Fyffe Lisa, Lewis Angela
Department of Occupational Therapy, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Center for Educator Preparedness, School of Education, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Children (Basel). 2024 Nov 13;11(11):1378. doi: 10.3390/children11111378.
Play has long been credited with fostering self-regulation in young children, though few studies have examined how children draw upon early childhood experiences with play to navigate adversity later in childhood. The purpose of this study is to describe the facets of the children's everyday resiliency that were attributed to their play-based experiences by parents and teachers as they reflected on the children's kindergarten experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We used a cross-case study design to examine the positive coping strategies parents and teachers observed in three five-year-old girls and one six-year-old boy entering kindergarten during the 2020-2021 pandemic-affected school year. We recruited parent participants based on their child's enrollment at a Reggio Emilia-inspired, play-based early childhood center in Northern Colorado for three or more years prior to entering kindergarten. Once parents enrolled in the study, we extended an invitation to their child's kindergarten teacher to participate. Data included three one-hour interviews with each participant, field visits during remote learning, and artifact collection over the course of the school year.
Cross-case analysis revealed four themes: "Willing to Adjust", "Understands the Situation", "Uses Advanced Language", and "Embraces Challenge". Participants describe these children as willing to adjust to public health orders, having a deep understanding of the pandemic's societal repercussions, using sophisticated language to process adversity, and embracing the challenge of becoming kindergarteners.
Participants believed these children's experiences with play-based learning promoted the interdisciplinary development of their social language, persistence, altruism, and cognitive flexibility; these traits fostered the children's positive coping strategies throughout the pandemic-affected kindergarten year.
长期以来，人们一直认为游戏有助于培养幼儿的自我调节能力，不过很少有研究探讨儿童如何利用早期的游戏经历来应对童年后期的逆境。本研究的目的是描述在反思新冠疫情期间孩子们的幼儿园经历时，家长和教师认为孩子们日常适应力的哪些方面归因于他们基于游戏的经历。
我们采用跨案例研究设计，考察了在2020 - 2021学年受疫情影响期间进入幼儿园的三名五岁女孩和一名六岁男孩，家长和教师所观察到的积极应对策略。我们根据孩子在科罗拉多州北部一所受瑞吉欧·艾米利亚教育理念启发、以游戏为基础的幼儿中心入园三年或更长时间来招募家长参与者。家长报名参加研究后，我们邀请了他们孩子的幼儿园教师参与。数据包括对每位参与者进行的三次一小时访谈、远程学习期间的实地考察以及一学年内的文物收集。
跨案例分析揭示了四个主题：“愿意调整”“理解形势”“运用高级语言”和“接受挑战”。参与者将这些孩子描述为愿意适应公共卫生指令，对疫情的社会影响有深刻理解，运用复杂语言应对逆境，以及欣然接受成为幼儿园学生的挑战。
参与者认为这些孩子基于游戏的学习经历促进了他们社会语言、毅力、利他主义和认知灵活性的跨学科发展；这些特质在整个受疫情影响的幼儿园学年中培养了孩子们积极的应对策略。
