Serious Fun How Guided Play Extends Children's Learning edited by Marie L. Masterson & Holly Bohart

Serious Fun How Guided Play Extends Children's Learning edited by

Marie L. Masterson & Holly Bohart published by The National Association for the Education of Young Children is first of all a book dedicated to teachers and their metodology of approach in kindergarten classrooms. This book will be inspiring, with new ideas for increasing the productivity of the daily routine in the kindergarten.

Why this title: Serious Fun?

Because what this book wants to do is to focus mainly on the importance of play in the existence of children and how, through this activity, is possible to study and learn. Play is also important because children in that particular phase of their existence will learn how to cope with difficulties once grown up.

Examples in this book are many: teachers should implement, extending, creatively, the play of the various children, without being too intrusive, but  seing what happens if a new advice is put there, with apparent casualty.

If teachers can, they should add in their conversation with children new words of the vocabulary, repeating them often, so that children can understand and memorize them for later being in grade of using them. In this way children will increase their vocabulary. The pretest should be a certain play, a dramatic play; it could be a drama, a painting, a drawing, whatever you can think your students would appreciate.

The diversification of their existence will enrich the entire classroom with their tales,different customs and traditions.

Of course, an admonition for all teachers is not to discriminate children for the colors of their skin.

Storytelling will be another important voice. Storytelling passes through movements, words, painting, sculpture, whatever communicates something to other people.

So letting see a drawing, or a sculpture, or a painting to children will mean to start a play created with fantasy, emotivity; it will be possible to understand their thoughts through their fertile imagination, and slowly, from a project made by some old masters, the new little creations of these children with their own and unique perception of reality, world and imaginery world.

Everything is math. Trees can be counted, our smart phone's got a number; we call other people through their numbers; words can be counted,we have a certain numbers of cars, and we are surrounded, in our environment, by the most diversified geometric figures. It's the reality. We live, without to know that, in a physics and mathematical world.

Although the evidency, some children don't love math. In what way is it possible to increase the interest of children on this topic? After all for all their life they will have a direct confrontation with math in a daily-base and for the most diversified reasons. In general children entering at the kindergarten have notions of math but learning and loving is not the same thing. Serious Fun treats also math seen though the eyes of The Math Center for African American Boys; choosing the best material and support will help them and the rest of students. A good knowledge of math will help all students during their future existence.

Outdoor activities, interesting games, something is clear: that the years of kindergarten are the best formative ones for the creation of good and learned children and that's why it is so important maximine the work done during these years by teachers.

Important tools, tips, advice for teachers so that they can develop their school-sessions everyday with a new idea, captivating stimulating experience for their little students.

I would warmly suggest this book to parents as well. Sometimes parents don't know how to stimuate the fantasy or creativity of their children and this book offers a lot of diversified options. For future, beautiful minds.

Highly recommended.

I thank Eurospan and The NAEYC for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori