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Ms. Birdwell’s Classroom Edit display name

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According to research, play should be at the heart of every early childhood classroom; however, limited resources have made it very difficult for me to give my students what I know would be most beneficial for their learning. Science tells us that brain connections are developed, strengthened, and made more plentiful through play because children are learning through hands-on, engaging experiences. "Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning, but for children, play is serious learning." - Mr. Rogers. Rather than give my five-year-old students worksheet after worksheet, I want to create a learning environment that promotes choice, intrinsic motivation, and not only grows a child cognitively but also physically, socially, emotionally, and linguistically. While I have brought in all the play materials that currently exist in my classroom myself, I know that providing a variety of new materials will only expand the students' opportunities to learn. https://youtu.be/2ekMHrdporo The link above will take you to an interview with Dr. Trawick-Smith, a play researcher, about what makes a good toy. The research team found that the best toys are those that are simple, open-ended, non-realistic toys with multiple parts because the ambiguity promotes language development, creativity, problem-solving, and peer interaction. The majority of the toys I have in my shopping cart fall under this category perfectly, including the Legos, magnetic tiles, the linking disks, the connector straws, the kinetic sand, and playdough. I have also asked for musical instruments because musical play has been shown to activate different parts of a child's brain than what is used in a typical school day. The puzzles and beads are for the development of their fine motor skills.

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According to research, play should be at the heart of every early childhood classroom; however, limited resources have made it very difficult for me to give my students what I know would be most beneficial for their learning. Science tells us that brain connections are developed, strengthened, and made more plentiful through play because children are learning through hands-on, engaging experiences. "Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning, but for children, play is serious learning." - Mr. Rogers. Rather than give my five-year-old students worksheet after worksheet, I want to create a learning environment that promotes choice, intrinsic motivation, and not only grows a child cognitively but also physically, socially, emotionally, and linguistically. While I have brought in all the play materials that currently exist in my classroom myself, I know that providing a variety of new materials will only expand the students' opportunities to learn. https://youtu.be/2ekMHrdporo The link above will take you to an interview with Dr. Trawick-Smith, a play researcher, about what makes a good toy. The research team found that the best toys are those that are simple, open-ended, non-realistic toys with multiple parts because the ambiguity promotes language development, creativity, problem-solving, and peer interaction. The majority of the toys I have in my shopping cart fall under this category perfectly, including the Legos, magnetic tiles, the linking disks, the connector straws, the kinetic sand, and playdough. I have also asked for musical instruments because musical play has been shown to activate different parts of a child's brain than what is used in a typical school day. The puzzles and beads are for the development of their fine motor skills.

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