Free-choice Time Research Articles

Perceptions of children and a teacher in the classroom regarding the role in supporting play during free-choice time

Perceptions of children and a teacher in the classroom regarding the role in supporting play during free-choice time

Teacher-report of where preschool-aged children play and are physically active in indoor and outdoor learning centers

The childcare environment impacts physical activity participation, but little descriptive information is available in different types of programs. Most studies focus on the schoolyard despite children spending more time indoors. This study identified which learning centers were available, used by children, and promoted physical activity, both inside and on the schoolyard. Teachers ( N = 139; licensed centers, n = 59; home-based programs, n = 80) identified available learning centers and ranked locations where children spent free-choice time and participated in physical activity. Indoors, blocks, books, and dramatic play were frequently available, and dramatic play was ranked as an area where children spent time (87%) and were active (63%). Outdoors, open/grassy areas, fixed equipment, sandbox, and seating were available, and open/grassy areas and paved areas for balls/objects were locations where children spent time (73%–100%) and were active (87%–100%). Addition of learning centers that were unavailable but promoted physical activity (e.g. lofts) may be a point of intervention.

Using Environmental Modification and Teacher Mediation to Increase Literacy Behaviors in Inclusive Preschool Settings

It is considered a recommended practice to integrate literacy concepts into child-initiated choice center time long before formal reading instruction begins. The purpose of this study was to determine whether environmental modification and a teacher-mediated literacy intervention would increase child engagement of literacy behaviors during free choice time in the classroom. Data were collected on the literacy behaviors of 9 children across 3 inclusive preschool classrooms in a suburban public school system. A multiple baseline design was used to determine the effects of an environmental modification using the Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation and a teacher-mediated intervention on children's literacy behaviors. Results included an average increase of 43 percentage points (range = 39–45 percentage points) in observed literacy behaviors in each of the 3 classrooms. Individual children in each classroom demonstrated an increase in literacy behaviors from baseline to intervention. These results are consistent with previous research, which indicated that the modification of the environment and teacher mediation increase literacy behaviors.

Providing Opportunities to Learn in Home-Based Child Care Settings: Observations of Learning Contexts and Behavior

ABSTRACTResearch Findings: This observation study investigated the prevalence and correlates of learning contexts provided to preschool-age children in 133 registered child care homes in below-average-income neighborhoods in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. On average, 30% of the observed proportion of time was spent in structured teacher-led activities, 51% in free-choice activities, 10% in routine activities, 1% in watching video/TV, and 7% in transition. Home-based child care providers gave significantly more positive recognition during structured teacher-led activities, and children engaged in more prosocial behavior during free-choice time. Directives and noncompliance occurred more often during transitions. A higher child-to-caregiver ratio was associated with more time spent in free-choice time, and caregiver experience and education were not associated with the time spent in specific learning contexts. Practice or Policy: Similar to preschool and center-based child care, current practice in home-based child care is to offer a mix of structured teacher-led and free-choice activities. To facilitate young children’s skill development within these learning activities typically offered, it is necessary to increase research and provide empirically based professional development opportunities relevant to home-based child care settings. Attention to home-based child care will likely reach many young children and be particularly beneficial for those in low-income households.

Global Childhoods, Asian Lifeworlds: After School Time in Hong Kong

In this paper, we explore the after-school lives of six-year-old children in Hong Kong, as reported by their parents in response to survey questions. Popular discourse presents a view of Asian students as diligent and hardworking, living lives that are predominantly characterized by studying, both in school and out. Yet we were aware that while there are many studies about this that focus on Asian minorities living in western countries, there is limited empirical data about Asian students living in Asian countries. Moreover, those findings are mainly about upper elementary and high school students. Accordingly, in order to broaden the body of inquiring concerning whether Asian students do in fact spend much of their time studying and little engaged in leisure activities, we sought to collect empirical data regarding how Primary 1 (six-year-old) students in Hong Kong spend their out-of-school time. Increasingly, there is a recognition that Asian students perform well on high-stakes international tests, and it is widely held that this is because they allocate so much time to intensive academic study in contrast to their western counterparts, both in and out of school. Tutoring in test-taking is a multimillion dollar industry. We wanted to know if this is a widespread phenomenon. In this paper we show that the out-of-school lives of the students who were the subject of our survey include many different activities. While the six-year-olds in our study do homework after school, they also watch TV, participate in activities with computers and other new technologies, and engage in indoor and outdoor play.As educators and parents, we want to ensure that children make the best use of their time, so we put a lot of ours into planning and preparing activities for them to take part in, both in and out of school. One of the consequences of this is that children living in the 21st century don't have much free-choice time (Hofferth & Sandberg, 2001). Instead, their lives are structured in very specific ways that have been designed by adults. This seems to be particularly true for Asian children, whose excellence in performance in international tests is often attributed to their strong work ethic as well as to their capacity for studying for many hours, both in and out of school...

The Comparison of Children’s Caloric Expenditure During Elementary Physical Education Class And Free-Choice Recess Time

<p>The physical benefits of structured physical education (PE) classes and free-choice recess time in elementary school and how they compare to each other is unknown. National health objectives encourage 50% of PE class time being spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), while no set standards for elementary recess exist. PURPOSE: To determine if a difference existed in the caloric amounts expended by elementary age children during structured physical education class compared to free-choice recess time. METHODS: Twenty-eight third and fourth grade children (male= 18, female= 10) were recorded, with a hip-placed accelerometer, during one day each of PE class and recess time. Each recording lasted exactly 30 minutes and they were taken a day apart. Data was collected during a three week period in which the PE class participated in tennis and badminton. RESULTS: A paired samples t-test compared differences in steps, total energy expenditure (EE), total EE in males, and average kilocalories expended per minute. Steps: t(26) = 3.79, p=.001; total EE:t(27) = 1.85, p= .075; total EE (males): t(17) = 3.78, p= .006; energy expenditure per minute: t(26) = 1.75, p= .091. The average percentage of time spent in MVPA during PE was 64.37%. CONCLUSION: There was a statistically significant difference in total EE in males and steps, with recess being higher than PE class. Further tests on the steps showed this also was only significantly different in the male children. It is important to note, on average, the children met the national objective and spent over 50% of the PE class period in MVPA. </p>

Diminished neural responses predict enhanced intrinsic motivation and sensitivity to external incentive.

The duration and quality of human performance depend on both intrinsic motivation and external incentives. However, little is known about the neuroscientific basis of this interplay between internal and external motivators. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neural substrates of intrinsic motivation, operationalized as the free-choice time spent on a task when this was not required, and tested the neural and behavioral effects of external reward on intrinsic motivation. We found that increased duration of free-choice time was predicted by generally diminished neural responses in regions associated with cognitive and affective regulation. By comparison, the possibility of additional reward improved task accuracy, and specifically increased neural and behavioral responses following errors. Those individuals with the smallest neural responses associated with intrinsic motivation exhibited the greatest error-related neural enhancement under the external contingency of possible reward. Together, these data suggest that human performance is guided by a “tonic” and “phasic” relationship between the neural substrates of intrinsic motivation (tonic) and the impact of external incentives (phasic).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.3758/s13415-014-0324-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Science in the Classroom: Finding a Balance Between Autonomous Exploration and Teacher-Led Instruction in Preschool Settings

Research Findings: This paper reports on children's use of science materials in preschool classrooms during their free choice time. Baseline observations showed that children and teachers rarely spend time in the designated science area. An intervention was designed to “market” the science center by introducing children to 1 science tool, the balance scale. Baseline measures showed that children did not know the scale's name or function. The intervention was expected to increase children's use of the science area and their knowledge about the scale. Children's voluntary presence and exploration in the science area increased after the balance scale intervention compared to in comparison classrooms. Furthermore, children who participated in this intervention demonstrated improved knowledge about the scale's function, whereas students in the comparison group did not. Practice or Policy: Adults can increase children's autonomous exploration of science tools and materials, and their knowledge about them, by offering particular kinds of large-group learning experiences.

Individual Music Listening as an Option for Free-Choice Time in Early Childhood Classrooms

Individual Music Listening as an Option for Free-Choice Time in Early Childhood Classrooms

How do pre-kindergarteners spend their time? Gender, ethnicity, and income as predictors of experiences in pre-kindergarten classrooms

Abstract The current paper considers how children spend their time in state-funded pre-kindergarten programs and how time use relates to ethnicity, gender, and family income, based on the assumption that how time is spent in pre-kindergarten is relevant for the programs’ success in narrowing achievement gaps. Classroom observations of 2061 children in 652 pre-k programs in 11 states were analyzed. Findings indicated that the pre-kindergarten day was roughly equally divided among free choice, teacher-assigned activities, and meals/routines. Children spent much of their time in language/literacy, social studies, and art, and less time in math and gross motor activities. Much of the pre-k day was spent in ‘no coded learning activity.’ Children in classes with lower proportions of Latino and African American children and higher average income-to-need ratios were generally engaged in richer and more stimulating experiences. The child-level variables of ethnicity and income were generally unrelated to how children spent their time, above and beyond the effects of classroom-level ethnicity and income. There were generally small, but significant gender differences – always in the gender-stereotyped direction – in how time was spent, especially during free choice time.

Defeating the potentially deleterious effects of externally imposed deadlines: practitioners' rules-of-thumb.

The authors interviewed people to determine whether they devise strategies to offset the damaging effect that externally imposed deadlines have on intrinsic motivation. Interviewees' "practitioners' rules-of-thumb" strategies were consistent with the tenets of self-determination theory and were tested empirically in three experiments. In each of the experiments, complete or partial self-determination of initially externally imposed time limits negated the otherwise deleterious effects of deadlines on intrinsic motivation. Participants who actively co-opted a deadline as their own (Experiment 1), who self-imposed sub deadlines within an overall externally imposed deadline (Experiment 2), and who self-imposed more stringent deadlines than those imposed externally (Experiment 3) spent significantly more free-choice time engaged in target tasks than did their counterparts in externally imposed deadline conditions where no self-determination was permitted. Given the ubiquity of deadlines, the results can directly be implemented by both deadline setters and deadline recipients to protect people's interest in their work.

Literacy Activities in Half- and Whole-Day Greek Kindergarten Classrooms

The purpose of the study discussed in this article was: to record the types of literacy activities in whole-day and half-day kindergarten classrooms, initiated either by teachers during the instructional time or by children during the free-choice center time; to examine the amount of time spent on teacher-initiated literacy activities; and to determine the effect of whole-day and half-day kindergarten programs on children’s literacy achievement. To record the types of literacy activities, two whole-day and two half-day kindergarten classrooms were observed for five continuous days (a week). Accordingly, five children from each classroom (a total of20) were selected randomly as subjects for the examination of literacy activities that engaged them during the free-choice center time activities and for the analysis of their literacy achievement. The results showed that: (a) teachers in both programs initiated literacy activities related to: knowledge about print; phonological awareness; writing and storybook reading; (b) the percentage of instructional time per day on teachers’ initiated literacy activities in half-day kindergarten classrooms was higher than in whole-day classrooms; (c) children in both programs did not engage in several literacy activities during the free-choice center time, and (d) children in half-day kindergarten classrooms made better progress in literacy development than children in whole-day classrooms.

Friendship formation in inclusive early childhood classrooms: what is the teacher’s role?

This study examined strategies teachers reported using to support friendships among young children in inclusive early childhood classrooms. The teachers included 25 general early childhood educators from 9 child care centers and 20 early childhood special educators from 9 specialized programs. The Playmates and Friends Questionnaire for Teachers documented the number and nature of children’s friendships and teachers’ reported use of 11 different strategies to support individual friendships. Overall, the friendship strategies that teachers reported using most frequently included providing sufficient free choice time, allowing children to form their own friendships, and commenting on the play between friends. The majority of teachers reported rarely using two strategies: arranging for children to play together outside of the classroom and allowing two friends to exclude other children from their play. Teachers reported using more active friendship strategies to support dyads in which one or both children had special needs. Implications of these findings to support friendship formation in inclusive early childhood settings and directions for future research are presented.

Comparison of the Quality of Preschoolers' Play in Housekeeping and Thematic Sociodramatic Play Centers

Differences in the quality of play in thematic and housekeeping organizational patterns of the sociodramatic play center in preschool classrooms were documented by biweekly videotaping children's play during free choice time in 18 classrooms of an early childhood program in a moderately sized Midwest city. Videotapes for each classroom group were divided into the 4 quarters of the academic year. Of these, 68 were randomly selected and evaluated for play quality, utilizing Smilansky's comprehensive criteria. The thematic organization resulted in higher quality sociodramatic play in which the children enacted more roles outside the home, utilized more aspects of their roles, demonstrated higher levels of symbolic prop use, and played longer. Early childhood educators wishing to utilize the thematic organization of the sociodramatic play center will find the practice supported, leading to longer play episodes, increased symbolic prop use, and higher quality make-believe.

Competing Activities and Measures of Intrinsic Motivation

Abstract Behavioral and self-report measures of intrinsic task interest of American university students were compared in relation to momentary mood, long-term motivational orientation, and interest in competing activities. Although the two measures of intrinsic motivation were significantly correlated, significant contrasts were found in their correlations with other factors. Results support an earlier proposal that the behavioral (free-choice time) measure depends on how treatments affect interest in alternative activities, not just interest in the target activity. A model of how the two measures differ is outlined.

Factors Affecting Intrinsic Motivation among University Students in Taiwan

Abstract The effects of the Protestant work ethic and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation were examined in a sample of university students in Taiwan. Subjects were divided into three groups reflecting high, intermediate, and low work ethic by using a three-way split of their scores on the Protestant work ethic measure. Bogus performance feedback was given at random. Low work ethic subjects who received negative feedback spent the greatest amount of their free-choice time on the experimental task. The behavior of high work ethic subjects in the free-choice period was not affected by performance feedback. Intermediate work ethic subjects who received positive feedback allocated more free-choice time to the task than did those who received negative feedback. The results suggest that students with a low work ethic exert more effort when they are challenged.

Aggression and assertiveness in kindergarten children differing in day care experiences

Differences in social behaviors of middle-class children with and without previous day care experience were compared through classroom observations and teacher ratings during the second semester of kindergarten. Using a time-sampling procedure, two researchers observed positive social behavior, assertiveness, instrumental aggression, and hostile aggression of 32 children from eight different kindergarten classrooms during free-choice time. Each child was also rated by his/her own teacher on assertiveness, ability to get along with peers, hostile aggression, and instrumental aggression. Teachers' ratings of hostile aggression were significantly correlated with observations of hostile aggression ( p < .05) and assertiveness ( p < .01), suggesting that teachers may confound assertive and aggressive behaviors. Observed frequencies of assertive behaviors were correlated with those of positive social ( p < .05) and instrumental aggression ( p < .05), but not with frequencies of hostile aggression ( p < .20). However, no significant differences between day care and home-reared children were found on any of the rated or observed variables.

Moods, Goals, and Measures of Intrinsic Motivation

ABSTRACT Behavioral and self-report measures of intrinsic task interest were compared in their relationship to measures of momentary mood and long-term motivational orientation across conditions differing in sources of extrinsic motivation. The two measures of task interest did not correlate with each other and had significantly contrasting correlations with moods and life goals. The behavioral measure was related negatively to apparently intrinsic affects and goals and was positively related to fatigue. Relationships were also quite different across conditions. Results support reservations about the equivalence of the two most used types of measures of intrinsic motivation and point to factors that affect them in independent or contrasting ways. The Free Choice Time measure, for example, seems to depend on how treatments affect interest in alternative activities, not just interest in the target activity itself.

Effect of Reward Contingency on Intrinsic Motivation

Abstract The effects of type of task and type of reward contingency on intrinsic motivation for subsequent task performance were investigated. The sample consisted of 50 young Indian adults. The results showed a significantly greater amount of free choice time spent on a heuristic task rather than an algorithmic task. The verbal measures of intrinsic motivation yielded a significant effect of reward contingency with greater intrinsic motivation under performance-contingent reward, followed by task-contingent and no-reward conditions, respectively. The results support self-determination and competence processes as important mediators of intrinsic motivation.

Free Choice Time

Free choice time allows children to experiment and learn a great deal and also allows teachers to learn a lot about the children.