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Responding in part to the recent rise in concern over the lasting impact of early childhood programs, Community Playthings shared a blog post by Dr Dale C. Farran, who likens early learning to an iceberg:

“The tip of the iceberg… is composed of things that are easily measured,” writes Farran, including recognizing numbers and letters and other skills frequently equated with school-readiness, in contrast with those beneath the surface, like curiosity, self-control, persistence, and broad vocabulary. Farran cautions that when pre-academics become the focus of early years programming, it results “in a detachment of the tip of the iceberg from the deeper skills under the surface…The tip of the iceberg skills no longer symbolize those under the surface. They are no longer the visible and measurable aspects of more important competencies. Only when the deeper skills are enhanced should we expect continued progress based on early experiences. A very different set of experiences likely facilitates the development of those deeper skills.”

Farran links this disconnect with inequitable access to quality care and education driven by economics and policy, and concludes, “I hope this ‘iceberg’ model will provide a useful visual depiction of the danger of concentrating on basic skills instruction in pre-k. I hope also that it will help people understand why getting early childhood right is so important and the imperative need to fix the childcare situation in the U.S. for families of poor children—in fact for all our children.”

For those focusing on what’s ‘under the iceberg,’ Steve Gross and Rebecca Cornelli Sanderson offer four pillars of a playful classroom:

• A classroom that engages children lets children help guide the curriculum or programming.
  
• A classroom that empowers children collaboratively develops clear and explicit rules for keeping everyone safe.
  
• A classroom that connects children emphasizes the importance of relationships between teachers and children, as well as between peers.
  
• A joyful classroom is one that is full of smiles, laughter, and humor.

Their article exploring these pillars is included in the Exchange Essentials on “Advocating for Play.”

Early childhood programs report that dealing with challenging behaviors is one of the greatest concerns they face. Learn new strategies for successfully addressing challenging behaviors with the Exchange Essential PDF "Advocating for Play." Exchange Essentials are collections of Exchange Articles around important topics and this week they are all 20% off!

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