Mayor Harris: Early childhood education and care - Preeceville's Main Street with the Mayor Garth Harris for Thursday October 17th 2019 8:35 am

Working Draft for:

Preeceville's Main Street with the Mayor Garth Harris for Thursday October 17th 2019 8:35 am

With GX94's Craig Wallebeck > see him @ http://www.gx94radio.com/craig-Wallebeck

This week we focus on: Early childhood education and care

What outcomes parents should expect from early childhood education and care

May 23, 2018 3.58pm

EDT http://theconversation.com/what-outcomes-parents-should-expect-from-early-childhood-education-and-care-94731

”Parents often have different expectations for their three- to five-year-old children when they attend an early learning centre.

Some parents expect their child to engage in academic learning activities or “real learning”. Academic activities are associated with formal school-based learning such as writing, reading and knowing their numbers.

Parents are reported to feel concerned if they visit their friend’s home and see their friend’s child brings home worksheets (for example dot-to-dot of their name, colouring in of Easter eggs, or other adult-directed products) from their early childhood centre. They may worry their child is being left behind because their child is “only playing” and not engaging in real learning.

Other parents focus on their child being safe and secure in a stimulating environment where children make choices about what they will play. Such learning environments are supported by educators who are responsive to the child, and socially construct the child’s play.

Read more: Australia is still lagging on some aspects of early childhood education

The tension lies between teacher-directed activities where children are perceived to be doing “real learning”, as opposed to children making choices to play according to their interests.

So, what should three- to five-year-olds be learning?

Developmental milestones provided by the Australian Children’s Early Childhood Quality Authority (ACECQA) state:

Children’s learning is ongoing and each child will progress towards the outcomes in different and equally meaningful ways.

This milestones checklist covers five domains of learning, which is linked to the curriculum and the National Quality Standards:

physical
social
emotional
cognitive
language development.

The checklist indicates what a child should be able to do by a certain age, and this is linked to the early childhood education curriculum.

Research demonstrates children’s learning achievements are greater from play-based programs, which include activities such as block building, compared to early childhood programs that have an academic focus.

The early childhood education curriculum emphasises the importance of play-based learning and research demonstrates children’s learning achievements are greater from play-based programs compared to early childhood programs that have an academic focus.

When to worry

According to the developmental milestones, parents should seek advice from a professional if their three- to five-year-old child:

is not understood by others
has speech fluency problems or stammering
is not playing with other children
is not able to have a conversation
is not able to go to the toilet or wash him/herself.

What is play-based learning?

The basis of play-based learning is the idea, promoted by psychologist Lev Vygotsky, that play is a vehicle for children making meaning.

However, it does not mean that adults allow children to just muck about and do whatever they want. Rather, it involves adults guiding, extending and evaluating the child’s play to engage them more deeply with the learning process. It is an approach that gives autonomy to the child who is able to engage with their play to learn about learning.

As researchers have noted, the play and the learning are indivisible and are an important part of the child’s engagement with the world.

Play-based learning is central to the Australian government’s Early Years Learning Framework. The framework advocates play-based learning as an approach that meets the needs of individual children while maximising adult interaction and meaningful observations. One criticism of the national curriculum has been that it does not have enough emphasis on play.

But what does it look like? Play-based learning generally involves the construction and manipulation of various materials. Ideally, adults will provide a variety of materials, while also providing “just in time” incidental teaching.

For example, a craft box may be prepared and a child may decide to make a likeness of their imaginary friend. The teacher will have conversations with the children such as, “what are you making?”, or “how did you make this part?”, “what is your friend’s name?” and “what is your friend’s favourite colour?”. Through these conversations, incidental teaching is occurring.

The building of an imaginary friend object study could be extended to further develop learning through other activities. At the same time, the child is developing their creativity as well as their literacy and numeracy knowledge. The educator is required to take on many roles, and be flexible within those roles. In addition, the child’s work will contribute to the assessment of skills and knowledge.

What are the benefits?

Play-based learning has many benefits. Several researchers argue that it facilitates learning and development. It has been described as the work of children. Play-based learning has been said to promote children’s development of problem-solving abilities. It is also believed to assist children’s developing bodily and communicative skills.

Play-based learning is thought to develop emotional regulation and children’s self-control. It is inexpensive as scraps can be used to stimulate the children’s creativity. Early Childhood Australia lists the benefits as fostering the child’s brain development, especially in terms of memory, language, self-regulation, academic learning and flexibility.

What are the pitfalls?

Most academics seem to be in agreement that play-based learning is suitable only for the early years, and how you actually define play is much debated. A further disadvantage, related to the problems with definition, is that it is often not implemented in classroom settings.

There are practical challenges too, with teachers’ beliefs influencing the implementation of play-based learning. There is also limited understanding of what play means to young children and how it progresses in early childhood.

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1) KC & D Soap Shop - Rhose Balbada-Lisitza
2) J.R. Watkins - Michelle Schneider
3) Scentsy - Janet Roelens
4) Mojilife - Louise Armstrong
5) Culligan - Yorkton - Barry Coles
6) Luv 21 Clothing - Athena Greba
7) J Designs - Joylene Foster
8) Mo Boo Creations - Vida Block
9) Voxxlife - Leona Lofthang
10) Family Birthstone Necklaces - Joanne Craig
11) Off the Hook - Linda Brewer
12) Pebbles Place - Shirley Saseniuk
13) Everything Dolly - Karen Sperling
14) Mary Kay - Marie Kupchinski
15) Granny’s Soaps - Anna Thickson
16) The Booze Artists - Dawn Horbach
17) Eternally Etched - Dustin and Nicole Godfrey
18) Hazelblooms Greenhouse and 4 Precious Petals - Lorissa Petras
19) Chickadee Woodworks - Audrey Cobb
20) Sew Sweets Creations - April Schotts
21) D.S. Leather - Dora Schutte
22) Giftware and Sewing - Mildred Scheller
23) Tupperware - Angela Nagy
24) The Blanket Lady and More - Sherry Drew
25) Walter Neiszner - Wild Rice and Chaqa Tea
26) Denim and Lace Homemade Jewelry - Nahloni Parker
27) Tiber River Naturals - Miranda Cleaveley
28) Norwex - Kristy Ziola
29) Prairie Flavours Ranch - Megan Maier
30) Valentus - Richelle Subere and Alicia Allegra
31) Pink Zebra - Kourtney Kerelation
32) MCL Creations - Marilyn LaChambre
33) FD Filipino Sari Sari Store and Rainbow Cleaning System - Pina Pinaroc
34) Epicure - Brooke Murray
35) Homemade on the Double - Tracey Lagrove and Trisha Rempel
36) Canadian Beeseal - Carol Belley
37) Terran Treasures - Doris Shand
38) Younique - Meagan Hirseko
39) MacKenzie Society Ventures
40) 4 Little Monkeys - Morgan Seghers
41) Young Living Essential Oils - Marilyn Melnychuk
42) Lonetree North - Shannon Prestie

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Events:

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