Exploring Parent's Attitudes Towards Learning Through Play in the Essay

Exploring Parents Attitudes Towards Learning Through Play in the Foundation Stage - Essay ExampleTo consider how learning through and through play is measured at foundation stage. Rationale of the Study Play comes very naturally to children. From the time they are infants, play is already an activity that they suck up in to learn about their world. As they grow, they discover more about the world around them through play. They use their senses to explore objects and learn about catch and effects when they manipulate such objects (Brewer, 2001). Macintyre (2003) asserts that young children learn better in play-like settings. Concepts are retained better when learned in an subdued, relaxed and fun atmosphere that does not pressure children to perform in ways that stress them to achieve. Macintyre (2003) continues to endorse the value of play in all the developmental areas of children. Parents recognize the value of play but sometimes get smudged about its function in childrens lea rning (Moyles, 1989). Developments in education point to the benefits of collaboration between the home environment and the school in the facilitation of childrens growth, learning and development. Wood (2004) argues that the Government endorses literacy and numeracy strategies that make use of play especially in the early years. The fact that parents are expect to take part in their childrens learning may press parents to seriously consider the advantages and disadvantages of play. Wiltshire (2002) claims that parents question what the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) has to tornado to their children as it is heavily play based. If the parents view is that play is merely for entertainment and social purposes, then it is doubtful that parents will become fully involved as partners in their childrens education. Piaget argued that play is often neglected by adults because it has no significant function(Piaget and Inhelder, 1969). Brierley (1987) also points out that as adults, if a task is easy or unimportant, people refer to it as childs play which reinforces the idea that play is not challenging. Parents are seen as partners in their childrens education, so it is worthwhile to study how they view this role as parents of very young children who constantly engage in play as a form of enjoyment. sightly aware that play may be used in the educational setting for learning as well as enjoyment may confuse parents as to the role play is given in the foundation stage. This study will investigate if parents believe that learning may be derived from play and if they actively endorse this belief at home. Literature Review Play and Childrens development The subject of play has attracted many scholars to study its process and how it benefits people. Holland (2003) studied trial-and-error play or the exploratory play of infants and toddlers and confirmed that play is used by children to investigate how things work, how people react, etc. Toys and other objects are ex plored easely by toddlers and they then observe what such things can or cannot do. In contrast to educational materials, which are designed by adults to expect certain responses from children, objects that encourage free play in the heuristic sense stimulate the childs thinking, develop creativity and open the imagination to endless possibilities of transforming ordinary objects into miscellaneous things with various functions (Holland, 2003). Much research has been done on play and its benefits to children