Thursday 15 September 2016

Learning through play - how do you play chess?


By tomorrow all three of my children will be in education. Jane will start half days at pre-school, David will be repeating his reception year and Anthony has just entered year 4. It has flown by.  But of course having three kids in education as I've described actually means only one of them will be sat at a desk for most of the day.

Both David and Jane will be learning through play.  Language skills, motor skills, executive functioning, reasoning, it's all started with play.

Take for example chess.  A while ago Anthony joined the chess club at school.  He had fun with it for a while, learned to play and his interests have since changed.  We were of course there to encourage it and he got a chess set as part of his last Christmas.  It helped him practice many key skills including motor skills, planning and even good old turn taking.

Jane, not a child to be out done, has been looking at the pieces too and lining them up on the board, though not always in the right order.  She asked me recently to play with chess, so I got it down from the cupboard and then got distracted by the beep from the dishwasher telling me it needed attention.

Whilst I was unloading I called through to Jane a few times.

"Remember to play carefully,"
"I am mummy,"
"Try not to loose the pieces."
"Ok mummy."

Then I came back through and here's what I found.  Jane had been careful and not lost a single piece. Indeed she knew exactly where they all were.


The Knight was asleep in his bed.  The King and Queen were having tea and several of the Pawns were taking tea to the Knight to get him up. Apparently he had been a 'bit ick yesterday and is still a bit tired."

Honestly, there is so much I could analyse with what was happening in her script.  But, it was all new to me.  This kind of play never happened with the boys perhaps because of their ASD and ADHD. David still mostly accesses his imagination through books and Anthony through films and other media too.  And that's fine too. I watched Jane and saw how much she was learning through it. Bedtime routines, table manners, being kind and looking after each other. And I thought of how many of these she'd draw upon helping teach her brothers or look out for them.

We all learn in different ways. Follow the child and see where it takes you.

This post support the #wetalkmakaton sign of the week 'school'

Linked to:
Little Hearts, Big Love

TAT You Baby Me Mummy

26 comments:

  1. Such a sweet post and the photo of the chess pieces is so adorable. Kids display what they know and you are obviously a good parent.
    #ablogginggoodtime

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  2. Ah, that is so sweet. I love watching and listening to my two play, most especially imaginative play. Play's definitely the best way to learn, keeping it fun keeps it interesting! Thanks for sharing with #WotW

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  3. Just perfect. As the only non-chess player in our family, I can quite understand this one. So sweet. I should think she is going to love pre-school. #wotw

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  4. Sometimes those chess pieces need a bit of RnR! Jane is such a sweet kid =) #wotw

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  5. Aww! This is just adorable! It sounds like the chess pieces were having the best time...hehehe

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  6. So lovely and chess is a great way to learn abd play X #kcacols

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  7. Awww! So sweet! Perhaps she imagined the chess pieces to be little people like I did when I was little. I would put the pawns on boats and send then off to war. I even had a royal wedding for the king and queen!

    #kcacols

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  8. That is adorable! I am always amazed by where play takes children; it really is fascinating. #KCACOLS

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  9. I love that Jane had put the knight to bed and got him a cup of tea. We all interrupt things in diffrent ways and Jane is very caring #KCACOLS

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  10. It's so interesting to watch children play. Sometimes I have no idea where my daughter gets her play ideas from. #DreamTeam

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  11. I loved Chess as a child!! You are so right you must let the child lead... it will take you to amazing places!!
    Thanks for linking to #ablogginggoodtime

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  12. I just love that your children are doing this. I so want to learn myself and I want my daughter to too. You have reminded me to put it on the 'list'. Lovely post #KCACOLS

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  13. This is such a lovely post. I love listening to my daughter play, it fascinates me. I think this is a better way to play chess too! #kcacols

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  14. Lovely, and what a fab new way to play with chess. I love how the imagination can take you anywhere. Thank you for linking up to the #DreamTeam xx

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  15. What a lovely post, your daughter sounds like she has a wonderful imagination! Thank you for sharing with #bigpinklink x

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  16. Oh that is so sweet! I love watching mine role play together it's so funny to see them come up with different scenarios!

    Thank you for linking up to #KCACOLS and I hope to see you back again on Sunday x

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  17. That is very interesting. It is good to be reminded about how children play in different ways and that we should let them take the lead sometimes. #MarvMondays

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  18. Haha bless her I love seeing their imaginative play and how they interpret the world! Xx #ftmob

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  19. I love this and it's so true: we certainly do all learn in different ways. This is why the teacher's job is such a tricky one. I teach Taekwon-do and I can so clearly see that 1 teaching method doesn't fit all. We have to vary our techniques and approaches so much. It will become more and more interesting for you watching how your daughter and how your boys develop. Alison x #MarvMondays

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  20. oh my gosh so adorable. My 6 year old loves chess #sundaybest

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  21. So adorable! The little pawns taking care of the knight. Love it.
    #MarvMondays

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  22. I love the way that Jane used the chess pieces for imaginative play - hope the King and Queen enjoyed their tea and the Knight soon felt better. Thank you for sharing with #ftmob :-)

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  23. Ah the imagination kids have! Love it, such a sweet thing those pawns were helping the king to get up :) #ftmob

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  24. That is so sweet! What a cute imagination your little one has. Im always amazed at just how creative these little ones are :-) Thanks for sharing this on #MarvMondays. Emily

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  25. Oh this is just so adorable! I just love how differently children think and play. Thanks for linking up to #SundayBest x

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  26. there is a real morale on here, we do all indeed learn in different ways and it carries on to adulthood. Nurture whichever way kids respond to best. #ToddlerApprovedTuesday

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