Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood (Paperback)

Paperback. The host of the internationally popular early childhood podcast That Early Childhood Nerd provides a framework for understanding the importance of free play.Free play is disappearing from the lives of too many young children, leaving them vulnerable to negative effects on their physical and mental health, social and emotional growth, and academic development. Heather Bernt-Santy makes a powerful, research-based case for taking childrens right to play seriously. She helps readers understand and resist the pressures and cultural influences that set up barriers to free play. Early care and education practitioners will learn how to see, support, and interpret play to those who are skeptical or unsure of plays benefits. Each chapter includes a scenario that offers readers the opportunity to closely observe childrens play through the lens of Chris Atheys schema play theory. This framework will help educators advocate for play by identifying its contributions to childrens overall development.Book Features:Introduces Chris Atheys theory of schema play and explores eight play schemas, including relevant research and child play scenarios.Offers guidance for explaining the importance of play to a variety of stakeholders, including colleagues, families, program administrators, and policymakers.Provides a framework to help educators identify learning in childrens play and to extend the learning they see with young children (from birth to 5 years old).Explores how free play supports school readiness, brain development, social-emotional development, literacy development, and math and science learning. Drawing on research and real-life scenarios, this work deciphers the vanishing world of free play and its impact on childrens physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Emphasizing schema play theory, it equips educators to recognize, support, and advocate for the essential learning that play provides. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…