Children playing together in new ways in an assigned center
I think we can all agree that we all believe that children learn best through play. However, what this actually looks like in the classroom and how teachers choose to implement it can look very different.
My personal philosophy is that apart from the routine parts of the day (meals, naps, bathroom) all other time should be child led play. The teacher’s role should be to create an environment and provide materials for children to explore on their own and be a support to scaffold their ideas and learning. My usual “rule of thumb” is only have rules for safety purposes, the less rules you implement the less policing you will have to do.
HOWEVER….. there has been 1 teacher that I have seen in my career that has successfully implemented a more structured “rotations” play where children are given pretty strict rules over who they play with, where they play, and how long they play in that center. My “best practices” instinct wants to scream “NOOOOO!!!! Stop enforcing unnecessary rules on them and just them play”! But….. since I have a very trusting relationship with this teacher I took a step back to just observe what was happening. And this is what I saw:
Children playing happily with a peer they don’t normally play with
Children being challenged to play with materials they don’t normally gravitate to
Children being creative and using materials in new and imaginative ways
Children learning social skills by making compromises and communicating to someone else what they wanted
Children who do not normally play together
What I did NOT see:
Children arguing
Children bored and not engaged
Materials being destroyed or used in a disrespectful way
What this tells me:
When used in a very intentional way having a certain part of the day that has more rules than typical can be very beneficial to children. They will learn important life skills, such as; flexibility, adaptability, critical thinking skills, and leadership, in addition to learning how to manage some of those more “tricky” emotions, such as; disappointment, nervousness, and apprehension.
What I learned from this is that I shouldn’t just disregard a classroom practice just because it goes against my own philosophy, but, that I really need to take the time to see the intent and the benefits. It is also important to note that this type of learning was implemented by a highly skilled pre-k teacher and that if a teacher is not as “in-tune” with their children as this teacher is then it could go badly very very quickly. In it also really important to note that this teacher did not dictate what the children did in each center, she assigned which children, in which center and for how long. This still allows some freedom of choice within this structured play. This is VERY different than setting out 1 activity on a table and requiring all children to to do that activity, which is a practice often witnessed in preschool settings and unfortunately does not serve kids well.
Some other things to be mindful of….. how long the “rotations” last (this teacher started with 10 minutes), what materials are in each center (each center MUST have the right amount of interesting and challenging materials), and the relationships in the class (the class already had strong and trusting relationships with each other and the teacher). If these things are not present again substandard things can happen very quickly…….
Compromise, sharing, and negotiation can happen organically even during more structured parts of the day
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