them ? Some children need that and then once they see a way they take it and make it their own.
- Have you established rules for cleaning up activities, where toys and activities live? How you display their creations? Play isn’t about getting everything out and stamping on lego pieces until kingdom come. In our home, you can have the Lego out but the not the Brio train set together ( unless they are linking them) because from past experience it’s just too hard for them to clean all 4 boxes. If they ask they get to try and if they don’t I clean it up and ………that’s not good.
- Are there areas of the house that must be kept clean and free of children’s
detritus activities. Have you established areas that they can be near you / see you/ show you ( which what they always want to do) and still do their activity? Picking it up and putting it down.
- Do you have times during the day when you have a whole scale clean up time? Before lunch, snack? after each activity- whatever suits your temperament. So there is order in the house.
The early years are a wonderful time of play and learning for the kids and the parents. There needs to be a balance of play activities. Establishing good play activities and ideas needs a little organisation just like establishing a good sleep routine or potty training; maintain a system or routine and things seem to run smoothly.
When you look at the play lives of your little ones. Do you see more or less a balance of them able to play by themselves and play with others- or you!
Do you fall into the “I must entertain them” mode made by these commentators?
Subscribe by RSS
