How can we help the child to play and learn?
Are you worried because your child
- is often passive or gets lost in repetitive activities?
- does not play and has no interest in learning and actively exploring his surroundings?
- does not actively use his hands to play and explore objects?
This is an increasingly common problem. Some children have difficulties in basic early development and are unable to play, have no interest in exploring objects, which limits or even hinders their learning. Adults are often desperate because their child doesn't seem to understand and they can't teach their child anything, and are urgently looking for for support to help their child.
In this chapter show I will show you how you can help your child learn to play and understand how to learn and how the world works through simple play activities.
Your child can play and learn too!
Discover how to play
Yesterday, Kiril picked up a flower pot in the garden and turned it over. He was visibly surprised when a few ceramic shards fell out. I couldn't believe it when he bent down to pick them up and put them back in the flowerpot, only to tip them out again. Next he squatted down, tipped them out and put them back in - a new game he had never played before.
Then he got a little overconfident and the shards scattered all over the floor. One landed on a small metal plate. It made a ringing sound and he repeated his previous action, apparently to make the same sound again. Then he picked up the plate and placed it on the flowerpot, then lifted it again to peer inside. He noticed that it was empty, reached out and put some of the soil I used to plant my pots in it. I could hardly believe it: He was actually playing! I had never seen him play like that before!
I'm so glad we talked the other day about how play is developing. First, he repeated actions he was familiar with that we practiced in the Waldon lessons. I could really see how much he was learning from the unexpected events, - and then he even added a variation by putting in soil. He was so focused. And I knew I had to keep my mouth shut and resist my urge to take over, praise or try to teach him anything.
Shashenka - Mother of Kiril (6 years old)
How can you help your child:
This course focuses on the child's cognitive development and the principles of early learning using a singles unique development model for early play, which is almost completely unknown in Germany. This enables a completely new view of early play and how children learn to learn, and learn to understand, and allows us to see and approach learning difficulties and challenging behaviors with new eyes.
It contains in short texts much of what I have learned for 40 years about early play and the Waldon method from experienced colleagues and from my own experience with children, young people and their families have learned and would like to make them available here - for the first time in German.
This chapter consists of 7 lessons in which I show you, how to teach your child through simple play activities can help them learn to play and learn to learn.
What you will find in this course:
- Overview & Explanatory model, to understand and resolve learning difficulties in a new way
- Play materials, activities & strategies, so that the child can get into action Playing and learning to learn
- Clear instructions with many examples and pictures
- Examples & real stories on the developmental progress of children
- Checklists as PDF for download
Some things in this course may surprise you and invite you to play with your child in new and perhaps unfamiliar ways, helping them to understand the world through play activities that are simpler than you can imagine, and through play and learning.
2.1 INTRODUCTION: Children who do not play and learn
- Redefining the problem
- Overview of the course
- Learning difficulties: A unique perspective
- Challenges: Primary or secondary
- Challenging behaviors and their function
2.2 An evolutionary development model
- Parallel strands of development
- Principles of early learning
- The development of understanding
- How does interest develop?
- Learning does NOT start with imitation
- Learning for children with learning difficulties
- The development of learning to learn skills: Development diagram
2.3 Early play I: The BASICS - Physical movement
- Learning begins with movement
- Sensory integration
- Knowing where the body is located in space
- Autism begins as a movement disorder
2.4 Early Game II: The BEGINNINGS - Using your hands
- Learning by DOING
- Prerequisites for learning to learn
- The importance of HANDS
- Treasure baskets: The best activity center for small children
2.5 Early Game III: UNDERSTAND how to play - continuity skills
- The ability to make connections: Continuity behavior
- Components of continuity capability
- Form patterns: EXAMPLES of continuity capability
2.6 Filling development gaps: Non-interactive LEARN lessons
- The non-interactive Waldon lesson
- The Waldon companion
- Why you should NOT praise
- The basic equipment for Waldon lessons
- The child's „learning by doing“ profile
- First steps: BASIC Waldon activities
- Learning by doing 1: TAKE & REINTEGRATE
- Learning by doing 2: TAPPING + HITTING & WIPING + SCRAPING
- Learning by Doing 3: HAND TOOLS
- What happens next: Add VARIATIONS
- Dealing with challenging behavior
- Specific Waldon materials/equipment
2.7 Learning to LEARN Skills: Organizing the world
- LEARNING SKILLS - Organizing the world
- Understanding DIFFERENCES: Assign
- Understanding SIMILARITIES: Sort
- Understanding sequences & series: Sequences
- Understanding DRAWING: 2D & doodling & drawing
- Understanding CONSTRUCTION: Perceiving 3D & perspectives
- Understanding CODING: the beginnings of reading and writing
