Blog #2

I feel lucky to have the opportunity to interact daily with a great group of teachers, staff, parents, and great children. I work at a private preschool for ages six weeks to five year olds. My topic for my research paper is integrating play and the arts into the curriculum; therefore I spoke to two teachers about this topic. They are lead teachers at the school, Ms. Jessica a three year old teacher and Ms.Yaky a four year old teacher. They both have different styles of teaching yet the teachers believe that play is a major part of implementing their lessons as well as a part of their daily routines. As I observed their classrooms, it was clear that the children were interested in what they were doing as well as making their own choices to where and what they wanted to play with.

They each had great ideas for me as to how to integrate play in the curriculum; through music, dramatic play, and acting out stories, aside from the regular playground fun and games. We also all agreed on the importance of play in the classroom for the child’s socio-emotional development, to learn to express their feelings, to share, and for building their own sense of responsibility.  Ms. Jessica says that she assesses her three year olds best as they are playing because she feels that she gets “the whole picture as they play”.

I especially enjoyed seeing how enthusiastic the teachers got as they would tell me their ideas or how they implement a certain lesson. Ms. Yaky the four year old teacher said “I see play as a valuable piece of their education, through play they learn at their own pace and level”. This year I had several different learning styles in my classroom, I really implemented play and the arts into my lessons. In this way I was able to reach each child as well as offer various activities that would keep each child interested. I think that the children will benefit from this type of learning because it provides them with a comfortable feeling of confidence to learn in their own way.