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Appropriate Practice in Coop
Work Areas
Learning through Play
Confused?
Who to Contact for Help
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When
I Play, I am Learning!
Written by K.
Miller, Children’s World National Director of Education
When I paint at the easel, I am learning…
- to develop my imagination and creativity.
- eye-hand coordination, helpful for learning
to write.
- the names of colors and how to make new
colors.
- to distinguish shapes, and purposely create
shapes.
- to notice patterns from background,
necessary for learning to read.
- to express my feelings and ideas.
- that my ideas have value.
- relationships of space and size, necessary
for mathematics.
- concepts of symmetry, balance and design.
When I play with Playdough, I am
learning…
- to see the shape against the background of
the table, a reading skill.
- concepts of shapes, relative size, big,
small, length, and height
- to see negative space when cookie cutter
shapes are taken away.
- to express feelings, squeezing and pounding.
- to exercise my imagination and creativity.
- that the amount of a substance remains the
same, even when the shape changes.
When I play with water, I am
learning…
- that some things sink and some things float.
- to observe changes as water takes different
form in different containers.
- about different temperatures.
- about wet, dry and evaporation.
- what happens when you add soap.
- eye-hand coordination as I learn to pour.
- concepts of empty and full, volume and
weight, relevant to mathematics.
When I play with blocks, cars and trucks, I
am learning…
- concepts of shape, size, length and
location, all relative to learning to read, and do mathematics.
- to create and repeat patterns, a math skill.
- to exercise my imagination.
- to express my ideas.
- to cooperate with others.
- to solve problems.
- about the properties of wood.
- to see myself from a different perspective,
that of a giant.
When I play on the climbing equipment, I am
learning…
- self confidence as I develop new skills.
- physical strength, coordination, and
balance.
- to use my imagination.
- to cooperate with others when involved in
some dramatic play.
- to solve problems.
When I play in the dramatic play area, I am
learning…
- to be flexible in my thinking.
- to express myself in sentences.
- to try on different adults roles.
- to solve problems, especially socially,
through negotiation with friends.
- to sort and organize playthings.
- to make decisions.
- to improvise and use things in a symbolic
way to represent something else…a form of abstract thinking.
- to carry out my ideas with the cooperation
of others.
- to exercise my imagination and creativity.
When I participate in circle time, I am
learning…
- to listen, sit still, and understand spoken
language.
- to add my ideas to the discussion, my ideas
have value.
- to wait when others are talking.
- new vocabulary connected with the topic of
discussion.
- to remember the words of songs and poems.
- the names of others in the group.
- to cooperate and be considerate of the
needs of others.
When I sort things, I am
learning…
- to notice details of likeness and
differences of objects and form categories, essential concepts for
reading and mathematics.
- concepts of color, size, and shape.
- numerical concepts of more and less.
- logical reasoning.
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