Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/preschool-academics-learning-what-comes-naturally/5017806/
Several years ago I was in one of the observation booths of our Children’s School at Tufts. There was a remarkable class of four year olds I had heard about, and wanted to watch. I was soon joined by a mother of one of the children in the group. After a few moments I could tell that she was getting agitated. I asked her if there was anything wrong. She replied, “They are playing.”I looked at the children in their various interest areas; some in the drama corner, some painting at easels, others in the block area. They were all busy; deeply involved in the activities they had chosen to engage in. It looked like a very productive classroom to me so I asked her why the playing was so troublesome to her. She replied, “Well my friend’s son goes to another nursery school and he is learning his letters and numbers, even works on the computer for goodness sake! How is my son going to be able to compete?”
Her comment reflects a widely held misunderstanding about children’s play. In part the error results from the fact that we use the term play to refer to everything from a baby ...