Comments on: Playful Learning

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 16:55:58 +0000

Thanks for a well written article! We are at the beginning of our unschooling journey with two boys ages four and two. Our approach is to simply provide as many uniques resources as possible that support the boys’ various passions, all of which are child led play based for the most part.

Your article helped me clarify a frustration I’ve had recently as I seek social activities for my oldest son. So many of them appear to be geared toward adult convenience and teaching my child patience vs. child appropriate play. Gymnastics and dance classes are jammed full of eight 3-4 yr olds who are expected to sit on their bottoms and wait their turn for 5-10 minutes at a time, craft classes are full of reprimands of how to paint to avoid splatters instead of experiential play, music class requires silence !!?? and hand raising to be heard, yet the kids are supposed to bellow once the music begins (how a young child grasps that I don’t know).

It’s truly a challenge to find activities that meet children’s needs. We are leaning toward private lessons that are more in tune with individual needs and respect for the child.

Thank you again!

By: MaMammalia

MaMammalia — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 04:56:37 +0000

Thanks for this informative post! I’ve spent several months visiting different preschools in my community and was repeatedly disappointed: “more geared towards academic testing” is quite an understatement from what I observed! Many schools only give 2-3 year-olds 30 minutes of free play all morning long. Yikes! It seems that both parents and educators forget (or are unaware) of how and what young children learn. As you point out, the things that best prepare a child for the “real world” aren’t academic in nature. Thanks for breaking it all down!

By: Playful Learning

Playful Learning — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 17:42:56 +0000

[...] editor and API Leader Rita Brhel explains why playtime and learning time are one in the same on The Attached Family online magazine: I am quite happy with the preschool that my children attended, although it took a lot of [...]

By: Gail

Gail — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 01:54:49 +0000

I’ve been hooked on trying to find a way to “unschool” our two boys since I found out the sort of means to get them a great and varied, but completely unorthodox, education actually had a name! This article reinforces exactly why I’d like to keep them out of any organized (public or private) school system. Especially our oldes, who would most certainly be labeled as having ADHD. A few years ago my being able to stay home seemed impossible, but now there might be a way to make it happen, and I think it is more than worth the (financial) fight. I don’t want them to have to survive school and have it be luck alone that keeps their love of learning alive! Learning is something that should never be stifled yet it seems that’s all schools set out to do.

By: syd

syd — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 19:50:19 +0000

I have been researching school options these past few weeks for my family, since we might be moving. I, too, am very concerned with having plenty of play time for my child up through kindergarten at the very least. Unfortunately, it looks like the only options we will have in our new location are private schools or homeschool. We are very fortunate that these are, in fact, options for us.

It really saddens and upsets me that policy and the need of our policy makers to “ensure” our tax monies are spent “well” are driving early childhood learning rather than childhood development itself. For one of the better ranked school districts where we may move to, kindergarteners spend 350 minutes a week, or 42%, studying reading/language arts. Only 90 minutes a week, or 10%, are allocated to physical education, music, and art in total. Of course to be fair, I will need to determine if all the time is adult guided.

Thank you for including some aspects of play that I can look for in the schools that we will ultimately visit.