Mum's and Dad's

Tamryn, Amelia, Matilda and Summer are in the sheet cubby with their blankets and books. Tamryn is the mum and Matilda the big sister. Amelia is the dog and Summer is another big sister. Tamryn: (to Matilda) "Big sister, bed time now. I'm going to read the story about the big bad wolf" Amelia: "Woof, woof", we are guard dogs" Matilda: "Can I be a big school girl now?" From this interaction we can see that Matilda has a keen interest in finding out what it is like to be a big school girl. Matilda often plays 'schools' and inquires about when she is going to big school.

Tamryn begins to read: "Let's read" "Elephants, (turns page), Reindeer (turns page), G-goat (turns page), Rhinoceros (turns page), Zebra's (turns page). From Tamryn's book reading we can safely say that Tamryn can identify most of the animals in the encyclopedia book and knows how to hold a book correctly, turn the page and sound out words. Tamryn is displaying all the pre-reading skills necessary to learn how to read.

Tamryn, Amelia, Summer and Matilda have a strong friendship and feel comfortable in their group, they respect each other's ideas and make sure everyone feels included. Each child displays strong social skills and an understanding of respectful relationships.

Summer asked Tamryn: "Mumma where is the daddy?" Matilda replied: "At work" Tamryn: "No, he died, our dad died" Tamryn then continued reading the book and then said: "The end". Summer has expressed her understanding of what a family unit consists of and realized that their play family was missing an important member. Matilda expressed her understanding of what a dad does when he is absent and Tamryn was maintaining her role and imagination. Summer did not like the absence of the dad and exclaimed: "I want to be the dad" Amelia: (gets the book) "I dont want to be the dog, I want to be the mother" "And the mum's going to kiss the dad" Summer: "ok" (they kiss quickly). Summer: "Ok, now I'm going to work" Amelia begins reading to Matilda. Matilda: "I'm a baby who can climb" Summer: "No, baby get down" From this interaction we can see how open the friends are to changes and role sharing they easily maintain and develop their play. Amelia expressed the idea that the mum kisses the dad and then Summer expressed the idea that the dad goes to work after a kiss goodbye.

                 

The play continued for over 20 minutes and then Amelia rang a bell to call the family back to the cubby. Tamryn: "Can I be the mum?" Amelia: "No, I'm the mum" Summer: "You can both be the mum" Amelia: "Ok I'll be the big sister" Matilda: "I'll still be the baby" Amelia: "When is it school time?" The friends play went through yet another change and Summer took on the role of mediator between Tamryn and Amelia. It is through play like this that children have an opportunity to explore roles and develop social skills required to learn from and with others.