關於 play development, and early education ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

I’d like to share an article from Kindermusik’s “Minds on Music” blog. It expresses our thoughts on why #MusicMatters in early childhood development, and yet how it is the least prioritised in the schooling system.

When there is a lack of access to these resources, music education becomes an issue of equity. While some families are able to afford opportunities for children, others get left behind.

Part of our priority this year is to do our part in filling this gap. On the one side, it is about education— helping organisations and communities understand the value of arts-based and play-based opportunities.

On the other, it is about doing our part in providing these opportunities for families, regardless of their capacity.

@baumhausHK and @kindermusikHK have started on this advocacy, and as this next quarter comes in, I can’t wait to share more.

In the meantime, check out the blog article by Deanne Kells, and also the 2020 “Music for Every Child” report by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Getty Foundation.

www.Kindermusik.com/minds on music/music-in-schools-post-covid-is-critical/

#BaumhausHK #KindermusikHK #MusicInDevelopment #MusicandMovement #PlayBasedLearning #artseducationmatters

When @aliceandolivia approached me with the opportunity to go #CasualforACause, what made me giddy was that I got to choose the charity they will support!

Until the end of January, 20% of the net sale of these two pants will go directly to #OneSkyHK.

The mission of @oneskyorg is close to my heart. They believe that it is every child’s birth right to have full access to loving, nurturing card and quality early education.

In Hong Kong, their PC Lee Global Center for Child Development is an integrated space, offering free access to educational play and programs for children and their families.

Our team actually helped design their educational playroom, and we are so thrilled that a sanctuary like theirs exists to support the Sham Shui Po community.

Check out www.OneSky.org to know more!

@iammakeupartistyannie @styledbybhisan @jeffip

#AliceandOlivia #StaceyBendet #AOHongKong @aliceandolivia_hongkong

- Hôm nay chúng ta cùng luyện 1 bài đọc và xem những từ vựng hay trong bài đó nha.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILDREN'S PLAY

Brick by brick, six-year-old Alice is building a magical kingdom. Imagining fairy-tale turrets and fire-breathing dragons, wicked witches and gallant heroes, she's creating an enchanting world. Although she isn't aware of it, this fantasy is helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity and so it will have important repercussions in her adult life.

wicked (adj): độc ác;
gallant (adj): dũng cảm
enchanting (adj): mê hoặc;
repercussion (n): kết quả

Minutes later, Alice has abandoned the kingdom in favour of playing schools with her younger brother. When she bosses him around as his 'teacher', she's practising how to regulate her emotions through pretence. Later on, when they tire of this and settle down with a board game, she's learning about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner.

abandon (v): bỏ rơi
regulate (v): điều chỉnh

'Play in all its rich variety is one of the highest achievements of the human species,' says Dr David Whitebread from the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, UK. 'It underpins how we develop as intellectual, problem-solving adults and is
crucial to our success as a highly adaptable species.'

achievement (n): thành quả
intellectual (n): người trí thức

Recognising the importance of play is not new: over two millennia ago, the Greek philosopher Plato extolled its virtues as a means of developing skills for adult life, and ideas about play-based learning have been developing since the 19th century.
But we live in changing times, and Whitebread is mindful of a worldwide decline in play, pointing out that over half the people in the world now live in cities. 'The opportunities for free play, which I experienced almost every day of my childhood, are becoming increasingly scarce,' he says. Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic, as well as parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime, and by the emphasis on 'earlier is better' which is leading to greater competition in academic learning and schools.
International bodies like the United Nations and the European Union have begun to develop policies concerned with children's right to play, and to consider implications for leisure facilities and educational programmes. But what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on.

mindful (adj): quan tâm
scarce (adj): ít
perception (n): quan điểm
implication (n): ngụ ý

'The type of play we are interested in is child-initiated, spontaneous and unpredictable - but, as soon as you ask a five-year-old "to play", then you as the researcher have intervened,' explains Dr Sara Baker. 'And we want to know what the long-term impact of play is. It's a real challenge.' Dr Jenny Gibson agrees, pointing out that although some of the steps in the puzzle of how and why play is important have been looked at, there is very little data on the impact it has on the child's later life.
Now, thanks to the university's new Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL), Whitebread, Baker, Gibson and a team of researchers hope to provide evidence on the role played by play in how a child develops.
'A strong possibility is that play supports the early development of children's self-control,' explains Baker. 'This is our ability to develop awareness of our own thinking processes - it influences how effectively we go about undertaking challenging activities.'

spontaneous (adj): bất ngờ
unpredictable (adj): không thể đoán được
impact (n): ảnh hưởng possibility (n): khả năng
self-control (n): tự kiểm soát

In a study carried out by Baker with toddlers and young pre-schoolers, she found that children with greater self-control solved problems more quickly when exploring an unfamiliar set-up requiring scientific reasoning. 'This sort of evidence makes us think that giving children the chance to play will make them more successful problem-solvers in the long run.'
If playful experiences do facilitate this aspect of development, say the researchers, it could be extremely significant for educational practices, because the ability to self-regulate has been shown to be a key predictor of academic performance.
Gibson adds: 'Playful behaviour is also an important indicator of healthy social and emotional development. In my previous research, I investigated how observing children at play can�give us important clues about their well-being and can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.'

toddler (n): trẻ mới biết đi
pre-schooler (n): trẻ nhỏ tuổi
unfamiliar (adj): không quen thuộc facilitate (n): tạo điều kiện cho
diagnosis (n): chẩn đoán
autism (n): tự kỷ

Bài đọc trích từ Cambridge IELTS 14, ai chưa có bộ Cam này không?

上集提到，由美國學者所創的 tools of the mind 課程，學生既可以每日返學，只係以玩遊戲方式學習，學術能力和自制能力亦明顯比其他小朋友優勝，而且更有獨立科學研究確認它的功效，到底 tools 課程有何特別之處？

其中一個與傳統教育方法最大的差異是，以往若我們想去調整小孩的行為，一般都會用獎勵正面行為、懲罰負面行為的方法。但從tools of the mind 課程的角度看，這些外來的引導手法(external reinforcement systems)，其實有很多缺點，例如小朋友會變得只是識得服從、缺乏自發性，而且功效不持久，當不再有獎或者罰的時候，他們的行為便可能不再受到控制。

所以，在 tools 課室內，是不會有獎勵或懲罰的。因為 tools 的理念認為，小朋友的學習方式，是一個由內在牽動的自發過程(self-regulation)，家長老師應該做的，是營造一個合適的環境，提供適當的輔助去誘導學生自發的學習。而最有效的方法，就是讓他們玩遊戲！

參考資料
www. toolsofthemind. org

Tough P. Can Play Teach Self-Control? New York Times Magazine, September 25, 2009
Branson P. & Merryman A. 2011. NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children

Bodrova E. 2008. Make-believe play vs. academic skills: A Vygotskian approach to today’s dilemma of early childhood education. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal 2008

Istomina, Z.M. 1977. The developmental of voluntary memory in preschool-age children. In Soviet developmental psychology, ed. M. Cole. New York: M.E. Sharpe

Manuilenko, Zinaida V. 1975. The Development of Voluntary Behavior by Preschool-age Children. Soviet Psychology and Psychiatry

在幼兒教育的研究領域入面，一直存在兩派陣營。一派認為，學業愈早開始愈好，應該一出世便開始玩閃卡認字，兩歲便入幼稚園學讀書寫字、日日做功課，最好入小學前已經學識小一、二、三的課程，贏在起跑線。

另一派則認為，過度催谷小朋友的學業，非但不能確保他們將來學有所成，而且仲可能會造成小朋友將來的心理問題、情緒問題。家長老師應該跟隨小朋友的進度，讓他們自由自在的探索世界，培養社交能力，這樣比學會讀書寫字重要得多。小朋友不應在學業上有任何壓力。

究竟哪一種說法才對？一派的目標是，希望催谷小朋友在學術上的認知能力(cognitive abilities)，而另一派的目標是，希望小朋友的性格、心智可以健康發展(mental development)。

又或者，其實有沒有辦法可以兩者兼得？

參考資料
www. toolsofthemind. org

Tough, P. “Can Play Teach Self-Control?” New York Times Magazine, September 25, 2009

Bronson, Po, and Ashley Merryman. "Chapter 8: Can Self-Control Be Taught?" NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children. New York: Twelve, 2009.

Bodrova, E., “Make-believe Play vs. Academic Skills: A Vygotskian Approach to Today’s Dilemma of Early Childhood Education” European Early Childhood Education Research Journal. 2008