Child Initiated Learning

Download or read book Child-initiated Play and Learning written by Annie Woods and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Planning is central to the role of any early years practitioner and involves careful consideration of resources and the learning environment, learning outcomes, observation and assessment and the unique abilities of individual children. This is a big ask and in a busy setting it can be a challenge to adopt a flexible, creative approach to planning that embraces the unexpected rather than relying on templates or existing schemes of work. This book takes a fresh look at planning to consider the possibilities that should be encouraged when playing alongside young children. It shows how a creative approach that allows for spontaneous adventures in play through child-led projects leads to rich learning experiences that build on children's own interests. Drawing on practice from Reggio Emilia, New Zealand, Scandinavia and settings in the UK, the book covers all aspects of planning including: using observations of children to enable them to lead projects; organisation of indoor and outdoor learning environments; inclusive practice; learning through risk taking and adventure play; working with parents and carers; encouraging the team to consider different ways of working. Including encounters from authentic settings and provocative questions for reflective practice, this timely new text aims to give students and practitioners the confidence to adopt a flexible approach to planning that will better meet the needs of the children in their care. The authors are experienced lecturers, practitioners, mentors and assessors. Working with students, visiting placements, training teachers and early years professionals, they provide a sense of real purpose in their writing and enjoyment in the themes made explicit throughout this book.

Download or read book The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education written by Donna Couchenour and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2016-08-16 with total page 1567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The general public often views early childhood education as either simply “babysitting” or as preparation for later learning. Of course, both viewpoints are simplistic. Deep understanding of child development, best educational practices based on development, emergent curriculum, cultural competence and applications of family systems are necessary for high-quality early education. Highly effective early childhood education is rare in that it requires collaboration and transitions among a variety of systems for children from birth through eight years of age. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education presents in three comprehensive volumes advanced research, accurate practical applications of research, historical foundations and key facts from the field of contemporary early childhood education. Through approximately 425 entries, this work includes all areas of child development – physical, cognitive, language, social, emotional, aesthetic – as well as comprehensive review of best educational practices with young children, effective preparation for early childhood professionals and policy making practices, and addresses such questions as: · How is the field of early childhood education defined? · What are the roots of this field of study? · How is the history of early childhood education similar to yet different from the study of public education? · What are the major influences on understandings of best practices in early childhood education?

Download or read book Planning in the Moment with Young Children written by Anna Ephgrave and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-01-29 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Young children live in the here and now. If adults are to make a real difference to their learning they need to seize the moments when children first show curiosity, and support their next steps immediately. This book embraces the concept of planning "in the moment" and emphasises the critical role of the adult in promoting child-led learning, giving early years practitioners the confidence and insight to work and plan in the moment, and enabling the children in their care to live, learn, play and develop in the here and now. Planning in the Moment with Young Children maintains a strong link to practice, providing numerous examples of how practitioners can integrate spontaneous planning and rich adult–child interactions into their everyday practice and early years curricula. From timetabling to setting clear rules, creating enabling environments, keeping records and making use of a variety of materials, the book demonstrates the multitude of ways in which practitioners can encourage child autonomy and respond to the unique needs of each child. Examples from practice are rooted in theory, fully contextualised, and exemplified by original documentation sourced from the author’s own experiences and from a wide variety of settings. Key features include: over 180 full colour photographs to illustrate practice; photocopiable pages including planning sheets, documentation and activity sheets; advice on working with parents, individual children and groups; tailored guidance on working with children at different stages of development from birth to age 6 years; relevance to a range of settings, including childminders, pre-schools, nurseries and schools. When children are allowed to select where, with what, and how to play, they are truly invested in their play, they become deeply involved and make dramatic progress. This book is an outstanding testament to a responsive and child-led way of working in early years environments. Practitioners will be guided, inspired and supported to work spontaneously and reactively – planning as they go and celebrating the results!

Download or read book From Children's Interests to Children's Thinking written by Jane Tingle Broderick and published by . This book was released on 2020-06-30 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn how to connect your curriculum planning to children's interests and thinking. With this book, educators will discover a systematic way for using documentation to design curriculum that emerges from children's inquiries, what they wonder, and what they want to understand. Get strategies for designing a classroom environment at the start of the year to facilitate emergent inquiry curriculum. Each chapter guides teachers to document and reflect on their thinking through each of the five phases of a cycle of inquiry process, including observing, interpreting the meaning of the play they see, and developing questions to engage children.

Download or read book Supporting Child-initiated Learning written by Ros Bayley and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why is it that, when children play, some behave like butterflies, flitting around among the flowers of the activities on offer, landing for a moment before moving on to the next attractive flower (activity) while others behave with the single minded concentration of bees? As children grow and learn, they acquire skills through play and practical activities. This recently acquired learning is tenuous and is secured through practice, repeating the skills in different contexts, with different people. Only then will learning be 'hard wired' for life. It is now evident that where children are able to select resources, play companions and activities for themselves, they can practise emerging skills and concepts by selecting the resources they need and using them in ways which are unique to them. This book, written by a group of experts in early years practice, explores the place and purpose of child-intitiated learning in high quality early years practice. Child-initiated learning is a key feature of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Download or read book Play, Learning and the Early Childhood Curriculum written by Elizabeth Wood and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2005-05-17 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: `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.

Download or read book Child-Initiated Learning written by Jennie Lindon and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2012-05-25 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to plan for an individualised learning journey with every child in your care. Covering how to plan and support each child through sustained shared thinking, this book will give you the skills you need to follow each child's interests and plan for engaging learning experiences. The book offers practical advice on: what is meant by child-initiated learning and self-chosen experiences, how observant practitioners are able to support children's learning, the importance of first-hand experiences for children and an interesting learning environment, flexible planning and documentation, in response to children's interests and skills and dealing with uncertainty and confusion about adult-led activities and group time.