Play Groups as Contexts for Moral Development

Many theorists and researchers have discussed the importance of play in fostering children’s cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development. Others, however, have stressed that moral development also is affected by play opportunities, especially by play within various types of groups. Play within family groups involving parents and siblings, play with friends at school and during recess, and play in larger settings especially designed for certain types of play (playgrounds, amusement parks) have all been discussed. Moral aspects of play groups within different cultural settings and with players of older ages also have been the focus of study. Thus, there is a long history in developmental psychology of regarding play groups as important for moral development. Yet, play itself has changed as society has changed, and presently play groups also include ones defined by technological and media play environments that have enlarged the possibility of play across cultures. These more recent play group experiences also have implications for the development of moral emotions, behaviors, and reasoning. This chapter discusses these varied aspects of play groups as contexts for moral development.

POLEMIK CALISTUNG UNTUK ANAK USIA DINI (Telaah Konsep Development Approriate Practice)

<p class="Default"><em>The problem of reading, writing and numeracy (calistung) for early childhood is a very dilemmatic phenomenon. At this time, many elementary school (SD) have a high standard of competence. Prospectif elementary students must take the test read,write,and numeracy to enter elementary school. Whereas learning in Kindergarden (TK) calistung only introduction. Kindergarden education program is more emphasized on the activity of playing as well a character building. The fact is, many kindergarden even play groups, especially in big cities have taught calistung and have a target to know calistung after they come out. This raises a polemic regarding calistung for early childhood.</em></p>

Pretend Play and Social Competence in Peer Play Groups of Five-Year-Old Boys and Girls

We examined the associations among different types of pretend play in peer play groups, as well as the associations between pretend play with peer play groups and children's social competence. Participants were 87 Korean preschool students (42 boys, 45 girls). We observed the participants' pretend play with same-gender, opposite-gender, and mixed-gender peers, and both teachers and peers provided assessments of the children's social competence. Analyses revealed that pretend play with the same-gender peer play group was negatively associated with those of the opposite- and mixed-gender peer play group for boys, whereas it was positively associated for girls. For both boys and girls, social competence as measured by opposite-gender peers was negatively associated with pretend play in the same-gender peer play group. Social competence as measured by teachers was significantly negatively associated with pretend play with mixed-gender peers for girls.

Skill-Based and Planned Active Play Versus Free-Play Effects on Fundamental Movement Skills in Preschoolers

Fundamental movement skill interventions are important for promoting physical activity, but the optimal intervention model for preschool children remains unclear. We compared two 8-week interventions, a structured skill-station and a planned active play approach, to a free-play control condition on pre- and postintervention fundamental movement skills. We also collected data regarding program attendance and perceived enjoyment. We found a significant interaction effect between intervention type and time. A Tukey honest significant difference analysis supported a positive intervention effect showing a significant difference between both interventions and the free-play control condition. There was a significant between-group difference in group attendance such that mean attendance was higher for both the free-play and planned active play groups relative to the structured skill-based approach. There were no differences in attendance between free-play and planned active play groups, and there were no differences in enjoyment ratings between the two intervention groups. In sum, while both interventions led to improved fundamental movement skills, the active play approach offered several logistical advantages. Although these findings should be replicated, they can guide feasible and sustainable fundamental movement skill programs within day care settings.

PENINGKATAN KEMAMPUAN MENGENAL LAMBANG BILANGAN DENGAN BERMAIN TUTUP BOTOL ANGKA PADA ANAK KELOMPOK A DI KELOMPOK BERMAIN BINA ANA PRASA III SAMARINDA TAHUN PEMBELAJARAN 2017/2018

This study aimed to improve children’s capability in identifying Numeric Symbols by Playing the Bottle Caps Numbers in Group A at Play Groups BinaAna Prasa III Samarinda. This study was classroom action research which is done collaboratively between researcher and classroom teacher. This study conducted for two cycles. Each cycle was held for four meetings. Subject of this study were 15 children from Class A, there were 8 male and 7 female. This study conducted on July – August academic year 2017/2018. Data collection technique used observation and documentation that can be analyzed by looking for the percentage of children’s success. The results of this study indicate that the ability of children to recognize the symbol of the numbers 1-10 can be increased through the activities of playing the bottle cap numbers. The increase can be seen from the percentage improvement of children who got the criteria very well. The result before doing a treatment who reached the criteria develops very well at 7% or 1 child and develops as expected there were 3 children by 20%. In cycle I, the percentage of criteria develops very well increased to 40% or 6 children and percentage grew as expected 40% or 6 children. In cycle II, which got the criteria very well also grew, there was an increase to 87% or 13 children and developed as expected with the percentage of 13% that was 2 children. It could be concluded that by playing bottle caps numbers, it could improve children’s capability in identifying Numeric Symbols in Group A at Play Groups BinaAna Prasa III Samarinda.