Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/observing-childrens-play/5011857/
Diane, an early childhood education teacher, wonders why some children in her inclusive prekindergarten classroom can enter ongoing plan and why others have such difficulty. She thinks the children who receive special education services have more problems with this than the other children. Diane hypothesizes to her director that if she could help all the children with their play entry skills, the social skills level of the entire group would improve. Diane further speculates that more advanced social skills would positively impact the children's cognitive, language, affective, and physical development. (Oglietti, 1997)In order for Diane to help the children in her classroom with their play entry skills, she will first have to spend some time observing their play. She needs to know where they are developmentally, what play entry strategies they are using, and which ones result in successful bids. Then she can reinforce the successful strategies and teach them directly or indirectly to the children in her classroom.
This entire process depends upon Diane's ability to collect useful observation records of the children at play. She will need guidance and support from her director to master observation and recording skills.
Observing and Recording Play Benefits Children
Communicating the value of observing ...