Childhood is the time when kids have countless opportunities for play. A child is the happiest when he is engrossed in play that can happen in different forms, such as imitating the family members, playing with toys, or playing outdoor games like tag, hide-and-seek or simply running. Children can improve their motor skills, enhance their power of imagination and creativity by indulging in play.
Children pass through the first stage of education (preschool education) by taking part in various activities such as games, music, art, communicating with peers and teachers, learning and inculcating skills. Various aspects of a child’s development such as physical, psychological, intellectual, and development of motor skills are enhanced because of these activities.
Why the Play-way Method?
- Makes learning easy and enjoyable.
- Each child is given equal opportunities for full participation.
- Develops not only knowledge but also skills.
- Brings satisfaction at the cognitive level.
- Creates an apt learning environment
- Better retention of knowledge.
- Paves ways for self-discipline.
- Provides more opportunities for learning.
- A most suitable method for the pre-primary level children.
- Helps children connect with their teachers easily.
- Facilitates holistic development (cognitive, linguistic, aesthetic, social, emotional, fine and gross motor skills)
How effective is the Play-way Method of Teaching?
An activity that is done for enjoyment without thinking about the end result could be called play. For generations, there is a current of thought that while play is fun, it is also a waste of time that could be spent more productively doing something useful, or gainful, for that matter.
5 basic principles that guide the play-way method of teaching:
- Doing things practically helps in easy learning.
- An atmosphere of freedom is conducive to learning.
- Learning should be related to life and not to books.
- The method should suit the needs and interest of the child.
- Ample opportunities for children to express themselves.
Teachers should:
- Develop customised learning activities.
- Create a joyful learning environment.
- Prepare relevant teaching-learning material after designing the learning activities.
- Plan the activities ranging from simple to complex.
- Be guides, supervisors and leaders for the learners during the learning process.
- Evaluate children through play-way activities.
Here are the skills your preschooler should be developing.
- Attention Span
- Early Reading Skills.
- Early Writing Skills.
- Early Math Skills.
- Listening Skills.
- Problem-solving skills.
- Communication Skills.
- Creativity.
Social skills
- Initiates and maintains independent play (for example, plays alone in the sandbox, or role-plays independently)
- Enjoys doing things on their own sometimes, such as reading, crafts or getting dressed
- Can separate from you for several hours, such as an afternoon at a friend’s house or a sleepover at Grandma’s
- Appears interested in going to a “big-kid” school, learning new things, and/or meeting new friends
- Enjoys participating in group activities
- Can express emotions, needs and requests
- Responds well to consistent routines, such as quiet time or naptime following lunch
- Anticipates what comes next during the day (for example, knows that naptime follows lunch)
Motor skills
- Increases proficiency in gross motor skills, strength and balance, such as jumping in place, standing on one foot, running and kicking
- Develops gross motor coordination, such as to navigate around obstacles
- Rides tricycles
- Runs to kick a stationary ball
- Improves hand-eye coordination when playing with building blocks and simple puzzles
- Begins to improve pencil control by using fingers rather than the whole fist to grasp pencil and stylus
- Begins to show left/right-handedness
Language skills
- Uses language to communicate with others for a variety of purposes (for example, describing something, making requests, greeting someone, etc.)
- Speaks clearly to be understood by others
- Uses accepted language and communication styles (for example, using polite manners, using appropriate volume and tone)
- Tells simple stories
- Uses accepted nouns, verbs and adjectives in familiar contexts
- Understands words for common categories (for example, toys, food, clothes)
- Uses sentences with two phrases or concepts
Math
- Identifies some shapes such as circle, square and triangle
- Understands and explores empty containers and full containers
- Recognizes and matches small quantities to the number words 1, 2 and 3
- Shows interest in numbers and recites some number words
- Can count along with help, although might make mistakes
- Distinguishes between “some” and “all,” and parts of a whole
- Uses some size words, such as “many”
- Uses words such as “same as” to make comparisons
- Shows interests in patterns and sequences
- Classifies or sorts objects into simple groups (such as by colours and size)
- Understands the order of the day, and begins to use some time words such as “morning” and “night”
Creative arts & music
- Begins to use a variety of art tools such as crayon, construction paper and coloured pencils
- Knows a few colour words
- Drawings have a basic resemblance to objects and people
- Articulates what he/she is drawing
- Likes to imitate sounds and rhythm; might have a favorite song
- Uses realistic toys in pretend play or to imitate household routines
- Engages in dramatic play with others to act out simple play scripts, such as playing house
