Years ago I toured what felt like every single Kindergarten classroom in my city in preparation for my youngest child to start her school career. I was flummoxed that out of 12-15 classrooms that I visited not one single one had any evidence of play. There was no carpet for circle time, no housekeeping center, no stuffies or baby dolls, no blocks or manipulatives. It’s been quite a few decades since I, myself was in my own Kindergarten classroom as an apprehensive five year oId. But I still have vivid memories of it. I can still picture the toy kitchen and shopping cart. I remember the plush Letter People that would come out each week to teach us their sounds and what words they said. I also remember snack time and rest time and the cute loft with bean bag chairs and brightly colored books. I loved Kindergarten. I grew up in another century and on another continent, but could it really be that different now?
I began to do more research. Not just tours of class rooms in my town, but what did the experts say? This is what I found. Children need to play! Children learn best when they are engaged.
In Lisa Murphy’s book, Lisa Murphy on Play The Foundation of Children’s Learning she says, “ When there is pressure to build a house without regard to the foundation that supports it, it will fall down. The same is true with our house of higher learning. Play is not just an idle waste of time. We must stop thinking of playtime as time being taken away from something else, something deemed by grown-ups as more important. Play supports school readiness and is not separate from learning. A foundation of creating, moving, singing, discussing, observing, and reading is held together by play. Play once again is the cement holding the foundation together and it is this foundation that will in turn support the house of higher learning! We all want what is best for children, but what we are often sold as best has nothing to do with what children really need. Play is the foundation of children’s learning.”
Peter Gray in his book Free to Learn says, “ playfulness, or the drive to play serves educative purposes complementary to those of curiosity. While curiosity, motivates children to seek new knowledge and understanding, playfulness motivates them to practice new skills and use those skills creatively.”
“Play is the work of the child”
- Maria Montessori
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning.”
-Fred Rogers
There are literally hundreds of articles, quotes, books and journal entries that I could post and link here. These are just a few. But as you can see, the experts all seem to agree that play is how children learn best.
For my husband and I it was a no-brainer. Our daughter would need to be homeschooled for Kindergarten. If play was how she was going to learn best, then we would play! And we did!
For a few years I have been running a successful play-based preschool. This year, I decided to expand it to a Kindergarten enrichment program. I could not be more excited! It will open its doors this month! As everything I do, it will be fully bilingual (English/Spanish), child led, and of course chock full of PLAY!
Join us on our adventures, won’t you?
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