This was full of late night studying because of due dates of assignments and our WILL assignment finalization.  This week stood out because I learnt so many new concepts and teaching concepts in all my different subjects which really excited me.  It was also my birthday this week so the week was filled with excitement from my studies throughout my personal life :)  

Due to my birthday this week I didn't have my routine study times because of visits from family and friends.  My birthday definitely inhibited my study time a little. Fortunately I made sure no study time was lost, my nights just became a little longer. I learnt this week especially that play plays such a significant role in education and development of the child.  The different types of play opened a whole new world to me on how children learn and interact and how the specific type of play is relevant to specific developmental aspects.

The seven elements of play was insightful information and I could in vision some of my class learners on doing specific games and structured play and assessing how these learners play.  How music is incorporated into play and how the whole child develops through music and play together is extraordinary.  The different games that learners can play with music is very interesting to me.

Referring back to the questions about study unit 3, some learners may have felt uncomfortable due to the language that they may not understand due to cultural differences and also religious reasons.  More conservative religions do not portray dancing as acceptable and this may cause discomfort for some children.  Consequently, we have to take care when selecting the songs and music that we will use in our classrooms. We also have to consider the types of activities that we present. It is important to ensure that, when working with South African indigenous songs and games.  Knowing my learners individually will help to make sure that music and activities used does not make them uncomfortable or offended.  When learners backgrounds and interests are considered, I think the room for error decreases considerably.  Taking into consideration what these learners at this age listen at home or break times will assist in the decision on what music and dancing activities will work best.  

I agree with your statement regarding making an effort to know learners individually. I do understand that it is not always the easiest of tasks, but I feel in the foundation phase we do have the opportunity to do so and we as teachers ought to make an effort with the learners in our classrooms.