
PLAY BUNNI HOW WE FIRST MET WORKING HOW TO
Except for the short periods of snacking, cleaning up, or listening to a book, almost everything children are doing at school could be described as "play."ĭoes this mean that we shouldn't worry about helping children learn how to play? How to listen and talk? How to interpret print? Should we concentrate on teaching children about print and leave them alone to develop their language and play skills on their own? Or, do we need to support children's learning of language, but not intervene in play? Even when children are not talking to each other, they listen to the teacher's directions, respond to her questions, attend to the book she shares with them, or identify their cubbies with their names written on them. Language, oral as well as written, permeates all classroom activities. And all this happens while children talk and play with each other. These two play episodes can be seen in any one of the thousands of early childhood classrooms where children explore, experiment, and master the beginnings of literacy, numeracy, and science. "Choo-choo," echoes Maria, bringing her caboose to a stop.

"Vroom-vroom," roars Jason as he moves his red truck back and forth. In the block area, Luke is stacking blocks on top of one another while Maria and Jason play with trains and cars. She quickly gets up and leaves the dramatic-play area.

"You have to eat your vegetables first," chides Sonya, moving a plate with plastic broccoli closer to Alyssa. Alyssa joins her friend at the table and pretends to take a bite of cake.
