Play At The Center Of The Curriculum

The leading text in the field-- Theory and practice combine to help teachers put play at the center of a balanced curriculum. This widely used resource seamlessly combines the features of a text on play and development with the features of an early childhood curriculum text to present a comprehensive, cogent rationale for placing play at the center of a balanced curriculum. The leading text in the field, Play at the Center of the Curriculum is ideal for those who want to engage children in a developmental zone where children and teachers are learning from and with each other. The authors put play at the center of a balanced curriculum that includes spontaneous, guided, and directed play as well as teacher planned instruction. They describe how knowledgeable teachers use a wide repertoire of strategies to orchestrate the flow from spontaneous play to guided play, to more subject oriented instruction, and back to play. This thoroughly updated Sixth Edition interweaves anecdotes of children's play, theories of play and development, empirical evidence from research, and practical instructional strategies to give students a clear look at play and the curriculum. This text provides the ideal teaching and learning experience. Here's why: Carefully written and coordinated chapter features enhance student learning. A blend of "how-to" and theory, plus extensive updates in each new edition make this both a current and a classic text on play that includes all children. Readers are immersed in the experiences of real classrooms through anecdotes and numerous vignettes. The interests of today's students are addressed, from violent play and bullying to children and nature, to enriching the outdoor classroom.

This resource examines the natural connection between play and a young child's development. It advocates that play should be an integrated part of the early childhood curriculum and then demonstrates how to draw both the methods and the content of a successful curriculum from children's spontaneous play. Anecdotes of children's play, theories of play and development, and instructional strategies are interwoven throughout the book. Early childhood educators.

For Play courses or Early Childhood Curriculum courses in Early Childhood Education departments and Child and Family Studies departments. This book discusses the value of play in diverse early childhood classrooms and how curriculum can support play. Key changes to this edition include the integration of standards and examples of how encouraging certain types of play can meet standards, expanded coverage of cultural diversity and supporting play in children with special needs, and expanded coverage of integrating the content areas. More than any other books on play, this text focuses on how content areas can be taught and standards met through play.

Play at the Center of the Curriculum is a resource for those who want to engage children in a developmental zone where children and teachers are learning. Current and future teachers are guided in methods of supporting children’s progress through play. This book carefully blends theory and practice. As seasoned teachers, we demonstrate how to draw both the methods and the content of a successful curriculum from children’s play. We interweave anecdotes of children’s play, theories of play and development, and instructional strategies that place play at the center of the curriculum.

This resource examines the natural connection between play and a young child's development and learning. The authors advocate that play should be at the heart of the early childhood curriculum and then demonstrate how to draw both the methods and the content of a successful curriculum from children's spontaneous play. Anecdotes of children's play, theories of play and development, and instructional strategies are interwoven throughout the book. This book takes a unique position, asking not only, "How can play support curriculum?" but also "How can curriculum support play?"

`An excellent overview of the development in thinking about play, based on research into different aspects of play...This book enables the reader to not only access, and engage with developing theories and ideas, but also provides practical ideas and examples that have been tried and tested in the classroom. This book should be compulsory reading for every teacher of young children who are interested in developing their practice to provide a stimulating, active and playful environment with their children in which effective learning and positive attitudes are developed' - Bernadette Hancock, Headteacher of Christ the King Primary School, Cardiff `One of the major strengths of the book is that it makes some complex theory highly accessible to its audience....This makes it an excellent introductory book for use on inservice and undergraduate programs' - Sue Rogers, Institute of Education `This book aims to improve the quality of play in "educational" settings. It will be valuable for a wide range of practitioners' - Nursery World `In this new and updated edition of an outstanding book, Wood and Attfield once again demonstrate how young children make meaning, and construct knowledge, through play. They combine an informed discussion of the 'ideological tradition' of the early childhood pioneers, which continues to underpin most contemporary provision, with a refreshing openness to the new insights provided by recent research, and the new opportunities offered by the Foundation Stage era. Their unrivalled explanation of the links between theorists, such as Vygotsky, and classroom provision for play, is now expanded through considerations of recent findings in neuroscience, and a renewed awareness of the sociocultural contexts of childhood, as well as by studies which acknowledge the importance of boisterous, rough-and-tumble, play activities for children's development. And throughout, they remind readers and practitioners of the important distinction between play as a spontaneous activity of children ('play as such'), and the play which educators offer as a medium for learning' - Elizabeth Brooker, Course Leader: MA in Childhood Studies, Institute of Education 'This book provides a thorough and up-to-date overview of the topical issue of teaching and learning through play. Chapters cover issues including assessment through play, the role of adults in children's play, the impact of play on social and emotional learning and how to develop a whole-school approach to learning through play. ...This book is theoretical and detailed but extremely interesting and there is certainly practical information to be found in it' - Early Talk This timely Second Edition explores recent developments which strongly endorse play as an integral part of the curriculum. The content has been fully revised to reflect contemporary thinking about the role and value of play in early childhood and beyond. A key focus is the provision of a secure theoretical and practical grounding for developing a pedagogy of play. In the first section, the authors provide an overview of recent developments in education policies, and reviews of research into different aspects of play. In the second section, the emphasis is on classroom practice, specifically: organizing and developing play with particular reference to the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1; establishing progression and continuity with Key Stage 1; assessing children's learning through play; the role of adults in children's play; using the plan-do-review approach to integrate child-initiated and adult-directed play; the importance of socio-dramatic play for children's social and emotional learning; and developing a whole-school play ethos. This book enables practitioners to create unity between play, learning and teaching, and to improve the quality of children's learning. New material provided by practitioners has been added, to show how this unity can be successfully achieved. This is an essential text for students of education. It is highly recommended to those undertaking degrees in Childhood Studies and those on Initial Teacher Training programmes in early years and primary education.

Playtime is focused, purposeful, and full of learning. As they play, children master motor development, learn language and social skills, think creatively, and make cognitive leaps. This (un)curriculum is all about fostering children's play, trusting children as capable and engaged learners, and leaving behind boxed curriculums and prescribed activities. Filled with information on the guiding principles that make up an (un)curriculum, learning experience ideas, and suggestions for building strong emotional and engaging physical environments, Let Them Play provides support to those who believe in the learning power of play. Jeff A. Johnson spent twenty-five years as a child care provider in center- and home-based programs. He now works full time as an author, keynote speaker, podcaster, toymaker, and early learning advocate. He is the author or coauthor of six other Redleaf Press books. Denita Dinger has been a child care provider for more than fifteen years and operates a family child care program. For the last five years, she has been a frequent keynote speaker at early childhood conferences, focusing on the topics of hands-on learning and learning through play.

Describes play workshop experiences that give educators a deeper understanding of play-based learning and illustrate the power of play.

Now in its third edition, this classic text remains the seminal resource for in-depth information about major concepts and principles of the cultural-historical theory developed by Lev Vygotsky, his students, and colleagues, as well as three generations of neo-Vygotskian scholars in Russia and the West. Featuring two new chapters on brain development and scaffolding in the zone of proximal development, as well as additional content on technology, dual language learners, and students with disabilities, this new edition provides the latest research evidence supporting the basics of the cultural-historical approach alongside Vygotskian-based practical implications. With concrete explanations and strategies on how to scaffold young children’s learning and development, this book is essential reading for students of early childhood theory and development.