{"id":10807,"date":"2022-03-03T15:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T08:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/?p=10807"},"modified":"2022-10-03T13:59:35","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T06:59:35","slug":"learning-by-living-the-importance-of-free-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/?p=10807","title":{"rendered":"Learning by Living: The Importance of Free Play"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Learning by Living: The Importance of Free Play at Roong Aroon School<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

By\u00a0Robin Martin<\/strong>, Scholar of Corporate Communications Department, Roong Aroon School Foundation<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

At Roong Aroon School, the kindergarten programs have been designed explicitly with the holistic and developmental needs of children in mind. Recognizing that parents and other adults may forget at times to see the world from the child\u2019s perspective, both of RA\u2019s kindergarten programs remind teachers as well as parents about understanding the value of free play. When teachers observe students, they notice how each student tries many ways to play with the same toys in a different way each time.<\/p>\n

As the RA-English Program leader Teacher Gift points out: Children are testing their own hypotheses about what each object can do or be, to help them understand the quality of each object in its relation to the child\u2019s current purpose. At the same time, they are learning to negotiate through interactions with friends.<\/p>\n

Playing and Learning Together<\/span>
\n<\/strong>For KG3 students (ages 5-6), it is their third year in school, and they quickly learn about all the new toys and how to build things that resemble their real world, within their own imaginations. For KG1 and KG2 students (ages 3 to 5), they gain confidence to play with more children and to try new things as the year moves on.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, a child may add on to another child\u2019s creation, with slow moves and eye contact that show how they recognize the other\u2019s space or notice their friends\u2019 creativity, even before they have the words to tell them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One day in River Room, three girls found a new way to make a game using hula hoops. Another day during free play, a KG1 girl watched as two older KG3 boys built a slide and swimming pool out of the colorful mini-blocks. Later, she built something of her own.<\/p>\n

According to Teacher Gift (the team leader for the KG English Program), when she observes her classroom, she notices how a child may:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cnegotiate for some blocks he needs to share. I can see the KG1 student tries first, tries to grab it and then KG2 will complain. The younger child will argue back about his reasons. For sure, he doesn\u2019t have much language to argue with his older peer. So, he always walks to me and asks me for help to deal with those situations. And I can see that this is an opportunity to engage with this situation, so I guide him just a little bit with the words like, \u2018Can you try to ask KG2 like this? And then you walk back to tell me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>She observes that the student needs someone to be his backup. But she didn\u2019t go with him. She told him, \u201cI will stand here, but I will look when you are talking to him. I still support you, but will not stand next to you because you can do it.\u201d Then he walks over and tries to talk with the KG2 student about the desired blocks. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Teacher Gift realizes that teachers (and parents) need to be supportive of children when they ask for guidance, but that interfering too much can take away from the child\u2019s own capacity for learning to negotiate her or his own social world. Mistakes are okay, and students should not be afraid to try, even if they do not always achieve their purpose right away.<\/p>\n

Skills for Living Together: Learning to Face and Solve Problems<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Free play can be seen as a tool for learning self management while developing thinking skills too. Cru Air, the head of the Roong Aroon kindergarten, explains:<\/p>\n

\n

So in free play, they get to design their own playing, and in doing that, they get to use their thinking skills. When they think they want to do something, their body has to work on it, and if they face a problem, they have to think of how to solve a problem. And when they can conquer that, they will think, \u2018Okay, this is how I can do it.\u2019 They know their ability. And they feel proud of themself.<\/p>\n

When they play with friends they will get to learn how to share ideas, how to listen to others, so this is like the basic skill for living together.<\/p>\n

So, we, the teachers don\u2019t really join the play, but we closely observe how they talk to their friends, and what are their interests, so we grab that topic to talk with them later on. This way, they get to practice their verbal skills because they get to talk to us.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Within the playing, the students are learning. The nature of student learning is they play, they learn, which allows them to get knowledge by doing something that is meaningful to them. There is a gradual approach to introducing relevant content to students, which is essential, slowly suggesting content that makes sense in the child\u2019s world. Cru Air expresses, \u201cWe try to link them with something not so far from themself, something related to themself…We try to think back about the content that is related to their daily life.\u201d By learning to play with new toys that allow them to mimic or build things that they see or experience in their own lives, it helps them to think about and construct meaning about the world in which they live.<\/p>\n

Allowing the students time for free play gives the students a sense of ownership. Teacher Fern explains that whether the child is playing alone or with friends, the \u201cteacher\u2019s job\u201d is to observe, know when to fade away, and noticing if anyone needs help. These strategies help the KG students to develop the feeling that their learning belongs to themselves.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Students Develop a Sense of Ownership During Free Play<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Every day, in the KG\u00a0 River Room and outside too, free time is filled by the choices of children, from building block towers, to molding clay with Teacher Fern to looking at picture books (and pretending to read, mimicking what they\u2019ve seen their teachers doing), or water-color painting with Teacher Andrea. From peg boards to the timeless games of House or dress-up, or making a pretend cafe or eating pretend pizza, allowing the students the freedom to make their own choices during this unstructured time gives it a relaxed feeling so that students can enjoy themselves within the many learning processes that they are each engaged in. The youngest students sometimes watch their peers for a long time before making a decision about what to do. Observing is an important part of the learning process too. They will make choices when they are ready. They learn lots by watching their older peers, and their older peers develop a sense of pride by helping the younger ones.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
One KG student carefully builds a caterpillar-like creature, showing awareness of colors and patterns, comparing the pieces as he adds a pair of eyes. Teacher Andrea asks if he can \u201cmake it angry\u201d (they are working on emotions). Indeed, he can. He doesn\u2019t say a word, but he shows that he understood Teacher Andrea as he slants the eyebrows to show an angry look.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A younger student has closely watched his friend build the colorful caterpillar. As the older boy starts to walk away, the younger one initiates cleanup and helps to put all the pieces in the box. His shows a developing sense of orderliness, while connecting with his friend at the same time to work together. It is a kind of wordless collaboration that the KG teachers work to encourage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Throughout play time, teachers observe carefully and become familiar with each child\u2019s ways of approaching new tasks as they learn to negotiate their space and toys with other children. It is part of a sense of belonging and being in a community that develops in children. By noticing each child, they can recognize when a child needs a little extra support or give recognition to a child who has suddenly initiated a new kind of negotiation with a peer.<\/p>\n

Students observe and collaborate as they are ready
\n<\/strong><\/span>Each week, the KG-1 students are a little more interactive than the week before. Solitary play at age 3, near to their friends yet still independent, is important for learning about their own stories, thoughts, imagination. As children get older, they play more directly with friends, creating stories and developing their thoughts and imaginations together. Both solitary and collaborative types of play are valued by teachers and students alike. Teachers notice when students shift their types of interaction as signs of change, and may consider why students are choosing one type over another.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A young KG girl builds a tower today within a pretend courtyard, adding colorful beads inside, beads that she has played with all morning and found several different ways to use them.<\/p>\n

One of the littlest boys shifts from his wandering self into his \u201cI can build something\u201d mode, until the blocks form a\u00a0 train. His persistence grows as the train grows longer too. He says, \u201cBle…\u201d with wide eyes of pride, knowing there must be a word (perhaps \u201cblocks\u201d) associated with the thing he has built. In the relaxed, unstructured free play atmosphere or maybe within the building process itself, he tries out a new word though usually he is quiet. It\u2019s not clear yet what the word is, but he has tried. An observing teacher helps him put words to his actions, \u201cWhat a nice train you have built.\u201d He steps back, smiling broadly, admiring his own creation, and seeming happy that the person next to him has recognized it too.<\/p>\n

The children feel no pressure to use English until they are ready, but they may start to notice when that their fledgling words help them communicate or express something that is meaningful to them. They use more English they are ready and feel a need, step by step.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Building blocks into a train.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Students are learning to take initiative and to try new things without being told. Free play is an important gateway for self-management, along with learning to be part of a community and helping others too.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learning by Living: The Importance of Free Play at Roong Aroon School By\u00a0Robin Martin, Scholar of Corporate Communications Department, Roong Aroon School Foundation At Roong Aroon School, the kindergarten programs have been designed explicitly with the holistic and developmental needs of children in mind. Recognizing that parents and other adults may forget at times to see the world from the child\u2019s perspective, both of RA\u2019s kindergarten programs remind teachers as well as parents about understanding the value of free play. When teachers observe students, they notice how each student tries many ways to play with the same toys in a different way each time. As the RA-English Program leader Teacher Gift points out: Children are testing their own hypotheses about what each object can do or be, to help them understand the quality of each object in its relation to the child\u2019s current purpose. At the same time, they are learning to negotiate through interactions with friends. Playing and Learning Together For KG3 students (ages 5-6), it is their third year in school, and they quickly learn about all the new toys and how to build things that resemble their real world, within their own imaginations. For KG1 and KG2 students (ages 3 to 5), they gain confidence to play with more children and to try new things as the year moves on. Sometimes, a child may add on to another child\u2019s creation, with slow moves and eye contact that show how they recognize the other\u2019s space or notice their friends\u2019 creativity, even before they have the words to tell them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,108,86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-108","category-86"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10807"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11999,"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10807\/revisions\/11999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roong-aroon.ac.th\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}