My Connections to Play

Below are a few of my favorite quotes that regard play and the importance of it.

“It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them.” -Leo F. Buscaglia

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -George Bernard Shaw

“Play is so integral to childhood that a child who does not have the opportunities to play is cut off from a major portion of childhood.” -Musselwhite

“If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society.” -Jean Piaget


Below are a few pictures of what I think demonstrates essential play for younger individuals.

    

When I was younger, I loved playing with Barbies.  My sister is a year and a half younger than me, and we always played with barbies daily.  We would change their clothes, do their hair and play "house" with them.  In playing house, we learned different things that needed to be done in a real house hold.  My parents also played house with us and they would ask my sister and I questions.  For example, my mom would ask "did you make dinner?" or "did you do the dishes?"  She was playing the role of the mother in a house setting.  My parents, sister and grandparents were constantly encouraging me to play with new toys.  This helped me learn cognitively about other toys and the benefits that could have.

Play today is very different than play when I was younger.  I am only 24 years old and there have been many new inventions that have came out that relate to children at a young age.  Just think what has happened with technology.  Now in a lot of kindergarten classrooms and elementary schools, each child is supplied with an iPad in which they get to keep and use for the whole year.  There are several different types of games on the iPad that the children like to play when they have free time or "play" time.  When I was younger, we had toys like: Hot Wheels cars, barbies, Leggos, blocks, American Girl Dolls and several other toys.  I hope that teachers and parents incorporate more hands-on activities when playing rather than sitting on an iPad and playing games.  Although the children are learning when they are playing these games, but this leads to the idea of obesity.  When children sit around and watch tv or play games, they tend to have a higher chance of being on the obese side of the spectrum.

It is very important that parents play with their children each day.  By playing with their child, you can talk to them about what they are playing with and ask them questions to get them to think.  For example: what color is this, what's this shape, where does this belong, and so on.  This will benefit children when they grow older because they will have had the experience working and seeing these types of toys.

Relationship Reflection

Relationships are very important to many in many different ways.  Having the family that I do, I can trust them with anything and know that they will always be there to give me advice or support me in any way.  If it were not for my family, then I would not be the person that I am today.  My parents helped me financially throughout schooling and always encouraged me to do better.  Throughout high school, my parents were always available to help me with homework and support me when I was cheering (all four years in high school).  Even when I was at my lowest point, they always made me think of the positive things in life and the great future that I was going to have.  Aside from my family, I have a group of really close friends that has been there for me through thick and thin.  So to me, relationships are all about being there for someone: emotionally, socially, financially and maybe even physically.  If you cannot be honest with someone, there is no way that you will grow a relationship with anyone.  Below are a few pictures of some very strong positive relationships that I have in my life.

The first two people that I have the strongest relationship with is my parents.  They have been there to support me from birth to now.  They helped me with homework, supported me while I cheered and played lacrosse in college, gave me advice on other relationships when I was down and several others.  If it was not for my parents, I would not be who I am today.  I appreciate what they have done for me.  There are times that we argue and disagree, but these arguments only make the relationships stronger between us.  The main factors that lead to our relationship was the love and support they are still providing me.

My grandparents relationship with me, my mothers parents, have been there for me through everything also.  They would stop what they were doing to watch me cheer or play lacrosse.  I also remember that for the first few years that I was in school, they would come over to my parents house every morning and watch me get on the bus every morning, and they would make sure they were at my house to see me get off the bus every day.

My sister and I have had several arguments.  She is a year and a half younger than me, and she always thought that she was better than me.  Every relationship has there ups and downs, but my relationship with my sister has been the one in which we argued the most.  As we have gotten older, I am able to talk to my sister about things without her judging me as a person.  The most dramatic event for me was my sister moving to Florida.  She got a job working with the Detroit Tigers, so she has been living in Florida for about 3 months now.  I can always call her and talk to her, but her moving away really made me realize how much I talked to my sister and how much of an impact she had on my life.  

Last but not least, is my best friend Lily.  I went to high school with her, but was not really close friends with her until about a year ago.  We started hanging out again because we work together.  We have so many things in common, for example; interests, working out, school, career, and going to country concerts.  She has been a lot through her life and has dealt with it all on her own.  When I am going through tough times, she is always the first one that I go to confide in.  If I did not have these people in my life, I would not be as strong of a person.

Again, all relationships have challenges.  These challenges may be something to a little fight or to a physical fight.  I have never encountered a physical fight with any of my friends or family.  There have definitely been some verbal arguments and disagreements.  But working together to solve these problems is what I have learned that make relationships grow.  In a relationship or partnership, there has to be communication, trust and honestly.  If there are not these three things, the relationships will fail.  As many times as people have screwed me over and made me not trust them, it made me realize the actions of some people which helps me to learn and not deal with that in future relationships.  Special characteristics that make up a successful relationship is: honesty, trust, dedication, humor, passion, and communication.  

The most important way that relationships would impact me in the early childhood education field is because I am one of the most dedicated individuals.  I want to make sure that I grow a relationship with the children in my class along with their parents.  It is important to know what the children like or if they are involved in any extra curricular activities outside of school.  This will allow the child to know that you care about them outside of school and it will also allow the parents to see that you really do care about their child.  Throughout my student teaching experience, I went to several students' sporting events or dances.  I could tell the difference from the beginning of the year to the end of the year with my relationship with the students. I am also a very honest person and will tell someone when I do not like an idea and will encourage something else that I may think will work.