My Connections to Play

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ― Plato “How would your life be different if...You decided to give freely, love fully, and play feverously? Let today be the day...You free yourself from the conditioned rules that limit your happiness and dilute the beautiful life experience. Have fun. Give - Love - Play!” ― Steve Maraboli, The Power of One There is a great difference in the way children are playing now compare to when I was growing up. Children of nowadays, are mostly limited to indoor and outside play in the playground. During my own time we could climb tree, run around in the community, sit down to listen to riddles and jokes. Many children now are addicted to watching TV and computer games. I hope children would be given more opportunity to explore their environment through play in school, at home and in the society. Play helps to develop social, physical, and cognitive skills a child needs as he grows up. By using materials, interactions with others, and mastery of tasks and skills to progress through levels of play, children develop a sense of control of their environment and a feeling of competence and enjoyment that they can learn. Play provides a natural integration between all the critical brain functions and learning domains that are often missing with discrete teacher instruction. Children’s direct social and individual experiences in nature in early to middle childhood during the “developmental window of opportunity” between the ages of three and twelve years help shape their environmental identity and guide their environmental actions.

Relationship Reflection

A family-school partnership is a way of thinking about forming connections be-tween families and schools. Forming connections means developing an intentional and ongoing relationship between school and family that is designed to enhance children’s learning and to address any obstacles that may impede it. I cherish and value the relationship I have with my husband. He is my head and father of my children. He is somebody that jokes a lot; there is no boring moment around him. He’s always there for us to see how we are doing and to put food on the table for us. My husband is so loving and helpful. He has the grace of God upon his life that when something needs to be fixed or repaired in the house that he always jumps at it. My relationship with my children is also something I cannot joke with. They are bundle of blessings to me. They are very close to me, we play together and they are teaching me how to ride bicycle. They are always careful so that I don’t get injured. My children are so amazing and loving. Children who grow up in stimulating, emotionally supportive, highly verbal, and protective environments where the caretaker teaches and models skill development are usually ready for school. When the child is able to meet expectations, he or she receives praise or a positive feedback in school. This also compliments the caretaker--a child-rearing job well done. The caretaker or parent and school people feel good about each other. The child receives a message from parents that the school program is good. The positive emotional bond between parents and child is extended to the school. The school staff can then serve as parent surrogates. This facilitates learning. James P. Comer