05/15/2023
AHOY MATES!!! We have room for three little ones of any age! Call or text: (515) 664-1326

Bruce D Perry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6kDeBaJi0M
From birth, we seek intimate connections, bonds made possible by empathy — the ability to love and to share the feelings of others. Review scientific and historical examples of how empathy develops, why it is essential to our development, and how the modern world threatens it. Explore how compassion underlies the qualities that make society work and how difficulties related to empathy are key factors in social problems, mental illness, and even physical health. Learn how recent technological changes, child-rearing practices, education, and lifestyles affect a child's understanding of human contact and deep relationships, the foundation for empathy and a caring, healthy society. Take home practical ideas for combating the negative influences of modern life and fostering social change.
Peter Gray
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg-GEzM7iTk&t=126s
In this talk, Dr. Peter Gray compellingly brings attention to the reality that over the past 60 years in the United States there has been a gradual but, overall dramatic decline in children's freedom to play with other children, without adult direction. Over this same period, there has been a gradual but overall dramatic increase in anxiety, depression, feelings of helplessness, su***de, and narcissism in children and adolescents. Based on his own and others' research, Dr. Gray documents why free play is essential for children's healthy social and emotional development and outlines steps through which we can bring free play back to children's lives.
Elements of play-based learning
For play-based learning to work, educators create a very deliberate environment that encourages the child to participate. Play-based learning involves the following elements:
Self-direction: The child chooses what they play and how they play. Adults can supervise, accompany or potentially suggest ideas, but the child decides the rest.
Unstructured Exploration: The child is allowed to explore for themselves and select objects or activities based on their own interests. It is important that the environment includes lots of options, but it is ultimately left up to the child.
Fun: Play must be enjoyable for the child. Adults should not force certain activities as it’s important that the child is enjoying what they are doing.
Process-oriented: It is the process of the play that is important, there is no end goal or correct response.
Language and literacy development
Studies show that play promotes a child’s literacy and language development. During preschool years, a child’s vocabulary grows and develops significantly and play-based learning encourages conversations to occur in a natural way. Even participating in individual play-based learning encourages language and communication. A child will often speak to themselves while playing or narrate the toys they are playing with, even acting out multiple sides of a conversation.
When playing with each other, children engage in different forms of communication, including storytelling, negotiation, and goal sharing. For example, when playing “school,” children will decide who is the teacher and who are the students.
Adults can support language development through play by encouraging conversation, asking questions, and introducing new words.
Social and emotional skills
Play-based learning is important to a child’s development of social and emotional skills, such as the ability to develop positive relationships with peers. As children play together, they learn to get along with one another, cooperate, communicate effectively, problem solve and resolve conflicts. They are learning to take turns, wait and share their materials. These are crucial skills for later in life!
Play also has a positive impact on the development of emotional skills. As children play they learn about empathy, recognising their emotions and how to regulate them. Commonly known as “Play Therapy”, psychologists encourage play as a stress relief and as a healthy way for children to work through their stressors.
From birth, we seek intimate connections, bonds made possible by empathy — the ability to love and to share the feelings of others. Review scientific and his...
