Learning through the eyes of a child — why children need play in school

During the past 20 years, kindergarten has changed dramatically, with many classes having to follow narrowly prepared prescriptive-type curricula based on each state's standards and linked to standardized tests, according to Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School, a report released by Alliance for Childhood earlier this year.

Children are now spending more time being taught and tested on literacy and math skills, insist Edward Miller and Joan Almon, the paper’s authors, adding that children do little learning through play and exploration or using their imaginations.

Imagination — that seems to be a key word in the educational world today, but it also becomes difficult to enforce at a classroom level, offers C. J. Ellis of KidsReadUs.com.

Having children learn only standardized testing protocols can compromise their long-term prospects for success in school, Miller and Almon said in their report. Ellis agrees: “We need to get children more involved with child-initiated play in a classroom setting.”

Miller and Almon also believe that parents need to reinforce their own efforts at building their child’s imagination by supporting teacher’s capacities for creativity, autonomy, and integrity.

“In a healthy kindergarten, play does not mean ‘anything goes,’” the authors said. “It does not deteriorate into chaos. Nor is play so tightly structured by adults that children are denied the opportunity to learn through their own initiative and exploration."

The report reinforced Ellis’ belief that parents need to become more involved with the development of their child’s creative skills — both at home and in a school setting.

It’s all a matter of encouraging kids to Let Their Imagination Fly!

[Miller is a founding partner of the U.S. Alliance for Childhood and co-director of its Restoring Children’s Play project. He has taught at Harvard University and at Sarah Lawrence College.

Almon is co-founder of the alliance and co-director of its play project. For 30 years, she taught preschool and kindergarten in Waldorf schools in Maryland and abroad.

Research and funding for the report were provided by the Woodhouse Foundation, the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, the Novo Foundation, RSF Social Finance, the Kalliopeia Foundation, Bay Area Early Childhood Funders, the Newman’s Own Foundation, and Community Playthings.]