Kids' Play

Newoldschoolteacher, guestblogging at Eduwonk, isn't sympathetic to NYT letter-writers' (responding to Clara Hemphill's July 26 "On Education" column) complaints that schools are smooshing all the play out of kindergarten and thereby stifling children's "creative potential." I tend to view the hysteria here as another example of how the media's focus on the concerns and fears of white, affluent parents, while entirely sensible from a market perspective, has a negative impact on our discussions about education that works to the disadvantage of poor and minority kids.

There's also a false choice being posed here between academics and play that is incredibly harmful to efforts to improve early childhood education. Early childhood traditionalists resist proposals to strengthen the academic/verbal/early literacy aspects of preschool and early childhood programs or put in place curriculum standards because they argue that the most important thing for little kids to do is to play. But that's not really a choice--effective preschool programs use play and play-like activities to teach children pre-literacy, math, and social/emotional skills. If you go into an early childhood classroom where high-quality early literacy and verbal development are going on, you see children having fun. And, more explicit adult efforts to develop children's verbal and social/emotional skills can actually help give children the tools to play well.