Inclusion Setup at St. Mary's
To be childlike is to experience an almost unpredictable array of discoveries, emotions, and levels of energy. Children are unique and complex and thus often difficult to comprehend. And they do not readily engage us in dialogue in order to explain the reasons for their caprice as they explore the world that surrounds them. Yet, as teachers/counsellors, it is important for us to know our children deeply, to flow with their currents, and to extend their nascent theories about how the world works.
Given the delightful yet often enigmatic characteristics of children, in order to comprehend children we must begin by observing them as they play and playing along.
Play is a language for children. In St Mary School play observation/session are routinely followed to understand child needs, feelings, struggles, strengths and facilitating child to find answers to all perceived problems that lie within him/her. Play is a SERIOUS BUSINESS, done non-seriously with children due to its non-threatening medium. The clinical value of play is
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Play for rapport formation
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Play for Development assessment (Physical, motor, language, social and cognitive domains- constructive play, games and rule based play)
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Play for understanding the inner world of the child (pretend play, dramatic play , make believe)
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And finally play as a therapy (directive and non-directive)
Once a child is understood through play session in series further sessions are planned to decode the observations to teachers, parents and concerned people for the goodness of fit for that particular children.