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Brand Strategy: Fiona Humberstone

Business Consulting: Erika Lyremark

Brand & Web Design: We Are Branch

Web Development: Made To Thrive

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Copywriting: Elizabeth Cairns

@Wunderled™

When children choose where, what, and who they pla

When children choose where, what, and who they play with, chances are good that they will become deeply engaged.

This engagement activates the limbic system, which is like a light switch. 💡

When pleasure and joy are involved, the limbic system is turned on.

This releases dopamine, which is the YES - I want more chemicals. This joy and pleasure are critical for developing executive function. 🧠

Yet, play has had a bad rap for decades because it is fun. 😭

The FUN part of play is what unleashes the power of executive function. 🥳

Current brain research tells us that to properly prepare children for academic learning, they need to actively participate in their learning.

Allowing them freedom of choice is the first touchpoint. ✅

Type YES if you get the power of choice! 🙌

#playbasedlearning #earlychildhoodeducation #playbasededucation #learningthroughplay #executivefunction #childled #childledlearning

🌟 ONE MORE QUESTION ABOUT OUR NEW FREEBIE:

🌟 ONE MORE QUESTION ABOUT OUR NEW FREEBIE:

HELP US DECIDE...AND COMMENT BELOW! 1, 2, 3, or 4?

HELP US DECIDE...AND COMMENT BELOW! 1, 2, 3, or 4?

Think about the typical, traditional early childho

Think about the typical, traditional early childhood classroom. There is little to no choice.

There are:
-Teacher-directed activities
-Pre-chosen centers
-Predetermined, closed-ended toys and activities

When children make decisions and push away distractions, this builds “executive functioning,” meaning how we focus, plan, and attend to tasks. These interconnected skills allow us to carry out critical, everyday tasks.

Choice in play helps children to block out distractions, builds focus and sustained attention and develops a deep level of engagement.

Let's look at each one.

⭐️ THE ABILITY TO BLOCK OUT DISTRACTIONS
The ability to tune out distractions is a skill based in executive function. When we give children a choice in play, they are engaging in the task of competing interests. They have to choose - where am I going to play?

It sounds simple, but it’s a significant challenge for a young child just beginning to develop executive function.

⭐️ BUILDS FOCUS AND SUSTAINED ATTENTION
Consider this – children are not born with executive function, yet in play, they can sustain their focus for long periods. When children choose their play, they are more likely to become highly focused because it’s important.

⭐️ CHOICE DEVELOPS A DEEP LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT
When children choose where, what, and who they play with, chances are good that they will become deeply engaged. This engagement activates the limbic system, which is like a light switch.

When pleasure and joy are involved, the limbic system is turned on. This releases dopamine, which is the YES - I want more chemicals. This joy and pleasure are critical for developing executive function.

Yet, play has had a bad rap for decades because it is fun. The FUN part of play is what unleashes the power of executive function.

Current brain research tells us that to properly prepare children for academic learning, they need to actively participate in their learning. Allowing them freedom of choice is the first touchpoint. 🥳

#playbasedlearning #playbasededucation #earlychildhood #earlychildhoodeducation #childled #childledlearning #learningthroughplay

THE THREE MYTHS OF CHILD-LED LEARNING Bev Bos sai

THE THREE MYTHS OF CHILD-LED LEARNING

Bev Bos said, “The child and the process are not separable: the child’s experience is the learning process.” This is the heart of child-led. ❤️

One of the tasks of the educator is to provide a “yes” environment for free play. Meaning, the children freely choose where they want to play, who they want to play with, and what they play.

But how does that look in reality? Here are three big misunderstandings around how it might look.

☑️MYTH 1: Child-led is a free for all.
Child-led is NOT unstructured or haphazard. Child-led educators are not permissive. First, as the educator, it is still my task to provide for and protect the children in my care. This means I might have shared agreements on how we treat each other and materials. Boundaries are established for physical, emotional and cognitive safety.

A child’s sense of safety is my number one priority as Magna Gerber once said, if a child does not feel safe, play can not happen. Additional, children need a predictable routine.

☑️MYTH 2: There is no group time.
Children need the power of group discussions, the opportunity to express their ideas to their peers and listen to other’s point of view.

Bev Bos wrote“We must create a time for children to talk.Too often circle times, sharing times, show and tell times are used for teacher verbalization: the teacher uses this time to “teach,” and thus we lose the value of the experience.”

I prefer to call it Talk Time or meeting time because we are not going to be doing the traditional things - rather - we will be talking!

☑️MYTH 3: There are no teacher-directed activities.
The final misunderstanding is there is no teacher-directed activities like reading a book or telling a story. This is absolutely not true.

Perhaps a better way of saying it is teachers are not teaching, they are sharing. When reading a book - there is more discussion and exchange of ideas. The key is the children are never passive in child-led learning - they are active participants in the process.

#earlychildhoodeducation #childledlearning #earlychildhood #playbasedlearning #learningthroughplay #childled

For the last five years, I have been interested in

For the last five years, I have been interested in the impact of a play-based environment on learner identity.

My investigation and research have deepened my conviction and affirmed my gut feeling—choice matters in your classroom.

I am certain that choice is one of the most critical factors in an early childhood classroom.

In my reflection on the power of choice, I realized that there are four dimensions of choice for the young child.

👉🏼Right to choose where to play.
This is the beginning of play - the choice of where to play. With this right, the child can genuinely play.

👉🏼Right to choose who to play with.
This is an essential right in the classroom. It is the foundation of building the social self. The right to choose who to play with allows children to navigate social interactions and build cooperation skills.

👉🏼Right to choose what to play with.
The right to choose what to play with allows children to explore materials that match their innate curiosity and interests.

👉🏼Right to choose how to play.
When children are free to use materials however they desire, without adult-imposed limitations, it sparks original ideas and innovative thinking. When play is teacher-driven, children become reliant on extrinsic motivation. Giving kids freedom piques their intrinsic drive to learn through meaningful play.
Then there's the brain science on the impact of choice which I will share in another post.

The old way of educating does not give children choice. We can begin to transform education by taking steps towards true choice.

I'd love your thoughts.

#playbasedlearning #earlychildhoodeducation #earlylearning #playbasededucation