After reading LifeSmart's chapters 6 & 7, I formed a deeper sense of understanding for a couple of theories/opinions I hadn't fully grasped before. First, Piaget's theories of Constructivist Approaches to learning I couldn't agree more on. Environmental exposure is truly a great way for pre schoolers to be exposed to the art of learning, instead of the old ways of just memorizing and repeating. I loved the theory of the Head Start program as well, I think it is extremely beneficial for programs like this to be set up for low income families. I also firmly believe that day care is great for children before preschool.
This brings me to an example. I have a friend who works full time. She has had her 3 year old son in day care since he was 12 weeks old. At 3 years old, he plays well with others, he is not shy, he "shares" he has a sense of independence, he likes to eat on his own. This same friend has a sister-in-law that had a baby weeks after my friend had hers. The boys are cousins. The second boy's mother is a stay at home mom, and they live in a high-rise. When I see the second boy, with the first boy, I notice a difference. The second boy still likes to be held by his mother, the second boy doesn't share very well, and is very shy when meeting new people. Is this because he hasn't been exposed to others as much as the first boy? Is it because he is only with his mom all day? I don't know, but I firmly agree with Vygotsky's theory of the importance of social interactions.
Montessori schools.... I have always had a mixed review about them. This stems from a new friend I met. Her son is 5, he is at a Montessori school, when she went to have him screened for kindergarten at a public school he did not meet the "scores." He has no visible disabilities, he's a bright young child, but in my opinion wasn't given the right structure and timeline to be where the majority of his peers are at developmentally in public schools. I think that it is true that we all have our "sensitive periods" of learning, but I will agree more with a structured timeline. That is just my opinion.
Gender roles and stereotyping has changed so much even since I was a kid. When I was little there were girl toys and boy toys and the boys didn't play with the dolls just like the girls didn't play with the trucks. Now, no one says no to boys playing with baby dolls, because it is part of their learning experience. They are using their imagination and that is a beautiful thing that shouldn't be interrupted. When we were little, we would play patient and doctor. We had dress up clothes that looked like a doctor and a nurse. Well one day my friends and I were playing and my little brother wanted to play too, well the doctor was already taken and we already had a patient... and without a blink of an eye my 4 year old brother put on the nurse's outfit. We ran around the house and my mother was making dinner and she asked my brother, "Oh, and who are you?" and he replied, "I'm the nurse!" We still laugh about it today because he didn't care what he was, he just wanted to play with us and be included. Play time should be fun and I agree with the text, that there is key development areas and relationship building during the cognitive years of 3-5.
The Ritalin Debate, is one were I find myself struggling with. I do not agree with solving problems with a pill, but I have seen children that do take medication for ADHD's scores improve as well as behavior. What are some of your thoughts or experiences with this?
Arisa, I find that so interesting about the example you provided of your friend's son and his cousin. I am right on board with you in terms of children getting more socialization with peers helping with development and social interactions. I do realize though that not all families can afford daycare, or, have reasons why they do not put their children in daycare.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to disagree about no one saying no to boys playing with dolls. There are people that are still stuck in the old gender roles and stereotyping. While I do not agree with these people stuck in their old ways, I think unfortunately we still have some work to do. I cannot remember who I was recently speaking to, but, they said something about "boys can't be ballet dancers" and I replied "They most certainly can! Ever heard of Mikhail Baryshnikov?!" That made them very quiet :P
Glad you brought up gender and development. Many people still confuse one's gender with one's biological sex. Gender is a very complicated concept with many cultural aspects. Gender socialization becomes even more influential around 2-3 years old when children navigate the sort of unwritten societal rules of what boys and girls can do. However, some argue gender is more predetermined by nature.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you said that children need exposure to the real world and the concept of play in order to develop into health adults. The best way to teach children is to not let them know that they are being educated at all. When learning through play or environmental exposure, they enjoy the experience and are thus more likely to retain all knowledge or skills that go alongside it. But when they are set up in classrooms and a teacher starts telling them to memorize concepts or dates, they view it as boring and thus withdraw from the learning process. As a future teacher myself, I would like to find a way to have my kids enjoy their educational experience, despite the fact my school might expect me to teach in a traditional classroom setting.
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