Advocating Play

“The early childhood community, which has traditionally valued play as a learning tool, has not been very articulate about play’s importance in our evidence-based school economy.”  This challenge was laid down by Elizabeth Graue, in her article, “Are We Paving the Paradise:  In our rush to promote achievement, we’ve forgotten how 5 year olds really learn,” in Education Leadership (April 2011). Graue further observes…

“The growing allocation of kindergarten time to academic content has firmly pushed play to the edges. What counts as play in many classrooms are highly controlled centers that focus on particular content labeled as ‘choice’ but that are really directed at capturing a specific content-based learning experience, such as number bingo or retelling a story exactly as the teacher told it on a flannel board….It means that in-depth project work that involves research into child-initiated questions just takes too much time….”

“What’s lost with this shift?  Attention to anything but clearly defined cognitive aspects of development….”

“…It’s no longer enough to argue that play is the work of children; we’re now required to prove what children get from play.  What they get must translate to increased achievement or reduced risk.  So let’s nail the evidence base.”

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