Use Play In Learning example essay topic

Whenever a child is born, the focus is on the future. The parents look forward eagerly to each milestone in his development -- his first smile, his first word, his first step. In the back of their minds at all times is the question: What kind of individual will this new person be? In addition, even more important, what can they do to ensure that his future will be happy and that he will become a useful member of society? Psychoanalysis is a branch of epistemology that concerns itself with the human psyche, which is immaterial part of the person.

This very part takes dimension from the moment of birth and continues dimension until death. Humans psyche is a culturally and socially construct, that is not the physical or biological component of the person. According to Freud, whose writings became a platform for the development of discourses of literary theory in psychoanalysis (on these discourses the diverse courses were taken under the influence of such seminal thinkers as Jung and Lacan), the human beings are born with a natural tendency to avoid work and enjoy the pleasures and joys. The moment of realization that the passivity does not lead anywhere and the action should be undertaken in order to live, splits the human psyche. At this point, the conflict of two principles emerges. The first principle is the one of pleasure when a child desires unity with his mother that cares for him, and the second principle appears when the child understands that in the real life things will not stay safe and he needs to act and work to maintain his existence is called reality principle.

The child faces the reality when, let us say, he meets the rules of behavior that his parents state for him or laws and regulations of the society that he lives in. At this point, the kid starts to look at the life very attentively, tries to imitate adults, experiences something new, learns and of course plays. Play has a crucial meaning at this period and for the whole childhood. While observing others kid tries to do the same things as people around do, and explores the unknown to him things.

For example, child carefully pouring water into a toy cup until it overflows can be viewed as a scientific lesson, during which the child is finding out how the water behaves. The example of imitating would be a little girl that takes care of a doll, she is feeding her, makes her to go to bed, dresses her and gives treatments if the doll gets sick, just the way her mother cares about her. Imitation is very important while developing the skills necessary for play. Children learn language by listening to others; learn to tie their shoes when observing the process while their parents do it. All through our lives we learn through hearing, seeing and above all, doing new things, and the more we enjoy what we are doing the faster we will learn.

In a world where child development seems to pass in the blink of an eye, it is very important to allow kids to be kids and to encourage them to develop their own concepts, principles and ideas and even values. Through the guidance and imitation of their parents and teachers, kids can develop approaches to playtime that would satisfy their needs and will give an opportunity to develop their individuality. Through playing games kids get satisfaction, they explore, educate themselves and have fun. Educators of young children say this approach to be the best way to prepare preschoolers, kindergartners, and first-graders for success. It is very important to recognize the importance of allowing kids to learn a wide variety of skills at their own pace. Childrens natural motivation to play comes from the child's needs to act, to put his or her efforts and to produce something that often happens in the game.

The child's motivation can be used to engage them in actively mastering several important social and mental skills. We can say that play is the child's most important aid in learning. It gives a chance to stimulate physical, social, and intellectual development. Playing also encourages the kid to observe and concentrate, to highlight the most important in the information that he or she receives. Games provide opportunities for self-expression, creativity and for acquiring new skills during the pre-school and school years. In order to explore things around them, kids use their senses: tasting, touching, smelling, listening, and looking.

When kids play with items such as blocks, sticks, balls, they are not only learning the sizes, shapes and colors, but also how things relate to each other, which toy is bigger, which one is brighter, which of the white bears is softer, the skills they help to develop analytical abilities. While pretending that a rock, stick or a block is an object such as a train or an airplane, children are using their playthings as symbols of these objects. This kind of play leads to recognizing the letters and learning to read. When counting, sorting and putting things in pile children learn math skills, by observing thing around them, kids learn science.

Doing puzzles increases thinking and problem-solving abilities. When a kid plays mosaics a lot it leads to development of the taste and skills in design. Crawling, running, climbing, and jumping enable a child to develop physically and build large muscles. Fine motor skills can be increased when a child draws, scribbles, or cuts a paper. Moreover, of course while playing with other kids build their social skills and communication skills.

Both younger and older children relish the chance to create through various art mediums. Using chalkboards, paints, various papers and other modeling materials in the play will raise the interest and curiosity of many youngsters. Such items as crayons, pencils, pens, tan cy glues and paint sparks imaginative responses. Some computer software programs allow children to make colorful pictures, while others can be used for construction objects such as buildings, castles, houses and so on. Toys are necessary for a child to play and learn. Starting with the age of three months, a baby needs stimulation in the form of various simple toys.

It is of the very importance to stimulate and provide visual-stimulation. As soon as a child learns to hold the objects in his hands, the noise-making toys such as bells are of the primary importance. Kids at the age of four learn to appreciate different sizes, colors, and shapes, they arrange their blocks in a line and it becomes a train, they put two or more block together and it becomes a house. Their fancy knows no bounds and they create and imagine all sorts of play situations.

The things that surround the child and constitute his environment can be learnt and examined by coloring books, and books that parents read to their kid. The more contact kids have with their families the more opportunities to learn they get, of course by reading books parents get kids interested in them, then after learning to read a kid goes and picks up his book. When adults give a suggestion to the play or participate in the game the kid likes to play, they give a child new ideas that he is developing and studies thoroughly. Playing is the vital part of growing up. Some of the play activities help children to develop large and small muscles, language, and eye-hand coordination. Concrete or hands-on, experiences are one of the most enjoyable and beneficial entertainment for kids.

Such activities allow children to handle materials, observe, imitate, explore, evaluate, and invent, this way children get an opportunity to learn about their world while developing confidence and a positive self-image. The games foster the emotional, intellectual, physical, and social development of youngsters. I think one of the most important types of the games for kids are imaginative ones. When children play imaginative games, many benefits ensue. First of all, by playing this games kids enlarge their vocabulary, get a chance to exercise their small and large motor skills; while playing they at the same time learn to share, to take turns, and to cooperate. Little kids enjoy playing role games, when they can freely be someone else, for example Cinderella, princess, teacher, doctor, mother and so on.

In this period, kids observed enough to try or to test their knowledge in the experience of being in the other shoes. When a kid plays a role that is different from his / her everyday viewpoint, new insight is developed by stepping into the other personality. It is also very interesting to interact with the person who plays the role you have already performed. When children play with friends, parents or teachers in the story-like games they learn good manners and use them, such as please, excuse me, thank you and so on. Again, they practice how to sequence, and to put things in the correct order: first, we will set a table, make some coffee and cookies, and give a doll to drink and eat we are having a tea party. While playing story-like games children also learn to control their impulses, these kids are found to be less aggressive.

Children-imaginary players tend to smile more and have longer periods of attention and concentration; they grow up flexible and creative. As I said earlier when parents join in, the possibilities for kids multiply. While kids show natural tendencies to initiate make-believe play in the preschool and elementary school periods, they are more likely to sustain and extend their pretend game with adult encouragement. Children usually use in their games the materials from books parents have read them or they read on their own or use ideas from an educational TV program. In fact, reliving the places the kids visit such as circus, zoo, train stations, subways, parks, and museums can become great themes for the plays of make-believe and grounds for young imaginations to take a flight. Many educators in the whole world struggle to provide successful educational environments, but rarely use play in learning even thought it is formulated by many psychologists that people learn better, when they enjoy.

We are talking about the group of kids ages four to eleven, that enjoy playing a lot, then it becomes obvious that the results will be higher if children will combine play and education, which is possible now in the age of technological and strategically innovations. It is possible to teach math, science, history, literature, drama, and any other subject through play, and the results are worth the efforts. Some gifted teachers do it everyday, but mainly without a support from administrators of education and anxious parents that are more interested in the score on the test than the particular knowledge and understanding. Many of them are afraid that playing reduces learning, but it surely increases learning when the plays are related to the subject studied. Todays kids are under increasing pressure to perform, achieve, and win at learning, but they are less interested in the field that they are studying which leads to decreasing of performance.

The motor of logic's is the play of chess. I think it is probably the best game there is for developing logical, precise thinking. Chess helps to award patience, encourage sharp memory, the concentration ability, skills of problem solving, and the understanding that every action carries certain consequences. Kids that play chess will be likely to succeed in math, statistics, and other analytical and mathematical subjects. Learning through play means trying things different ways, and from the different perspective.

It is peppered with humor, questions, motion, new ideas, principles, and theories that should be tried out. Learning this way produces unexpected discoveries. It is a tool that can be used by kids and even teenagers to try to understand things and motivate one to learn. Without play without the child that still lives in all of us we will always be incomplete. And not only physically, but creatively, intellectually, and spiritually as well. George Sheehan It is believed that a play can teach us how to manage and transform our negative emotions and experiences; it supercharges learning, and is also a foundational factor in good physical and mental health.

Our minds need relaxation and will give way, unless we mix with work a little play Moliere. Adults have the greater affect on the kids. Child observes the behavior of his parents and probably will behave in a similar ways. The child feels that parents care about him, and assumes that he or she should care about somebody too. That is probably why kids like to take care of the pets, while fiddling them and taking them outside they grow in their own eyes. When playing with pets kid feel more grown-up, something that every kid tries to be.

The play for a child is very serious, and when guided by the adults can be very useful, because during it a child learns how to deal with some situations, and makes his / her own conclusions. Of course, communication with kids of the similar age is very important too, because this way kids feel on the same level, and get social and communication skills that they will need in the future. The kids that did not have troubles in making friends are likely to be open-minded and develop strong leadership abilities. Playing in the class along with a classmates have an importance too, this way kids make friends and feel free in the classroom, participate in discussions and debates, they are not usually afraid to tell their point of view, and participate sharing thoughts and ideas, which is one of the most important approaches in learning. This leads to the effective group designed basements, and make it easy for kids to be engaged in teamwork activities, that are a very good practice.

The approach of team-working and team-solving techniques is widely used in many businesses and organizations. So while studying to work in teams at school kids will be prepared to similar activities in the work place. In the process of communication, kids get to share the information that overflows their minds and needs to be expressed. Learning through playing opens the doors to many interesting activities and techniques of modern education.

The information children get at school should be educational and entertainment at the same time, because it makes it easier to remember, more interesting to listen to, and encourages the drive to study. When child gets older, he is introduced to the games where there are rules, which should be followed. In this kind of games, the result is the reason to play. You whether win or loose. The game will encourage you to do your best, do not cheat, and follow the rules thoroughly. The main thing about any game is that it is a reflection of the real life situations.

Therefore, when kids play the game they get an experience that they can use in dealing with everyday situations in the adult life. Many games train the child's memory, making him / her memories the names, cities and so on. Games also encourage kids to be attentive. We all remember the game named hide-and-seek, it emphasizes our attention at little details and makes us to memories them. It coaches to be fast, and logical, plus putting children in the situation were they have to decide what to do and which way to go. Motor skills can be thought of as long chains of responses assembled into smooth and practically automatic performances.

Typing, walking, pole-vaulting, shooting baskets, playing golf, driving a car, and skiing are all motor skills. In a well-learned motor skill, sensory feedback from one response serves as a cue to produce the next response, which becomes the cue for the next, and so on. This chain of responses will be quite familiar to anyone who plays a musical instrument. As a new piece of music is being learned, a mistake part of the way through often begins the performance to a halt. In early stages of memorizing a piece, the musician who gets lost must return to the beginning and try again because there has been a break in the chain of responses. Child psychologist Jerome Bruner believes babies are smarter than most people think.

Bruner cites an experiment in which three- to eight-week-old babies showed signs of understanding that a persons voice and body are connected. If babies heard their mothers voice coming from where she was standing, they remained calm. If her voice came from a loudspeaker several feet away, the babies became agitated and began to cry. After the long lasting tests and experiments, the psychologists drew a conclusion that bright, complex, circular, curved, red, and blue stimuli first catch an infants eye; next there is a preference for the familiar; following that is an interest in the unusual. We also know that the infant develops an intense early interest in the human face. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of the human infant is the dazzling speed with which he or she is transformed from a helpless baby to an independent person.

Early growth is extremely rapid. By the age of 5-6, the child stands, walks, talks, explores, and has a unique personality. During this period, there is a fascinating interlay of forces shaping the child's development, most importantly, heredity, environment, and activities. This is why playing at this age is very important. It let us a child to shape his or her abilities, and to develop faster. Psychologists say that child must be ready for attending school.

In addition, the age when the preparation is the most important is 5 to 6 years, just before the kid is fixing to go to school. There are some categories of his readiness to successful education. They are intellectual, emotional, and sociological. Intellectual maturity means the ability to distinguish one figure from its environment.

Ability to concentrate attention, find logical connections between subjects, developing of gestures also says about intellectual maturity. Emotional maturity is a weakness of impulsive movements and ability to do not very interesting job. Social maturity means requirement in communication and subordinating to some rules. Why do experiences early in life have such lasting effects? Part of the answer lies in the existence of critical periods for acquiring particular behaviors. A critical period is a time when susceptibility to environmental influences (both positive and negative) is increased.

Critical periods usually correspond to times of rapid development. From the standpoint of maturation, it is estimated that 50 percent of adult intelligence is developed by age four and 80 percent by the age eight. These figures are somewhat deceptive because a child's intelligence differs from that of an adult in quality and quantity. Generally speaking, a child's thinking is less abstract than that of an adult. Children use fewer generalizations, categories, or principles and tend to base their understanding of the world on particular examples, tangible sensations, and concrete objects. Older children and adults realize that the objects that are out of the sight still exist.

With the younger children out of sight will literally mean out of mind. Teaching two- to five-year-olds to read, write, type, and compose may sound like an impossible task. However, if the proper conditions of learning are created, it can become a reality. Dr. Omar Khayyam Moore of Yale University has designed a responsive learning environment to take full advantage of children's intellectual curiosity and creativity. In his lad children play with a talking typewriter. An encounter with the talking typewriter begins the first time a child presses a key.

Immediately the letter appears on the paper and a voice names it through the loudspeaker. Surprised by this response, the child complete attention, and the connection between keys and letters begins to form. After a number of sessions in which typing is fairly random, a new game begins. Whenever the child's attention starts to wander, a curtain is removed from a screen above the machine.

A single letter appears and the letter is named over the loudspeaker. Children who return to random key pressing suddenly find that the keys no longer work -- until they press the key corresponding to the letter on the screen. When a child finds the right key, the correct letter is printed and a voice names it again. Then a new letter appears on the screen. Later words appear.

If the key for the first letter is pressed, a pointer moves to the second letter. When a child has correctly typed all three letters of a word such as dog, the machine pronounces the word, and a new word appears. Children rapidly go from random typing to reading and writing, and then they compose their own sentences and stories -- all before the age of five. The action of the child demand motivation and reinforcement.

Reinforcement is associated with pleasure, comfort, rewards, or an end to discomfort. Many of the most obvious reinforcement reduce pressing biological drives. Psychologists define a reinforcer as any object or event that increases the probability of a response. The game can be used as reinforcer while dealing with kids. Playing games with other children or adults can help kids to develop the following qualities: inhibiting impulsive reactions, attending to directions, persisting at a task, taking turns, tolerating competition.

Associating while playing leads to such positive results as: considering another persons point of view, cooperating to achieve a common goal, problem solving methods, organizing information, evaluating alternatives, planning a course of action, adapting to changing circumstances, reasoning, practicing three kinds of mental operations visual-spatial reasoning, including spatial relations, directionality and visual-motor planning. When playing kids learn mathematical reasoning, including number sense, sets, sequences and quantitative reasoning; verbal reasoning, prediction and deduction, evaluating the results of ones decisions and actions, and learning from experience. Kids gain confidence from success, and learn to listen to others.