In this post, which appeared on Valerie Strauss’s “Answer Sheet” blog, Nancy Carlsson-Paige explains that the biggest problem in early childhood education today is the erosion of time for play.
Carlsson-Paige is an emeritus professor at Lesley College, where she taught teachers of early childhood. She explains in this post that the changes in the recent past have damaged children and their classrooms.
She said, in a recent speech:
For the last 15 years or so, our education system has been dominated by standards and tests, by the gathering of endless amounts of data collected to prove that teachers are doing their job and kids are learning. But these hyper requirements have oppressed teachers and drained the creativity and joy from learning for students. Unfortunately, this misguided approach to education has now reached down to our youngest children.
In kindergartens and pre-K classrooms around the country we’ve seen a dramatic decrease in play. There are fewer activity centers in classrooms and much less child choice, as well as less arts and music. At the same time, teacher directed instruction has greatly increased, along with more scripted curriculum and paper and pencil tasks.
Play is very important in child development, she says:
Children all over the world play. They all know how to play, and no one has to teach them how. Any time we see a human activity that is wired into the brain and accomplished by all children worldwide, we know it is critical to human development.
So much is learned through play in the early years that play has been called the engine of development. Children learn concepts through play; they learn to cope and make sense of life experiences; and, they develop critical human capacities such as problem solving, imagination, self regulation and original thinking.
She notes that early childhood educators were never at the table when government officials, think tanks, testing companies, and standards writers decided that play didn’t matter. It does matter, and strangely enough, we need to fight to defend the right of children to play.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Interesting to read since a legislator in my state is introducing a bill GIVING THE OPTION of allowing recess. Baby steps.
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When people outside of education start dictating standards, it is a recipe for disaster. Standards for young children should be written by educators with a clear understanding of child development. Young children learn through their senses, and they use the imaginations when interacting with hands-on materials. This is how children learn to make sense of the world as they learn numerous cognitive skills that will transfer over to more academic tasks later. It is unfortunate that politicians and billionaires are dominating our schools and program in a highly politicized culture, since they are clueless in understanding what the needs of young children are. Here are some quotes from some great minds on the value of play.
Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori
“Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein
“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” – Mr. Rogers
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Your quotes are spot on. Let me add…
This was the first hit when I googled “play is the work of the child” and since you used the first four, I include the last six:
[start]
“The playing adult steps sideward into another reality; the playing child advances forward to new stages of mastery.” – Erik H. Erikson
“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.” – Carl Jung
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” – George Bernard Shaw
“Do not keep children to their studies by compulsion but by play.” – Plato
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” – Fred Rogers
[end]
Link: http://oneperfectdayblog.net/2013/02/21/quotes-about-the-importance-of-play/
😎
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Mary Wolstonecroft’s 1792 book A Vindication of the Rights of Woman advocated tax supported public schools in which boys and girls, rich and poor, could learn together.She also advocated ample time for recess and exercise on spacious playgrounds. She was, of course, one of the founders of modern feminism. The US has yet to catch up, and with Trump and DeVos the US will be taking giant steps backward. — Edd Doerr (arlinc.org)
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Since over 75% percent of teachers are women, the corporate assault is also an attack on women. Many African American certified teachers, most of whom are women, have lost middle class jobs due to privatization. Teaching has always been a way for women to support themselves and their families with dignity and some level of security, and it has been a way for women to be paid fairly without having to beg a white male boss for a raise. It is pathetic that our own government would help to turn teaching into a McDonald’s job and contribute further to income inequality. Maybe NOW should be made aware of what is happening.
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Interesting. My husband (a teacher) always says that the attacks on the teaching profession and teachers are an attack on women.
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I think the privateers believe teachers are “easy pickins” due to the demographic of the profession. Our unions have been weak and complicit. Somebody said the unions have acted the way they to get get a “seat at the table,” only now the table is in Hillary’s attic.
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It’s obvious that Donald Trump was never allowed to play as a child. His brutal father raised him to be a narcissist, psycho, lying tyrant … with cotton candy for hair and hands trained to grope.
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Agree…and this is how he raised, at least, his first three children who all now show these same traits.
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Play is not just play, it is who we are and how we think, how we come up with and connect ideas. It is what allows us to continue on in our jobs and journeys, that factor of joy. It is what allows us to work, which was Freud’s definition of sanity. A joyless environment is unlivable, unthinkable and leads ultimately to insanity. This is why the phrase is so common, You have to have a sense of humor to work here / to do this job. Creativity and imagination are the ultimate abstract mnemonics for how to think and be. They are of this world, and are in fact how we truly connect to it.
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TIme for play is also reduced because of the influence of technology. This is a fascinating conversation between Tami Simon and Nancy Colier who wrote the book, The Power of Off: The Mindful Way to Stay Sane in a Virtual World. Enjoy.
http://www.soundstrue.com/store/weeklywisdom/?page=single&category=IATE&episode=11933
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As someone who works in kindergarten classrooms, I wholeheartedly agree that play has fallen by the wayside. Our students get to play in classroom centers only twice a week for 30 minutes each. And these are full-day kindergarten classrooms! No wonder the children enter eager to learn but are burned out before they move on to first grade. I particularly remember one of my students last year who came to kindergarten happy and excited, but told me by springtime that he no longer liked school. Who could blame him for feeling that way?
In the preschool classrooms where I work, there is still lots of time to play; however, during large group circle time the proportion of time spent on storytelling has decreased in comparison to the amount of time spent learning numbers and letter sounds. That is a real shame.
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Just to add to the great comments above
I have said for years that people have forgotten what education is.about.
You train animals
You educate people
Education is or should be emulating history’s greatest minds and focus on humankind’s greatest thoughts. Ever expanding parameters of perspective, the search for ultimate values;
, good, truth, beauty.
Who are we as “HUMAN” beings, why are we here, where are we going etc?
Children now are regarded as “its”, mere cogs in industry’s needs.
Forget preparation for demo
cracy. Forget building up HUMAN qualities etc etc.
We are and will continue to pay an horrific price for this folly.
When 2nd or 3rd rate minds supplant humankind’s greatest minds
it “ain’t” education.
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When I was a kid (55 years ago), we used to go outside anytime and connect with other kids up until the time our parents called us in for dinner. We played “school,” “army” “doctor,” “construction,” “office,” etc. All games that promoted creativity and social skills. Parents could trust that nothing bad would happen. So even though I went to a strict, no-fun Catholic school, I still got plenty of play time.
Now parents must monitor constantly, and kids must stay inside under their supervision. Playtime at school is more important than ever. We must make sure they get enough. It’s one more responsibility that schools must take on – yet they must also run on more of a shoestring budget than ever.
Schools are where the kids are. Let’s realistically list all that schools must now do, and be sure we fully fund and support them.
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