Synopses & Reviews
Support children who are struggling to enter and sustain play
Play is key to young childrens development and one of the most influential ways they learn. Sometimes, though, play isnt easy for children. They may find it hard to fit in, get along, or collaborate with peers. With your help, children can learn more effective strategies to engage in productive play.
This interactive workbook encourages thought, reflection, and discussion as you carefully observe play, identify where childrens strengths and struggles are, and offer strategies to improve their play skills. It provides a detailed look at the Play Checklist introduced in the authors book Play: The Pathway from Theory to Practice, and an exploration of how play connects to early learning standards. Use this workbook to deepen your understanding of how developmental challenges affect childrens play skillsand make play an easier, more enjoyable experience for all children.
Review
Play is a window into the healthy development of young children. Sometimes teachers sense that something is different about a childs play experiences, but they cant quite put their finger on what it is. This book offers extended information on the authors highly useful play survey, which can help teachers answer, communicate, and ameliorate those concerns. It includes a family bulletin board to help parents understand what children learn through play in various areas of the classroom. Classroom teachers, parents, consultants, and college educators will all find this book useful.”
Sally Moomaw, EdD, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Cincinnati and author of Teaching STEM in the Early Years
This helpful workbook is filled with practical ideas for enhancing and facilitating young childrens play experiences in any kind of early childhood program or setting. Provocative questions provide opportunities for readers to reflect on their personal childhood play experiences, on the play experiences of the children in their care, and on the ways that they have tried to facilitate childrens play. The suggestions and activities help individual readers and provide a great foundation for group discussions, staff development workshops, or coursework for early childhood education students.”
Gaye Gronlund, MA, early childhood education consultant and author of Developmentally Appropriate Play: Guiding Young Children to a Higher Level and Planning for Play, Observation, and Learning in Preschool and Kindergarten
This book is just terrific! It is readable and informative. It seems at first very practical and direct and it does offer many clear suggestions about how to do things. However it is by no means a book that claims to contain all the answers. Rather, the suggestions within it are deepened and complicated by all the ways in which readers are asked to become involved. The reader is a partner in making sense of the issues and problems presented; the reader is asked to remember his or her own experiences in various aspects of play, to observe carefully in the classroom for a variety of specific purposes, to try out one or a new way to arrange the dramatic play area, or another spot, and then to observe the result. With sets of questions and activities as well as text, the book engages the reader in thinking flexibly and deeply about the ways to support childrens play. This book would best be used by a group of teachers who could discuss all their responses together.”
Cindy Ballenger, PhD, Director, Teacher Preparation, Eliot Pearson Department of Child Study, Tufts University
With these books, Heidemann and Hewitt provide thoughtful, thorough guidance and resources as we set out to maximize childrens play experiences in early childhood education settings. These hands-on tools deepen our understanding of play, as well as adult roles in relation to play, and help us design concrete strategies to address challenges that arise when children play together. These two books, together with their companion book Play: The Pathway from Theory to Practice, should be required reading for every early educator in training or in practice.”
Beth Menninga, Numbers Work! Project Coordinator, Minnesota Philanthropy Partners
Synopsis
Ideas for facilitating play when shyness, language delays, special needs, or other reasons prevent children from participating in play.
Synopsis
Play is vital to children's overall healthy development. When they have difficulty participating in play, early childhood professionals need to pinpoint why the challenges are occurring and provide solutions to help improve children's play skills. This book presents specific ways adults can help preschoolers develop deeper, more meaningful play experiences.
About the Author
Sandra Heidemann: Sandra Heidemanns many roles in the early childhood field have included teaching in regular and therapeutic preschool classrooms, leading workshops, serving as past president of the Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children, and co-directing a family support program. She is the classroom coordinator of Numbers Work!, an early math professional development initiative.
Deborah Hewitt: Deborah Hewitts experience in the early childhood field includes work as a therapeutic preschool teacher, consultant for child care providers, Child Development Associate advisor, workshop leader, school readiness program teacher, and a member of the board of directors of the Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children. Currently, she works for the Minnesota Department of Education as an early childhood education specialist and provides staffing to Minnesota Early Learning Council.