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THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILDREN'S PLAY

Brick by brick, six-year-old Alice is building a magical kingdom. Imagining fairy-tale turrets and fire-breathing dragons, wicked witches and gallant heroes, she's creating an enchanting world. Although she isn't aware of it, this fantasy is helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity and so it will have important repercussions in her adult life.

wicked (adj): độc ác;
gallant (adj): dũng cảm
enchanting (adj): mê hoặc;
repercussion (n): kết quả

Minutes later, Alice has abandoned the kingdom in favour of playing schools with her younger brother. When she bosses him around as his 'teacher', she's practising how to regulate her emotions through pretence. Later on, when they tire of this and settle down with a board game, she's learning about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner.

abandon (v): bỏ rơi
regulate (v): điều chỉnh

'Play in all its rich variety is one of the highest achievements of the human species,' says Dr David Whitebread from the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, UK. 'It underpins how we develop as intellectual, problem-solving adults and is
crucial to our success as a highly adaptable species.'

achievement (n): thành quả
intellectual (n): người trí thức

Recognising the importance of play is not new: over two millennia ago, the Greek philosopher Plato extolled its virtues as a means of developing skills for adult life, and ideas about play-based learning have been developing since the 19th century.
But we live in changing times, and Whitebread is mindful of a worldwide decline in play, pointing out that over half the people in the world now live in cities. 'The opportunities for free play, which I experienced almost every day of my childhood, are becoming increasingly scarce,' he says. Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic, as well as parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime, and by the emphasis on 'earlier is better' which is leading to greater competition in academic learning and schools.
International bodies like the United Nations and the European Union have begun to develop policies concerned with children's right to play, and to consider implications for leisure facilities and educational programmes. But what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on.

mindful (adj): quan tâm
scarce (adj): ít
perception (n): quan điểm
implication (n): ngụ ý

'The type of play we are interested in is child-initiated, spontaneous and unpredictable - but, as soon as you ask a five-year-old "to play", then you as the researcher have intervened,' explains Dr Sara Baker. 'And we want to know what the long-term impact of play is. It's a real challenge.' Dr Jenny Gibson agrees, pointing out that although some of the steps in the puzzle of how and why play is important have been looked at, there is very little data on the impact it has on the child's later life.
Now, thanks to the university's new Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL), Whitebread, Baker, Gibson and a team of researchers hope to provide evidence on the role played by play in how a child develops.
'A strong possibility is that play supports the early development of children's self-control,' explains Baker. 'This is our ability to develop awareness of our own thinking processes - it influences how effectively we go about undertaking challenging activities.'

spontaneous (adj): bất ngờ
unpredictable (adj): không thể đoán được
impact (n): ảnh hưởng possibility (n): khả năng
self-control (n): tự kiểm soát

In a study carried out by Baker with toddlers and young pre-schoolers, she found that children with greater self-control solved problems more quickly when exploring an unfamiliar set-up requiring scientific reasoning. 'This sort of evidence makes us think that giving children the chance to play will make them more successful problem-solvers in the long run.'
If playful experiences do facilitate this aspect of development, say the researchers, it could be extremely significant for educational practices, because the ability to self-regulate has been shown to be a key predictor of academic performance.
Gibson adds: 'Playful behaviour is also an important indicator of healthy social and emotional development. In my previous research, I investigated how observing children at play can�give us important clues about their well-being and can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.'

toddler (n): trẻ mới biết đi
pre-schooler (n): trẻ nhỏ tuổi
unfamiliar (adj): không quen thuộc facilitate (n): tạo điều kiện cho
diagnosis (n): chẩn đoán
autism (n): tự kỷ

Bài đọc trích từ Cambridge IELTS 14, ai chưa có bộ Cam này không?

⛔ LUYỆN READING NÀO ⛔

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILDREN'S PLAY

Brick by brick, six-year-old Alice is building a magical kingdom. Imagining fairy-tale turrets and fire-breathing dragons, wicked witches and gallant heroes, she's creating an enchanting world. Although she isn't aware of it, this fantasy is helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity and so it will have important repercussions in her adult life.
Minutes later, Alice has abandoned the kingdom in favour of playing schools with her younger brother. When she bosses him around as his 'teacher', she's practising how to regulate her emotions through pretence. Later on, when they tire of this and settle down with a board game, she's learning about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner.

'Play in all its rich variety is one of the highest achievements of the human species,' says Dr David Whitebread from the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, UK. 'It underpins how we develop as intellectual, problem-solving adults and is crucial to our success as a highly adaptable species.'
Recognising the importance of play is not new: over two millennia ago, the Greek philosopher Plato extolled its virtues as a means of developing skills for adult life, and ideas about play-based learning have been developing since the 19th century.

But we live in changing times, and Whitebread is mindful of a worldwide decline in play, pointing out that over half the people in the world now live in cities. 'The opportunities for free play, which I experienced almost every day of my childhood, are becoming increasingly scarce,' he says. Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic, as well as parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime, and by the emphasis on 'earlier is better' which is leading to greater competition in academic learning and schools.

International bodies like the United Nations and the European Union have begun to develop policies concerned with children's right to play, and to consider implications for leisure facilities and educational programmes. But what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on.

'The type of play we are interested in is child-initiated, spontaneous and unpredictable- but, as soon as you ask a five-year-old "to play", then you as the researcher have intervened,' explains Dr Sara Baker. 'And we want to know what the long-term impact of play is. It's a real challenge.'

Dr Jenny Gibson agrees, pointing out that although some of the steps in the puzzle of how and why play is important have been looked at, there is very little data on the impact it has on the child's later life.

Now, thanks to the university's new Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL), Whitebread, Baker, Gibson and a team of researchers hope to provide evidence on the role played by play in how a child develops.

'A strong possibility is that play supports the early development of children's self-control,' explains Baker. 'This is our ability to develop awareness of our own thinking processes - it influences how effectively we go about undertaking challenging activities.'

In a study carried out by Baker with toddlers and young pre-schoolers, she found that children with greater self-control solved problems more quickly when exploring an unfamiliar set-up requiring scientific reasoning. 'This sort of evidence makes us think that giving children the chance to play will make them more successful problem-solvers in the long run.'

If playful experiences do facilitate this aspect of development, say the researchers, it could be extremely significant for educational practices, because the ability to self-regulate has been shown to be a key predictor of academic performance.

Gibson adds: 'Playful behaviour is also an important indicator of healthy social and emotional development. In my previous research, I investigated how observing children at play can�give us important clues about their well-being and can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.'

Whitebread's recent research has involved developing a play-based approach to supporting children's writing. 'Many primary school children find writing difficult, but we showed in a previous study that a playful stimulus was far more effective than an instructional one.' Children wrote longer and better-structured stories when they first played with dolls representing characters in the story. In the latest study, children first created their story with Lego*, with similar results. 'Many teachers commented that they had always previously had children saying they didn't know what to write about. With the Lego building, however, not a single child said this through the whole year of the project.'

Whitebread, who directs PEDAL, trained as a primary school teacher in the early 1970s, when, as he describes, 'the teaching of young children was largely a quiet backwater, untroubled by any serious intellectual debate or controversy.' Now, the landscape is very different, with hotly debated topics such as school starting age.

'Somehow the importance of play has been lost in recent decades. It's regarded as something trivial, or even as something negative that contrasts with "work". Let's not lose sight of its benefits, and the fundamental contributions it makes to human achievements in the arts, sciences and technology. Let's make sure children have a rich diet of play experiences.'

⛔ CÂU HỎI:

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. Children with good self-control are known to be likely to do well at school later on.
2. The way a child plays may provide information about possible medical problems.
3. Playing with dolls was found to benefit girls’ writing more than boys’ writing.
4. Children had problems thinking up ideas when they first created the story with Lego.
5. People nowadays regard children’s play as less significant than they did in the past.

(Trích Cam 14)

⛔ HIGHLIGHT TỪ VỰNG

Possibility (n): Khả năng
Self-control (n): Tự kiểm soát
Toddler (n): Trẻ mới biết đi
Pre-schooler (n): Trẻ nhỏ tuổi
Unfamiliar (adj): Không quen thuộc
Facilitate (v): Tạo điều kiện cho
Diagnosis (n): Chẩn đoán
Autism (n): Tự kỷ
Approach (n): Phương pháp
Stimulus (n): Sự kích thích
Serious (adj): Nghiêm túc
Debate (v): Tranh luận
Trivial (adj): Tầm thường
Fundamental (adj): Cơ bản
Contribution (n): Sự đóng góp

Các bạn làm đề nhé, cô chia sẻ đáp án dưới cmt nha!

【玳瑚師父隨筆錄】《在還沒變之前》
Before The Change Unfolds (English version below)

當年秦始皇因排儒，欲將所有的書焚盡，唯獨一本書他沒焚，究竟是哪一本書讓他「手下留情」呢？這本書是其身邊一位高官，仔細講解給他聽後，而得以「免於一死」。也唯有真實功德的書，才能繼續利益後世疾苦交加之眾生。這本書就是全世界，排名第一的《易經》。西方人把它稱為《The Book Of Changes》。

《易經》說明了一切都是在變化中，一切也無常態，暗合了佛所說的，一切皆無常啊！而這一切包含了天時天時、地理、人和，包含了六親眷屬之關係、人的身體、災難、情感、財富等等等，都在變化中。根本沒有一樣東西，我們可以將它留住，唯有藏在妳你「心中最深處」的佛性，才是永恆不變的。所有的我們，欲想親見自己的佛性，一定要下苦功，真正實修佛法，持之以恆，最終才能親證妳你們原原本本的佛性，任運及自在。

從《易經》我們知道了，一切都在變，這是很好的。怎麼說呢？最起碼它已教會我們，不要去執著一切，應攝取當中的智慧，放開束縛，自在與快樂馬上奔向妳你。這本《易經》實在讚！不說妳你們不知，五術山、醫、命、卜、相，皆出自於《易經》。若有人問妳你，現在在做什麼啊？妳你回應現在在研究算命，她他應該不會有太大的反應。但如果妳你回應她他，妳你現在在研究《易經》，她他的反應會是前所未有的。

玳瑚師父知曉天下本無事，庸人自擾也。在一切還沒變之前，何不認取這智慧，放下是解脫之門，想要快樂自在，這門是不二法門。

日落月昇又一天，
野牛亂撞誰來牽；
不如研究此經典，
任運自在樂無邊。

----------------

During the time of the Qin Dynasty, the Qin Emperor rejected the Teachings of Confucius and burnt all books, with the only exception of a single title. So which book was spared from the "burning death"? The virtues of this book was being extolled to the Emperor by a high-ranking official during that time and he convinced the Emperor not to burn this book. Only a book, with true merits and virtues, that can alleviate the sufferings of mankind, would be passed down centuries after centuries. This book, number one in the world, is non other than I Ching, or as named by the Westerners, "The Book of Changes".

The Book of Changes states clearly that everything is in a constant flux of change and nothing is ever constant. This is aligned with the Buddha's teaching that nothing is permanent! This includes the Heavens, Earth and Man, relationships with the family, one's health, disasters, emotions, wealth, etc. There is absolutely not a single thing we can hold on to forever, except your own Buddha Nature, buried deep in your heart. If you desire to see your own Buddha Nature, you must work hard and cultivate the Dharma. Only through relentless effort on this long journey, will you be able to finally realize your Buddha Nature and gain liberation.

We know from the Book of Changes that everything is constantly changing. This is a good thing. Why do I say that? Well, at least it teaches us to release all attachments and gain the wisdom from it. When you let go, joy and freedom will immediately find their way to you. This book is really praiseworthy! You may not know this but the the five main metaphysic subjects of landform, medicine, destiny, divination and face reading stem from the Book of Changes. If someone is to ask you about your present occupation, and you answered that you are studying Destiny Analysis, the person probably might not show any big reaction. But if you tell that someone that you are doing research on the Book of Changes, you will be greeted with a reaction never seen before.

Master Dai Hu understands that nothing in this world actually matters, and it is only the ignorant who will bother himself with otherwise. Before any change unfold, why not recognize this wisdom, detach and free yourself from this never-ending cycle? There is only one path to true happiness and freedom.

The sun sets, and the moon ascends.
Another day has gone by.
The wild cattle is in disarray with no one to shepherd them.
Why would you not delve into this treasure trove of a book?
And find yourself in everlasting bliss and freedom.