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Field Visit to Rinphung ECCD

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 My visit to the Rinphung ECCD Center was a very meaningful learning experience. The center was inclusive and child-friendly, with both indoor and outdoor games, although more focus was given to indoor activities. I found it especially interesting how Bhutanese culture was integrated into children’s learning through weaving, traditional art and musical instruments. Most of the learning materials were made from local and natural materials, which are beneficial for small children because they are safe, hands-on, creative and help children connect with their environment and culture. I also observed that the facilitators guided the children instead of directly instructing them. This approach encourages children to explore, think independently, build confidence and learn at their own pace. The overall setup of the center was engaging and inspiring. As a future teacher, I would like to create a more inclusive and activity-based learning environment where children can learn through play...
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World Cafe Strategy

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 On this session, we conducted the activity on the seven learning domains using the World Café strategy. This strategy made the learning process very interactive, engaging and meaningful. In our group activity, two members remained at the table as hosts while the other two members moved around to different groups to listen and discuss different topics related to the role of play in children’s development. After coming back to our original group, we harvested all the information and ideas we had collected from the other groups.  Our group specifically worked on the domain of creative development. We discussed the concept of creative development, how play activities support it, suitable play-based strategies and the challenges and solutions in implementing play-based learning. Creative development refers to children’s ability to express their imagination, ideas, emotions and thinking through different forms such as art, music, storytelling, drama and play. It helps childre...
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Anxiousness of assignment 01(Game show)

 In this session we directly jumped on to the presentation of our first assignment, which is a game show on play theories. We organized the seating arrangement in a U-shape, with an open space in the middle for presentations. This setup made the classroom feel very interactive and exciting, almost like a game show where all of us could clearly see and participate in the activities. This arrangement greatly encouraged communication, confidence and active involvement because each group became the center of attention during their presentation. It also created a comfortable environment where all of us could learn from one another through discussion and observation. My group presented on Tina Bruce and her 10 principles of play through a video presentation. In the video, we acted as if we were Tina Bruce ourselves and explained different principles of play. This approach made the presentation creative, engaging and enjoyable because it helped us better understand the theories while al...
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Challenges faced + Socio-cultural background of a child

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We started the session with the reading ritual followed by discussion on challenges faced in implementing play in the classroom. When we talk about integration of play in the classroom it is always easier said than done. Owing to the rigidity of the curriculum, diversity, mindset of the parents and educators, integration of play has always been unsuccessful in the school, which greatly affects the child's learning and development. Most educators and parents take play as wastage of time and disruptive. Even when integrating the play, it is always limited by time, context and diversity of students’ interests and needs, which make the integration challenging. All these limit the child's opportunity to learn freely. Moreover, the social and cultural aspects of a children greatly influence the child's play and learning. In most schools, academic achievement is given more importance than play and that alone creates a pressure on teachers and students. Some children may also feel ...
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Play - Driving force in child's development

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 There are various definitions of play and I take play as interactive way of engaging individuals, where they learn, unlearn and grow. Through play, especially children are able to understand what they should know, do, talk and what they should not. It contributes to the overall well-being of a child where it gives them happiness and it is not restricted by time or place, it can happen anywhere and anytime without any reasons. One important aspect that we need to keep in mind is that, we should never force the children to play, it should be something that must come from within the child.  Imagine if a child grow up in a environment without play, it would hamper their overall development and struggle to cope up with their peers. Play is not just something that we need to take it as wastage of time,  it’s one of the main ways children learn how to think, connect and handle the world. Without play,  childhood days would be gloomy, dull, lonely and traumatic. Furthermore...
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The Beginning of the End

"We must never miss the first and the last lesson", says our tutor mam Kelsang Wangmo. Which I readily agree to that phrase because first impression matters and closure feels meaningful. The first time I heard the module is about play, I thought that it would be really easy since its about play and everyone loves playing, yet after going through the term plan, I predicted that there would be more than what I thought. Play is not just a free time, rather it is a meaningful learning. It is through play that children learn and grow, which is one important thing that we as a teacher need to keep in mind and integrate it with our lesson. One moment that really caught me off was the meta moment, where we had to reflect back and think of one childhood memory. I noticed that all those nameless play we played during the childhood days not only engaged us, but also without us realizing, we learned so many important skills and lessons; communication skills, problem solving skills, decis...
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