The Power of Play

Elementary school classrooms are all business. Academic expectations have risen at all levels and the pressure is being felt even in kindergarten. Five year old children are routinely expected to sit for extended periods of time working on small motor tasks at the expense of their creativity and gross motor exploration. As an educator and a parent I struggle with these expectations that seem to stifle my children and discourage their innate love of learning.
It is one thing to say that I wish the children had more unstructured classroom time to explore the materials and interact with each other. It is another entirely to be able to support that desire with research and to be able to share that research in a comprehensive and unequivocal manner.
This book begins with Erikson's stages of development and describes how children, through unstructured play, learn to navigate the world around them, build empathy, and create a strong sense of self. The author sites examples of his own children, as well as children he has encountered in his clinical practice as he emphasizes the power that child-directed, creative play can have in development.
A child at play with simple blocks or scarves may seem to be learning less than one with flash cards or letter stencils but, as Maria Montessori suggested, children who are given simple materials and the freedom to explore will scaffold their own learning. By learning through play children build connections and knowledge that is authentic and real-world applicable. Playing together allows children to learn from each other and to develop empathy and an understanding of others while building mathematical, scientific and linguistic connections. Rote memorization and scripted lessons may get results on standardized tests, but the implications for creative thinking and cross curricular extrapolation leave me cold.
So, let your children play. Play with them, play simple and play often!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Elkind