My Connections to Play

“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.”

-Mr. Rogers

“We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing.”

-Charles Schaefer

When I was a child I remember being surrounded by all kinds of toys, but the three pictures I posted were my favorite! I was very fortunate as a child to have many adults to support my play. My parents were my biggest supporters. My mother was a stay at home mom and spent her days with my brother, sister and I. She took us to the playground and library and spent time playing at home with us. My father, even though he worked full time, always found time to play with us. I can remember whenever he came home from work my brother, sister, and I would run over to him and ask him to play with us. He always joined in our play no matter how long of a day or how tired he was.

Today as I visit families at their homes and have families join in play in my classroom I am disappointed by the interactions. I find a lot of the time in the home there is a piece of technology the child is using or the parent is not joining in with their child’s play. From my own personal observations play has been centered around technology or a parent wanting their child to know their 1,2,3’s or A,B,C’s. I hope to see play at home to go back to the way it was when I was a child. A child’s playroom is one of the greatest learning environments! (I know mine was!)

            Throughout my life play was an opportunity for me to express myself. It ranged from acting out school and playing teacher, to dressing up my dolls, to making up a new game with my brother and sister. As I learn about play now as an adult I see the vital importance of the early experiences of play and why the play in my childhood was so important!

Relationship Reflection

This photo is included in this post as an example of the nurturing relationships I have in my life.

Relationships have always been a very important aspect in my life for as long as I can remember. It began with my parents, siblings and pets. This has expanded to friendships and professional relationships. Currently I have very positive relationships with my family, my many pets (cat, dog, goats, and chickens), my friends, and I have recently created a new professional relationship with a classmate at Walden University.

I would like to begin by discussing why I included my pets as part of my relationships. My many pets that I have had over the years have taught me compassion, the importance of building trust, observation skills, and how to understand a feeling without words. As a caretaker of animals there is no true verbal communication one needs to care for an animal with the use of non-verbal communication. In order for one to meet the needs of an animal they need to know how to identify the signs of the needs to be met. I feel these relationships that I built with animals at a very young age have taught me how to communicate with compassion through non-verbal communication. Animals have taught me the importance of nurturing a relationship; which in many circumstances is showing affection and meeting basic nutritional needs of the animal.

Family and friends over the years have taught me about the work that goes into a relationship. My family and friends have always been there for me no matter what and I have always found I can count on them. They have taught me how to maintain a relationship. Positive relationships with friends and family means being an active part of a person’s life, staying up to date on recent events, effectively communicating with one another, and expressing to that person why their relationship means something to you.

My professional relationships have taught me the importance of having a professional network. By creating a professional network I have been able to use these people as a resource to expand my knowledge and grow as a professional. For example, if I were to have a question about how to handle a new situation that I had not encountered before I could talk to the people in my professional network. By talking to the people in my professional network I would be able to appropriately assess the best way to handle the situation that I had encountered based on their experiences, knowledge, and expertise.

I am most excited about my new professional relationship with a student at Walden University. The relationship has been formed based on the common ground of both being new to a leadership role in the early childhood field. Together we will share ideas, questions, and concerns. We will then collaborate with one another and build upon our leadership skills. I am very excited to see where this new relationship will take me.

As you can see each of the relationships I have discussed has helped me to become the early childhood professional I am today. I believe these relationships have made me a valued professional in the early childhood field, because I have learned how to effectively communicate, understand the importance of diversity, and show compassion towards others. It is not to go without saying that any relationship can be challenging to maintain. There will always be circumstances that make it difficult for one to continue a relationship, but if you truly want a relationship to work out no distance, time, or circumstance can get in the way.