My Connections to Play

There are a couple of quotes that sum up what childhood play represents for me.

“Play is the work of the child.” - Maria Montessori

“Play is the only way the highest intelligence of humankind can unfold.” - Joseph Chilton Pearce

“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” - Kay Redfield Jamison

 

As a child, I enjoyed playing with my brother and sister a lot, we did a lot of painting and art work; we also spent a lot of time outside riding bicycles in the playground.  My mother always encouraged us to find ways to play together by making up our own games.  My parents introduced us to many activities like sports, playing musical instruments, and arts; they let us decide which one we preferred and encouraged us to explore that activity further. They would also spend a lot of time with us to guide us through our play.

During my childhood, my siblings and I were not allowed to watch TV for too long, instead we were encouraged to spend time playing outside. This allowed us to make friends and engage in physical activities.  I feel that children today prefer playing video games or watch TV rather than spend time running or riding bicycles outside.  It  makes me sad to see children who spend all day watching TV because their parents are too busy to spend some play time with them.

Play is a way for children to develop social skills, and also to have healthy physical and cognitive development. It teaches children to be creative and broadens their imagination.  Children need to run and play to explore their abilities. I believe that children need to be happy to have a healthy development.  

Relationship Reflection

    Relationships and partnerships are important to me because they create support and trust between people.  Everyone needs at least one source of support in order to have the feeling of belonging to society.  Having healthy social relationships enables us to discuss issues we have, assist one another and also learn more about ourselves.   

      One of the positive relationships I have is with my husband;  we have been married for a little more than a year and we have been going through life together. We support each other's ideas and we help each other through tough times.  Because we are both working and studying to improve our lifestyle, I believe that our relationship can also be considered a partnership.      

       Another positive relationship I have is with my parents, they have both been very supportive and always encouraged me to do more with my life.  They have always guided me and helped me make the right decisions. 

     The relationship I have with my colleagues at work is also a positive one.  We spend a lot of time together at work to discuss any challenges we face or to exchange advice and information.        

      Contributing to these positive relationships helped me become a better person and teacher; I have learned a lot from my parents and I have received so much support from them, so I try to give the same kind of support to my students.  Learning to listen to others and understand their ideas or problems helped me become more understanding and flexible while talking to my students' parents.