3.+Theory+of+Play


 * Theory of play **

Vygotsky believed children had the ability to get to a next step in their learning through their play with support from adults or a structured support such as a parent eg: the first step the child is building blocks but it keeps falling as not structured, the adult demonstrates with the child (instructing were to place the block in order for it to be solid) the child then learns and incorporates the demonstration, the next step is the child builds the blocks without any assistance. The whole procedure is then repeated on another exercise or toys.

The whole procedure is then repeated on another exercise or toys. The term "zone of proximal development" is "the distance between a child's independent problem solving and the level of potential development of the child under adult guidance"(Vygotsky,1978 )

Proximal zone results in zone of actual development, a zone of internalized external knowledge. Vygotsky states the idea that the learning and development is not the identity, but the unity where learning is converted into developmental process through never ending sequence of proximal zones.

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·In many modern cultures due to socio-economic factors some children lack oral and mental development that result in underdevelopment of skills necessary for successful learning in school.

· In order to catch up, the students would need to be introduced to a lot of play activities where teacher actually assumes a role of significant other and teaches concepts that the students did not learn at home.

· According to Vygotsky, testing is not the best way to assess a child's learning. It adds enormous pressure on teachers making them teach the standard- based curriculum instead of facilitating and guiding relevancy- based play activities.

· In more recent times it appears to be more suitable to teach children in playschool how to read and write so they are prepared for school; however there should be more time given to play for children to develop as previously stated lack of play can stunt mental development

· A lot of concepts can be learned during play—Teaching numbers, colors and shapes can become an exciting activity if to take the children outside and turn it into a game.

· Children will react to these interactive exercises. For example, hide shapes around the playground with different colors and instruct then to put them in the correct basket.

Scaffolding


This procedure is a form of learning that incorporates children/students helping others to learn With regards to students- this is really effective. A student may feel more comfortable with another student rather than the teacher. Especially if the student is struggling with the topic and feels embarrassed to let that be known to their teacher. This short video illustrates scaffolding. The majority of us have been involved in scaffolding without even realizing it

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