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More Than Fun and Games
Chloe Robson, our Head of Early Years, shares that “the Early Years is such an important part of your child’s education. It sets the foundations for everything your child will learn throughout their whole learning journey from early childhood into adolescence.”
A common topic of conversation with your child is, “what did you do at school today?” and a common response is, “I played!” While it may seem like a simple concept on the surface, play is a fundamental vehicle for all the learning that has taken place throughout the school day.Both child-directed and adult-led play support your child in developing academic understanding across the curriculum, as well as crucial social and emotional development.
The work of Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development, emphasized the importance of play on cognitive development. His theories recognize play as a crucial tool for allowing children to explore and make sense of the world around them as well as make connections between new and old learning.
Building the Foundations of Learning
In our Early Years classrooms, our teachers work closely with children to develop confidence, creativity, and purposeful learning. Their carefully planned experiences enable children to put exploration and experience hand-in-hand with cognitive development. For example,
A child playing with blocks is not only building; they are also developing their imagination, ability to share and problem solve, spatial awareness, understanding of shapes, numbers, and so much more.
A child playing dress-up is not only playing pretend; they are also developing their language skills, fine motor & hand-eye coordination for writing, creativity and early story telling.
In our Early Years classrooms at BISC, South Loop, our teachers plan play experiences to challenge the children’s intellectual curiosity and make sense of the ever-changing world around them. Carefully planned, purposeful play can expose your young child to academic concepts that traditionally may not be introduced until later in their school journey.
Take the concept of fractions for example, through play, our teachers can challenge a 3-year-old’s understanding of how to divide objects or groups of toys into groups for ‘sharing’. They view this as part of ‘playing’ but it helps set the foundation for later learning, so in Year 2 for example when they begin learning about fractions, they already have the fundamental understanding of what this means.
Come & Play!
You can learn more about our Early Years offeringat BISC, South Loop, where we use play to not only foster the social and emotional development of your child but also as an important learning tool to drive academic success through our carefully planned play experiences.Together, we can help your child thrive in their educational journey from the Early Years and beyond.
