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 Lately, when do children get chances to solve problems through unstructured play? How much time do they spend in school thinking, discovering, and figuring things […]
Fake Play and Its Dangerous Alignment to Standards and Data
Where does pretending come in? It relates to what philosophers call “counterfactual” thinking, like Einstein wondering what would happen if a train went at the speed of light. ~Alison Gopnik, “Let the Children Play, It’s Good for Them” Smithsonian Magazine. July 2012. There’s a troubling phenomenon happening in early childhood education. It involves aligning standards […]
Halloween and The Value of Make-Believe to Reading and Emotional Development
It is not mere childish escapism. There is a political aspect to it – we won’t try to change this world unless we are able to imagine another reality. One could say all change starts with fantasy. ~Cornelia Funke, German author of children’s fiction. Here comes Halloween! Parents and teachers sometimes dread Halloween, the candy […]
The Ridiculous Ways Adults Ruin Recess
Recess for children is such a simple concept that some adults don’t know how to deal with it. Edutopia is talking about a “right way” to do recess in order to “optimize” it. This stems from a report that is supposed to “help” with recess. They want to manipulate how children play and how we […]
The Sad Impact of Corporate School Reform on Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disabilities
We have a lot of troubled kids. As of 2016, approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%. HERE. Schools should be on the front line to assist children and adolescents with mental health difficulties. But […]
Recess Isn’t P.E.: State Legislatures Reframe the Meaning of a Child’s Freedom
”I’d like to sit on the grass,” she confided in a whisper of angelic conspiracy, ” and look for ladybugs.” But there is no time for such lollygagging. The Atlanta public schools, like many districts across the country, have eliminated recess in elementary schools as a waste of time that would be better spent on […]
Are Children Getting Real Recess?
Children have been in school for awhile. How much recess are they getting? Is their school day overly organized? Are they getting pretend recess–physical education, or some canned program from a digital device? How many principals are tricking parents into thinking their children are getting real recess? Even preschool parents need to ask this question. […]
DeVos and False Claims of Failed Schools: How School Reform Hurts Children
The conviction that the best way to prepare children for a harsh, rapidly changing world is to introduce formal instruction at an early age is wrong. There is simply no evidence to support it, and considerable evidence against it. Starting children early academically has not worked in the past and is not working now. —David […]
Finland’s School Reforms are Troubling: 4 Reasons Why
Finland’s new curriculum means that schoolchildren will no longer need to sit down quietly in classrooms, since they will instead be able to choose where and how they study. In future there will not necessarily be any traditional enclosed classrooms. —“The Truth About Finnish Schools” This is Finland Finland’s schools have been admired for years. […]
Where Art Thou Recess? CASEL’s Social-Emotional Omission
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is creating behavioral standards for preschool through high school across the country. Social and emotional learning (SEL) is both trendy, and controversial, and is being reported a lot in education news. As I have written before, I am suspect of behavioral standards for children, but some […]