Play is an essential part of learning. It is free from the restrictions of reality, external evaluations, and judgement. Children can try out different styles of action and communication without being required to make premature decisions or being penalized for errors. Play provides a context in which the teacher can observe children's handling of materials and social situations, assess their stage of development, and encourage experiences that further their growth. The teacher should know when to intervene unobtrusively, when to add to or change play situation, when to provide a toy telephone, a costume, a question, or a suggestion that will further the fantasy or broaden the experience.
Children learn through experience with people, symbols, and things .
Things may be objects, events, processes or relationships. The symbolic process for children develops through a sequence of representation. The development of symbolism underlies the communication, recording, coding of experience in a condensed and systematic form. Full understanding of symbols, however, is slow to emerge. These assumptions are basic guideposts for combining goals and expectations, activities, resources, and assessment and evaluation procedures into an educational program that supports the growth and development of pupils in their first years at school.