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My Connections to Play

Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.

Kay Redfield Jamison
Contemporary American professor of psychiatry

In play a child always behaves beyond his average age, above his daily behavior. In play it is as though he were a head taller than himself.

Lev Vygotsky
Russian psychologist
1896–1934

http://www.thestrong.org/about-play/play-quotes

  

Describe how people supported play when you were younger and/or the role of play in your childhood.

Well I don’t really know how to answer this. When I was 4 I suffered a third degree burn to my right hand and spent about a year to a year and a half in a hospital unable to use my hands. One was covered with medically dressing ( I had to have multiple surgeries on that hand) and one had IV’s in it. I don’t remember much from that time period at all. But I always loved playing with the above toys.  

The thing that sticks out the most about my child play is that boys were not encouraged to participate in dramatic play, and girls was not encouraged to play sports. Today it’s the total opposite, boys are not only encouraged but they enjoy playing in the dramatic play area with the dolls and cooking. Also girls are being encouraged not only to play sports but to play them with the boys. I feel that this teaches are children that they are all equal regardless of their gender.  I hope that government and school wake up and see that children are learning so much when they play, it’s not just them having fun. I didn’t play much when I was growing up, I always had to be the little grown up with responsibility. When I started taking care of my younger siblings I watched how they would learn from playing with each other. I loved the way that they were learning shapes, colors, etc. just from play. From them I learned that play is the best way for children to learn.

Relationship Reflection

<<<Me and 1 of my grandsons Dom
M<<<My 2 dogs Goldie (black one) annd Brandie (brown one) & my grand dog Zippy and grand cat Billy<<2 of my daughter by other parents, me and my son. (I raised the girls from the ages of 6 and 5).
This is the love of my life my little king Vynsint he was born at 26 weeks gestation and was given a 50/50 chance of living.


This is my 3rd daughter by other parents and my granddaughter Char-Char


This young lady is my granddaughter Autumn and my little king.

Relationships/Partnerships are important to me because they help to give my life meaning, joy, love,  and raising my daughters taught me that I’m a strong person and despite my upbringing I’m a good parent. Everyone needs to have special relationships with people in their life to help them grow and learn and develop. When you have partnerships with people in your life you also learn and develop from them. Relationships and partnerships allow you to develop an understanding about others and their needs, wants, history and culture.

I have a positive relationship with my children. With the girls it was a learning process I was 19 when I inherited them. I didn’t know much about positive parenting ( I come from an abusive home). All I knew is that I wanted them to have a better life than I had growing up. I always keep an open line of communication with them, I included them in decisions and I asked for their input on everything. I made mistakes along the way but because I always talked to them it helped. Communication is the most important thing to keeping a relationship or a partnership alive and working correctly, it is also the most challenging part.

Thanks to my children and having to grow up and become a parent at an early age I learned that communication is very important. I feel that learning that had having to ask for help with raising them sometimes from the teachers that they had has made me a better teacher. I understand that when families are having a hard time it’s not always easy for them to ask for help. I learned to observe not only the children but the parents also. I learned how to offer help without making the families feel bad about needing the help. Most important thing that I learned from my kids is that I love working with children and that I want to be there from the start when the need for a tender hand is the most important and can make the most difference in a child’s and their families life.