Play schemas
If you’ve been with me a few years you know I set a professional development goal for myself each year. It’s imperative that I continue to learn. When I stop learning it’s time to retire. This year I wanted to explore “learning stories.” I have taken two workshops and studied independently. I’ve also dove head first into studying play schemas.
When we do assessments we are noticing what children cannot do . Observations have me noticing what they can do .
“We want to know what the children think, feel, and wonder. We believe that the children will have things to tell each other and us that we have never heard before. ❤️❤️❤️ We are always listening of a surprise and the birth of a new idea. This practice supports a… Searching together for new meaning. Together, we become a community of seekers” – Louise Cadwell.
Children have behaviors that are often repetitive. Seems that no matter what we do or say to help with those behaviors children keep doing them . “ Schema is described as a pattern of thought or behavior , a system of organization, or mental structure for perceiving new information.When children engage in repetitive play activities – – they grow and reinforce neural pathways in their brains helping those pathways become permanent which aids children when they consolidate learning and development new understandings.”
This week I’ve been reading and observing . I am learning about transporting, transformation, trajectory, rotation and circularity.
I’ll try to show you in pictures it looks like. ( Nerd out with me for a minute ! These pics will not necessarily be from this week .)
Transporting things from one destination to another and sometimes without a plan when they get there. The whole process is just moving things from one area to the other. I understand some brains are just wired this way and it’s what they do and how they learn. Do you have a kiddo that is constantly picking up things from one area and moving it to another? Do you have a kiddo that is always moving around furniture? Do you have a kiddo that likes to pour water from one thing into another ? Do you have a kiddo that likes to fill up a backpack and purse with all of the things and just carry it around?
The next play schema is transforming. We see this many times at the art center. It can also be seen in other places. Children just love to see things change. For me this scheme is the hardest to Support because usually it’s messy.
Trajectory is one we see often too. This is pushing , pulling swinging, running , and making things move through the air . This is sometimes a dangerous one . “ Research shows us that when children are not allowed to move as much as they would like – they are likely to be clumsy and have difficulty paying attention and have trouble controlling their emotions, utilize poor problem-solving methods and demonstrate struggles with social interaction.”
If that’s not reason enough to allow children to participate in trajectory play I don’t know what is.
The downside of that is sometimes you end up with a gash open on a child’s head because these kiddos tend to be risktakers .
Bear with me the last one will look at today is rotation and circularity. These are the kids that you see spinning around on the playground or going circles and rolling down hills or dancing. I find it fascinating that researchers have found that since birth infants have preferred circular shapes. I wonder why?
That’s a lot of information but I think its important that you learn with me. Sometimes I’m observing for learning stories. Sometimes I’m assessing and observing for worksampling. Sometimes I’m researching and learning myself. ❤️