If you ever take the time to stop and watch children learning in their natural environment you will quickly notice that when left to their own devices they always integrate play into their learning process. So to me it was obvious that when developing a successful method to allow young learners to learn their first English words, PLAY had to be the key element.
Just how important play is for young learners was documented by the Child Life Council in their paper from April 2008 in Toronto where Donna Koller, PhD, an Academic and Clinical Specialist in Child Life stated:
“Children from all cultures play. Even in cultures where young children are expected to assume adult work responsibilities, anthropologists cite examples of how children manage to integrate play into their daily tasks. This suggests that play is not only universal but essential to human development.
“Indeed, research has repeatedly shown that the benefits associated with play are profound and wide-ranging. Following a meta-analysis of 800 studies, … there was cogent evidence for the positive impact of play on children’s developmental outcomes.
“Play was found to significantly promote cognitive and social aspects of development and these effects were magnified when adults participated in play with children.”
Donna Koller
Knowing that play is so important, I cannot encourage parents, carers and teachers enough to use ROBBY as their English speaking partner. More importantly they should have a lot fun doing so. Using the products in the Play&Say range will help you to playfully, intuitively and successfully help your child to learn their first English words.
Find more information about Robby & Play&Say here or have a browse in my shop.
Wake up the child in yourself and you will see how much fun learning can be 🙂
Have a nice day,
Fiona