Beyond the Shape Sorter: Playful Interactions that Promote Strong Academic & Social-Emotional Skills
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This document summarizes a presentation by Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak on promoting strong academic and social-emotional skills through playful interactions. The presentation objectives are to learn how to support child development and learning through play, create better matched learning experiences for children, and identify steps to support children who struggle with social interactions or more complex play. The presentation includes slides on providing opportunities for children's natural curiosity, responding when children struggle, and intentionally supporting relationships and play complexity.
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Beyond the Shape Sorter: Playful Interactions that Promote Strong Academic & Social-Emotional Skills
- 1. FD SMS icons 1 learn.extension.org/events/2943 Beyond the Shape Sorter: Playful Interactions that Promote Strong Academic and Social- Emotional Skills
- 2. Connecting military family service providers and Cooperative Extension professionals to research and to each other through engaging online learning opportunities militaryfamilies.extension.org MFLN Intro Sign up for webinar email notifications at militaryfamilies.extension.org/webinars 2
- 3. Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak is a {r}evolutionary speaker, researcher, and play advocate. Through podcasts, blogs, free resources, and trainings, Kristie works to nourish the hearts and minds of educators and bring back children's right to learn through play. Today’s Presenters 3 Kristie spent 16 years, as faculty, at Kent State University and now trains and coaches early educators worldwide. Kristie is a Past President of the Division for Early Childhood and works with intentness and determination to sort through the clutter and chaos to join seemingly disparate ideas. She also aims to celebrate differences and shared attributes to achieve solutions.
- 4. Beyond the Shape Sorter: Playful Interactions that Promote Strong Academic and Social-Emotional Skills Shape Sorter by Ella’s Dad, CC BY 2.0 4
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- 6. Objectives •To learn how to support children’s development and learning through play with familiar adults and with interesting toys and materials •To use knowledge of why children might struggle to create “better matched” learning experiences where children benefit from play •To identify the steps for supporting children when they struggle with social interactions and with playing in more complex ways Image from pixabay.com, CC0 6
- 7. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 7
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- 9. 9 ©2017 Kristie Pretti-Frontczak. All rights reserved. http://kristiepf.com
- 10. All logos created at flamingotext.com 10
- 11. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 “When a child’s curiosity is to you first, you can guide them to think, experiment, and learn. Without this curiosity, you are teaching compliance, passivity, and mindless actions.” -Barbara Avila, Synergy Autism Center 11
- 12. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 Provide lots of opportunities for children's natural curiosity to manifest itself. With very young children, our role is one of supporter and guide. ~ Lilian Katz 12
- 13. Used with permission, R. DiPietro-Wells 13
- 14. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 14
- 15. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 15
- 16. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 16
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- 18. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 18
- 19. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 19
- 20. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 20
- 21. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 21
- 22. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 22
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- 24. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 24
- 25. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 25
- 26. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 26
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- 29. Photospin.com/David Castillo Dominici & Bonzami, Emmanuelle 29
- 30. Photospin.com/Evgeny Karandaev & Jaimie Duplass 30
- 31. Photospin.com/Design Pics & Jaimie Duplass 31
- 33. Can you think of a time where a child struggled because something was too much, too complicated, too abstract, too specific/rigid? What would you do differently or how would you coach others to respond differently in that situation? Image from pixabay.com, CC0 33
- 34. Photospin.com/Deyan Georgiev & Jaimie Duplass 34
- 35. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 35
- 36. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 36
- 37. In the chat, tell us: •One action to create better matched learning experiences where children benefit from play •One idea to create a goldilocks state of optimal learning and development Image from pixabay.com, CC0 37
- 38. Young Angry Man by B Fatty, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (cropped) 38
- 39. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 39
- 40. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 40
- 41. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 41
- 42. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 42
- 43. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 43
- 44. Used with permission, K. Pretti-Frontczak 44
- 45. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 45
- 46. Sensory Exploration Simple Motor Actions Functional Use Representational Use Imaginary Play Cooperative Play P2107913 by Julie, Dave & Family, CC BY-SA 2.0 Child playing by kattebelletje, CC BY-NC 2.0 Hello? By Mikelikebike, CC BY-NC-ND 2 Silly Hats by Jules Konig, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Image from pixabay.com, CC0 Used with permission, R. DiPietro-Wells 46
- 47. Banging with your spoon by Liz Randall, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 JHS_4823 by John Samuel, CC BY-NC 2.0 P1030608.JPG by tomek.pl, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 In a mess by Matt Preston, CC BY-SA 2.0 Time For Some Rice Pudding by Michael Coghlan, CC BY-SA 2.0 47
- 48. Single Simple Concrete Global Familiar Preferred Self Multiple Complex Abstract Specific Unfamiliar Unpreferred Others Sensory Exploration Simple Motor Actions Functional Use Representational Use Imaginary Play Cooperative Play Image from pixabay.com, CC0 48
- 49. Image from pixabay.com, CC0 How could you more intentionally: • Support relationships, to support social-reciprocity when children struggle? •“Zig zag” when children struggle to play in more complex ways? 49
- 51. 1-2-3 Play with Me! Recognizing and Valuing the Power of Play Have A Seat! Learning What Children Know Through Play When Play is More than Just "Playing": Delivering Intentional Instruction through Daily Interactions Beyond the Shape Sorter: Playful Interactions that Promote Strong Academic and Social-Emotional Skills Shape Sorter by Ella’s Dad, CC BY 2.0 Image from pixabay.com, CC0 Box of balls by Christina Vlinder, CC BY 2.0 Jul 18 (5) by Jessica Lucia, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 51
- 52. Connect with MFLN Family Development Online! MFLN Family Development MFLN Family Development @mflnfd Talk About it Tuesday: #MFLNchat MFLN Family Development To subscribe to our MFLN Family Development newsletter send an email to: MFLNfamilydevelopment@gmail.com with the Subject: Subscribe FD SMS icons 52
- 53. MFLN Intro 53 We invite MFLN Service Provider Partners to our private LinkedIn Group! https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8409844 DoD Branch Services Reserve Guard Cooperative Extension
- 54. For more information on MFLN FD Early Intervention go to: https://militaryfamilies.extension.org/family-development/ FD Early Intervention Upcoming Event 54 Photospin.com/Yucan Chen
- 55. Through the Early Intervention Training Program at the University of Illinois, providers in Illinois can receive 1.5 hours of Early Intervention credit. Several states other than Illinois have already agreed to recognize CE units from this webinar. They are: Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and for service coordinators in Washington. All participants may receive a certificate of completion from this webinar after completing an evaluation and post-test. This certificate can sometimes be used to apply for CE credits with your credentialing body if you are not an Illinois provider. Links and further information will be available at the end of today’s presentation Evaluation and CE Credit 55 55
- 56. Webinar participants who want to receive a certificate of continuing education (or just want proof of participation in the training) need to take this post-test AND evaluation: https://vte.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3TPlSvhXP8YBZIN CE certificates of completion will be automatically emailed to participants upon completion of the post-test & evaluation. Questions/concerns surrounding CE credit certificates can be emailed to this address: MFLNFDEarlyIntervention@gmail.com Sometimes state/professional licensure boards recognize CE credits from other states. However, it is necessary to check with your state and/or professional boards if you need CE credits for your field. CE Credit Information 56 56
Notes de l'éditeur
- Coral www.extension.org/militaryfamilies Webinar notifications www.extension.org/62831
- As I introduce this webinar, I want to talk about three misconceptions, which to one degree or another, have been addressed in previous webinars and which underlie several key message in today’s webinar title: Beyond the shape sorter: Playful Interactions that Promote Strong Academic and Social-Emotional Skills Misconceptions: That relationships are somehow different than intentional teaching and supporting of early development and learning, when in fact, we need to be intentional about building and forming strong relationships. That play is separate from “real” learning (back to the mantra that play, assessment, and instruction are synonyms…and again, instruction means anything we do when interacting with children) That there are cognitive and non-cognitive skills, when in fact, there isn’t such a thing as a non-congitive skill; all skills happen within a system and are all interdependent.
- This fourth webinar also evolved out of a worry, a worry of many world wide, that the prevalence of “scripted teaching to automate and streamline children’s learning”, particularly as it relates to “academic” skills” in mathematics and literacy, has resulted in fewer authentic opportunities for self-directed learning through play. Share this as a handout https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/conferencelinks/Soft+Skills.pdf and as evidence of where we need to put our energy when it comes to “WHAT” we are teaching/supporting
- Transition to the three objectives for this final webinar… Thus, today’s webinar, the fourth in the series, ephaiszes development and learning from a whole child perspective, not just narrowly defined developmental pathways that do not accommodate “diverse ways of knowing, thinking, doing and being”.
- Objective 1 We begin, as we have with previous webinars, by talking about how relationships are the active ingredient for development and learning to take place. We also begin by reminding ourselves that we know children learn through play. Thus, by the end of this first portion of the webinar, you should have a stronger sense of how to support children’s development and learning through play with familiar adults and with interesting toys and materials.
- The emphasis on relationships stems from knowing that families are key (and by families we mean adults and siblings), but so too are others such as child care providers, teachers, etc. We’ll often emphasize the role of the parent or primary caregiver, but depending upon family configurations, capacity, and culture, the key roles and responsibilities to help children thrive may vary. Resource link: http://46y5eh11fhgw3ve3ytpwxt9r.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Key_Findings_Breakthrough_Impacts.pdf
- In the other webinars, and in my work in general, I’ve shared 10 essentials for building relationships. https://prekteachandplay.com/ten-readiness-essentials/ http://synergyautismcenter.com/why-we-must-teach-social-reciprocity-in-small-manageable-doses/# REMINDER: Relationships are actively constructed/formed and take effort. These 10 essentials are things responsive adults must intentionally do. And when we are working with families or other caregivers, much of our efforts is in how they can do these 10 things with grace and ease. In today’s webinar, we’ll unpack #1 (spark curiosity) and we’ll also go deep into #6 (scaffold and support).
- But before we dive into exploring a couple of these essentials, and without knowing too much more than the phrases on the image… For those watching live, pick one of the essentials listed and comment in the chat on how you interpret the phrase as a way to strengthen and build relationships...particularly between children and their caregivers. For those listening and who can NOT see my screen, I’ll list the 10 essentials slowly, and you pick the phrase that captures what you’d like to comment on…maybe even one that is your strengthen and one that is a challenge. For those listening after the fact, access the 10 essentials handout (https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/conferencelinks/general/Essentials+for+building+relationships.pdf), and consider how you interpret each of the phrases as a way to strengthen and intentionally build relationships...particularly between children and their caregivers. For those who offer training and support to adult leaners, check out a blog post called “Essentials for a well-balanced PD diet” where you can learn more about how to teach others about these 10 essentials. https://kristiepf.com/essentials-well-balanced-pd-diet/ Ok…for those who are listening: Spark curiosity Be responsive Reduce stressors Know what and how Pick different paths Scaffold and support Be consistent Be relevant Make connections Create calm
- Today’s webinar will dive deeper into essential #1, which is to spark curiosity…meaning, how do we capture a child’s curiosity, particularly to you/their caregiver, before we try to teach, extend, or make requests? Most of us know that “sparking” children’s curiosity isn’t difficult. Young children are endlessly curious about the world around them. And the great news is, children’s natural curiosity can easily be enhanced by creating space and time for exploration. Further, making sure we have “sparked” children’s curiosity to us, to the materials, and to the planned experiences, ensures learning will take place. “When a child’s curiosity is to you first, you can guide them to think, experiment, and learn. Without this curiosity, you are teaching compliance, passivity, and mindless actions.” ~ B. Avila of Synergy Autism Center, personal communication, April, 2016 (http://synergyautismcenter.com/)
- The not so funny thing is, we often teach all sorts of things…without ensuring CURIOSITY first. This means…we often end up teaching compliance without engagement, mindlessness instead of independent thinking, and distancing the children who may need the closest guidance. We must instead, set the essential foundations for social engagement and learning through fostering CURIOSITY. Research has demonstrated that children, including those with autism, who are curious about others and have joint attention make the most progress.
- But how do we guide or spark curiosity? In typical development, it begins with ensuring a child’s basic needs are met, and with learning they can rely on caregivers to read their cues and respond predictably. When a child feels safe, secure, and soothed by their caregivers, they have the capacity to become curious about them. This curiosity allows caregivers to promote children’s natural efforts to gather information about the environment through looking behaviors. Even within hours of birth, babies begin to visually scan and hone their visual attention skills, which rapidly improve (along with motor skills) from passive (watching) to active (making a bid for social interaction). When relationships with caregivers are strong, this longer, more complicated, and more sustained attention allows for a curiosity to form about caregivers. In some children, including those with autism, however, there may be significant regulation and sensory issues that make this early connection, curiosity, and learning, seemingly impossible. We talk a bit more about what to do in these instances, later in the webinar. Military connection – Remember it might be hard for some service members to engage with their child due to their own mental health concerns or combat effects. Providers should solicit ideas from that service member (and/or his/her partner) as to the best ways they can engage to foster the safety, security, and soothing w/in the parent/child dyad. Start small and with ideas the effected caregiver generates.
- Here are three actionable steps each of us can take to strengthen our relationships with children by sparking their curiosity. These actionable steps embody what my colleague Barbara Avila refers to as curiosity to you (C2U™). STEPS: Be a guide on the side vs. a sage on the stage (people indicated they liked this idea from webinar #3) Sit beside and get to know children before asking questions or making demands/requests (watch, imitate, and narrate) Create opportunities for children (of any age) to think, experiment, and explore and to be curious about you
- And not only do we need to spark children’s curiosity to caregivers, we also need to consider how to spark and support children’s curiosity to objects found in their environment. But why? Why exploration of objects? Maybe promoting curiosity to caregivers seems like a logical way to support development and learning…but what about curiosity with objects?
- Here’s the basic logic that research on object exploration tells us… To be “ready” for Kindergarten, and to be successful in life and in school, children need attention and focus. Attention and focus begins very early (within hours) of life…and moves quickly from watching and looking at objects to interacting and acting upon objects. Basically, children move from increased states of alertness, to spatial orientation, to attention to the features of an object, to finally, longer and more sustained attention while inhibiting attention on irrelevant stimuli. Throughout the early months and years of development, children are honing their curiosity about objects, which is creating a cascade of effects where they are able to look longer, interact with different types of objects, and begin to learn how to ignore other things that may be going on around them…all of which needed to do well across areas of devleopment and learning from motor memory to conitive flexilibty.
- So what can caregivers to to support children’s exploration of objects? Here are two suggestions: First, remember, “variety is the spice of life.” Support caregivers to ensure children have opportunities to interact with objects and materials (from within their environment) that have distinct properties in terms of size, shape, texture, and weight. CAUTION: Some children may become “overloaded” when introduced to objects with several different properties. Be sure to read children’s cues and to introduce more complex objects as they are ready and show interest. Second, allow children, particularly very young children, to explore objects with their eyes, mouths, and hands (e.g. transferring objects from hand to hand, turning and rotating them). “Visual, oral, and manual exploratory behaviors are at their peak frequency between the ages of 6 and 9 months.” and “when children visually examine an object while simultaneously rotating it is receiving rich perceptuo-motor feedback from multiple perspectives, feedback that contributes, for example, to perception of the object as a three-dimensional entity.” CAUTION: What about children with visual or motor delays? Even a single source of perceptuo-motor feedback allows children to learn how to physically respond to stimuli or cues from their surrounding environment. In a nutshell, “early object experiences often through socially embedded, free and structured play, have significant implications for the developing child…across areas of development including perceptuo-motor, social communication, and cognitive development.”
- (transition to objective 2 content) Objective 2: To use knowledge of why children might struggle to create “better matched” learning experiences where children benefit from play So we’re now headed into the 2nd portion of the webinar, where were consider what to do in instances where children struggle or where development and learning has stalled. For example, how do we support a family with their goal for their child to participate by playing with them or a toy for more that what seems like fleeting moments? Or what about a child who is going to preschool soon and still tends to mouth objects and struggles to let others join them in their play? In previous webinars, and in my work in general, I’ve summarized 7 reasons why children struggle. Refer participants to http://prekteachandplay.com/podcast2/ I’ll briefly state each of these reason and then we’ll explore each more deeply, along with solutions.
- There are too many interactions/expectations/materials
- The interactions/expectations/materials are too complex Kristie has permission from Dr. Jennifer Grisham-Brown to use this picture
- The interactions/expectations/materials are too specific Kristie has permission from Dr. Andrew Goff to use this picture
- The interactions/expectations/materials are too abstract
- The interactions/expectations/materials are too unfamiliar
- The child doesn’t prefer the interactions/expectations/materials
- The interactions/expectations/materials involve others
- So does what I just shared make some sense? Can you begin to get a see why as children get older, and the world becomes more social and unpredictable, they may struggle? We all know that development goes from: Inside to outside Back or bottom of the brain to forward or top of the brain Gross to fine Externally regulated to internally regulated Passive to active Etc. So why wouldn’t it continue to be our job to support children through these transitions/progressions? In fact, it remains critical that caregivers are willing to “play detective” when we see children struggle...and then able to take action (i.e., to create “better matched” learning experiences) where children benefit from play.
- “Playing detective”, allows us to create the ZPD/sweet spot/Goldilocks state Here’s a podcast where they can learn more about this “state” and the importance of paying attention to children’s interests: https://prekteachandplay.com/podcast25/ Image from Photospin, Tarrant, Margaret W.
- KPF to generally explain the zig zag process and the need to pull from the left side when a child struggles (e.g., to make something abstract, concrete) TEAM: We touched on this in Webinar #1 and in the follow-up video https://youtu.be/3PthDtDX8V0 Slides 29-37 will unpack the zig zag process. There is some basic text in the transcript for Podcast #2, but I will make sure it is applicable for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. I’ve included a “brief example” on each slide you’ll have a sense of what I’ll be talking about. In addition, here are a bunch of resources (share any or all) that talk about the zig zag process: https://prekteachandplay.com/podcast2 https://prekteachandplay.com/reduce-stress-zigzag/ https://prekteachandplay.com/pinpoint-why-child-struggles/ Free IEP Toolkit which contains a printable image of the zig zag process https://prekteachandplay.com/shop/iep-toolkit/ or you can share the direct download https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/kpfsite/online+courses/IEP/Module+Four/Lesson+One/Zig+Zag+Process+Handout.pdf This isn’t free, but my “Framework and Formula for Writing Meaningful IEPs” online course also has a lesson on the topic of what to do when children struggle: https://kristiepf.com/iep-online-course-buy-now/
- Images from Photospin, David Castillo Dominici & Bonzami, Emmanuelle Single to Multiple Brief Example: Single toy to play with vs. a blanket or play are with 5, 6, 7, toys Caution: Too much (too many) for the child may be too little (too few) from the caregiver perspective
- Images from Photospin, Evgeny Karandaev & Jaimie Duplass Simple to Complex Brief Example: Adding a step to the flow/interaction (e.g., going from making simple repetitive actions such as grasp and release, to needing to make different motor actions in a particular order or sequence) Caution: Complexity can be in the form of different properties of an object, how many senses are involved, and the reliance upon concurrent/intersecting skills to order be performed
- Images from Photospin, Design Pics & Jaimie Duplass Concrete to abstract Brief Example: Functional use of objects to imaginary play with objects Caution: Symbols (any one thing used to represent another) is a shift from concrete to abstract
- Images from Photospin, Evgeny Karandaev Global to specific Brief Example: Think approximation vs. exactly right…taste at least each thing on your plate, vs. eat everything on your plate; clean up your toys to where there aren’t things all over the foor vs. put each toy in it’s “exact” and proper “home.” Caution: Sometimes we tell children that an approximation is ok, but when they make that effort, we up the ante and require the exact.
- Pitstop/chat - We’re a little more than half way through the reasons why a child struggles and what you can do to zig zag your way to optimizing learning and supporting caregivers to do the same. What do you think so far? Can you think of a time where a child struggled because something was too much, too complicate, too abstract, too specific/rigid? What would you do differently or how would you coach others to respond differently in that situation?
- Image from Photospin, Deyan Georgiev & Jaimie Duplass Familiar to Unfamiliar Brief Example: Novelty of any sort (e.g., novel people, changes in routine, different response by a caregiver) can cause a child to shift from familiar to unfamiliar Caution: Sometimes when we enter a child’s play, we’re somewhat board (read the same book 100 times, lined the cars up 100 times, dressed and undressed the baby doll 100 times) and we get a little impatient and want the child to do something beyond their current capcity.
- Preferred to unpreferred Brief Example: Going to childcare wearing shorts and flip-flops regardless of weather Caution: Our tolerance for unpreferred experiences increases when we have a working memory that our preferences will return, when we have an increased sense of time, when we can trust those around us, when we know how to delay gratification, when we have empathy and can take the perspective of others…all of these things only begin emerging in early development and are skills we hone across adolencece (mid-twenty’s) and into adulthood.
- Self to others Brief Example: Playing beside other children vs. participating in a small group activity. Caution: Related to the notion of passive vs. active; social engagement, interest in doing things with others, happens when a child can predict what will happen, when there is some trust with the “other”, and when the exchanges with the “other” aren’t also too many, too complex, too abstract etc.
- Pitstop/chat - Ok...so there are the 7 reasons why children struggle and since it is our job to play detective when we see them struggle or when development and learning has stalled...what is one action you can take to create better matched learning experiences where children benefit from play? In other words, how will you create and support others to create...a goldilocks state of optimal learning and development?
- Transition to content around objective #3, which is to identify the steps for supporting children when they struggle with social interactions and with playing in more complex ways
- Social reciprocity is the heart and soul of early interactions/relationships/learning and is often what children with disabilities, particularly those experiencing autism, struggle with. Definition: “Social reciprocity is the back-and-forth flow of social interaction. The term reciprocity refers to how the behavior of one person influences and is influenced by the behavior of another person and vice versa.” Explain how it relates to the idea of “serve and return” https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/three-core-concepts-in-early-development/ Resource on social receiprocity: http://synergyautismcenter.com/why-we-must-teach-social-reciprocity-in-small-manageable-doses/ Social-reciprocity SKILLS/examples: Maintenance of interactions, and turn-taking with materials Turn taking and contingent use of language to establish early conversational abilities; rate of communication, repair, persistence Awareness of others’ reactions and making adjustments to our own actions Increasing frequency of communication across social contexts and interactive partners Maintaining interactions by taking turns Providing contingent responses to bids for interaction initiated by others Recognizing and attempting to repair breakdowns in communication Prioritizing what to give attention to
- Caregiver and infant reciprocity starts naturally adding distractors, locations, and more (e.g., objects) while the infant/child learns how to prioritize the social engagement with exploration. However, for a variety of reasons, some caregivers/family members, may have or struggle with social reciprocity, making it hard to model and/or support a child to gain this critical skill. ROBYN anything specific here? What to do in the case when a child struggles with social-reciprocity? Support caregivers to “respond appropriately with eye contact, words, or a hug” to keep the back and forth going. And when exchanges break down, caregivers need to do the “heavy lifting” to help children learn how to prioritize their attention by often scaling back to ensure C2U™ and then slowly introducing more/different, etc. Support caregivers to be “sensitive and responsive to a young child’s signals and needs” – Listen to this podcast about the difference between needs and wants https://prekteachandplay.com/podcast20/ Support caregivers to scaffold and support their child’s ability to prioritize what to focus on, how to shift attention, and how to repair interactions when needed. This can be done by buffering “toxic” stressors and supporting growth promoting stressors. – Read this blog about how to reduce stressors https://prekteachandplay.com/reduce-stress-zigzag/
- In addition to concerns when children struggle with social-reciprocity, there is a concern when a child is good at playing alone - but struggles to allow you or others to join or engage in their play. Think of it as getting stuck in a loop, where it becomes difficult for the child to tolerate expansions/additions to their “play.” How do you help guide a child to shared play - shared control over the materials (turn taking), shared roles during play (I do, you do)? To dig deeper into what is meant by shared control they can check out this post: http://synergyautismcenter.com/reframe-controlling-behavior/ (http://synergyautismcenter.com/reframe-controlling-behavior/)
- Here are a few strategies for supporting social reciprocity and/or helping children to “allow” you/caregivers” to “enter” into their play: 1. Sit near (watch and learn) Allow the child to process you being nearby Begin to consider your “in”
- Continued Solutions/Strategies 2. Bid for back and forth co-regulation Bid can and should be quite small at first....it can be a look, a touch, a gesture, and in some cases, a comment (e.g., affirmation of the emotion the child is demonstrating). Touch the object and let go Touch them Ok to go back and forth with touch, remove touch, etc. Aim to not escalate (can only teach before the peak – see next slide)
- Continued Solutions/Strategies Your bid during the peak is just like any other time you want to interact with a child. For example, you adjust proximity, make eye contact, establish a joint reference to an object, and/or make a statement, gesture, or facial expression to represent a feeling. Your bids as you “weather the storm”, however, must be simpler and smaller (more manageable for the child to receive). You must be willing to experiment with your bids and determine if they are a match and/or simple/small enough. Keep in mind, you will likely guess wrong many times, so do your best to remember what your bid was, how the child responded, and track over time to find a pattern. The child’s response to your bid may also “appear” to be socially unacceptable (e.g., they push your hand away, throw an object offered, run from you); however, you try to consider their response carefully. Try to determine if they are in the smallest way, showing they are ready for some sort of reciprocal exchange. For example, you offer a object, they push it away, you pause and offer the object again, they pause a bit longer before pushing away). This exchange could signify they are accepting your bid and are trying to work with you to “get off the red train.”
- Continued Solutions/Strategies 3. Allow child to SEEK your contributions - Elaborate in some way and if they tolerate that, see if they are curious about you 4. Add new challenges This can be where you intentionally teach and/or embed an IFSP/IEP outcome/goal 5. Return to easy co-regulation 6. End interaction leaving child wanting more
- And how about when there is a concern for a child who as they get older, doesn’t also begin to play and explore objects in more complex ways? In a previous webinar, we talked about a trajectory, or progression of how children typically explore and interact with objects: Sensory exploration Simple motor actions Functional use Representational use Imaginary play Cooperative play Paying attention to this trajectory helps us know where children will be naturally curious and how ready they are to move from one way of interacting with objects to another. This knowledge about how to support and scaffold children’s natural curiosity about objects in their environment, will be explored further when we talk about children who are struggling or when development has stalled. For example, we know that poverty and other prolonged risk factors are associated with a child’s ability to attend and interact with objects, and that even by 6 months of age, delays between children living in poverty and higher SES are evident when it comes to learning to: Looking longer and at more complex things Looking multiple times at multiple objects Moving from a preference of static to dynamic Modulating attention based upon visual complexity These delays are then associated with children’s overall attention, cognitive flexibly, and even motor memory…thereby inpacting their ability to gain essetial life skills, including those in the areas of vocabulty, reading, and math.
- So how do we support children to move through the trajectory of object exploration and play? It begins by knowing where the child is now in terms of interacting with objects…and then beginning to invite and support them just one level up or even at the same level, but by zig zagging over to the right side. For example, if a child is “really good” at using simple motor actions on objects, but tends to do the same ones (the preferred and familiar) like banging or throwing, once you have C2U™, introduce novel or unfamiliar motor actions they can imitate before scaffolding them to the next milestone which is functional use of objects. This solution can also help when a child who uses the strategies that have been successful in the past, even if they are not longer effective. For example, grabbing used to be a way to get what they needed or to get attention. Now it makes others upset or want to avoid the child. In this instance, the child’s cognitive flexibly is underdeveloped and needs to be strengthened before moving forward. In other words, see if you can give the child another simple motor action before expecting them to know when they can use different action during different situations.
- Basically to support children who are struggling or when development and learning has stalled, we don’t always want to think about vertical learning. Sometimes we stay where they are, and zig zag from the right hand to the left hand side to provide scaffolding and support. Stay at functional use of objects but invite the child to tolerate unfamiliar or preferred objects. And as needed, we can even go back to foundational things such as making sure we have strong relationships, that the child can focus and attend on caregivers they are curious about, etc. before trying to get them do do something more complex or a later skill in the trajectory.
- Bring closure to objective 3 (To identify the steps for supporting children when they struggle with social interactions and with playing in more complex ways) What can you do differently and/or more intentionally to support relationships, to support social-reciprocity when children struggle? What can you do differently and/or more intentionally to “zig zag” when children struggle to play in more complex ways?
- Closure on Beyond the Shape Sorter – Webinar #4: What is your biggest take away? If it helps, consider these main themes: Relationships reign supreme…. Children learn academic and social skills from the relationships which they have with their caregivers and other people significant in their lives Aim to create a goldilocks state…Children learn academic and social skills when they are in the “zone” The guides job is to create opportunities for serve and return interactions and to find ways to enter into a child’s play Or if it helps, think back to to the misperceptions about relationships, play, and skills mentioned at the start of webinar 4: That relationships are somehow different that intentional teaching and supporting of early development and learning The play is separate from “real” learning (back to the mantra that play, assessment, and instruction are synonyms…and again, instruction means anything we do when interacting with children) That there are cognitive and non-cognitive skills…no such thing as a non-congitive skill; all skills happen within a system and are all interdependent.
- And then your final call to action….access all four webinars so you can debunk these misperceptions, and maintain your ”Peter Pan” beliefs in the power of play. 1-2-3 Play with Me – Webinar #1: To better understand the importance of play, exploration, and early experiences on development and learning To use common play milestones and states as a guide to scaffold children’s ability to interact with objects and others To analyze and evaluate a child’s current level of development and zone of proximal development when it comes to the stages of play To deepen their commitment to fostering strong relationships with children and help them thrive by expanding the richness and complexity of their play Have A Seat! – Webinar #2: To better understand how assessment, instruction, and play are synonyms and work in concert with one another To use every day routines and interactions for assessing what children know and can do To learn how to foster stronger relationships with children through authentic assessment practices When Play is More than Just Playing – Webinar #3: To better understand how to intentionally teach and guide children’s development and learning in a “playful” way To strengthen the use of everyday routines and interactions to create embedded learning opportunities designed to teach academic and social skills To learn strategies for being a strong play partner, even for children who struggle with social interactions and playing in more complex ways
- In addition, we would like to invite our MFLN Service Provider partners (such as DoD, branch services, Guard and Reserve service providers and Cooperative Extension professionals) to continue the discussion in our private and moderated LinkedIn group. Please click the link to join the group or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!
- 2018 Series Topic: Supporting Parents and Families of Young Children with Speech, Language, and Communication Challenges