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Use play as a tool to maximize child development

Use Play to implement the curriculum

Teachers use observation to assess and support children’s development and learning

Language rich environment and children develop their own ideas and rules to have free play with peers or solo.

Here is a video about teaching children how to live in this world by learning on their own. This architecture is one attempt to let children learn and feel for themselves.

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Takaharu Tezuka: The best kindergarten you've ever seen

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At this school in Tokyo, five-year-olds cause traffic jams and windows are for Santa to climb into. Meet: the world's cutest kindergarten, designed by architect Takaharu Tezuka. In this charming talk, he walks us through a design process that really lets kids be kids.

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The Issues of Play vs Academic-based program

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The Issues of Play vs Academic-based program

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There are many studies which show that play influences a child’s brain development, but also cognitive and social emotional development. (Weisberg, and et al, 2013: Grey,2015: Kohn, 2015)

Early academic training increases a child’s immediate scores on the specific tests that the training is aimed at, but these initial gains wash out within 1 to 3 years.(Grey,2015)

There is evidence that early academic training is effective in the short-term and instruction can produce long-term harm, especially in the realms of social and emotional development. (Grey,2015)

Here is a Ted Talk video from speaker Dr. Stuart Brown.

Brown (2008), said that “even if they're summa cum laude from Harvard or Cal Tech -- if they haven't fixed cars, haven't done stuff with their hands early in life, played with their hands, they can't problem-solve as well. So play is practical, and it's very important.”

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Stuart Brown: Play is more than just fun

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A pioneer in research on play, Dr. Stuart Brown says humor, games, roughhousing, flirtation and fantasy are more than just fun. Plenty of play in childhood makes for happy, smart adults -- and keeping it up can make us smarter at any age.

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Emphasizes academics, including the rote memorization of the alphabet, numbers. etc

A teacher provides a sole correct answer

Teaches one-by-one steps

Comprises the core, required and elective courses that lead to a degree or certificate

Mainly, it gets focus on the skills needed to perform a certain task

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Play Based Programs

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Play Based Programs

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Advantages:

Play contributes to school success

Develop their oral language skills and capacity for narrative, or “thinking in stories.”

Learning is enjoyable because it is based on their own curiosity

Inventing strategies for solving problems

Develop self-regulation and social negotiation

Disadvantage:

Children who have challenges in social skills have a harder time to engage in play activities with their peers. (Mohammadzaheri and et al, 2010)

Percentage of adult direction

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Academic Based Program 

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Academic Based Program 

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Advantages:

For children with behavior challenges such as Autism and ADHD who learn more effectively with smaller steps in a structured setting with academic tools such as flashcards would help them understand the concept easier.

Structured setting of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) techniques improves cognitive and language skills.  (Anagnostou,  Zwaigenbaum,  Szatmari,  Fombonne,etl, 2014)

Disadvantages:

Activities may make students feel ignorant and incompetent, so that they learn to stop taking risks by guessing

Teaching right or wrong is narrows children’s imagination skills.

Have correct answers and rely heavily on memorization

Little practical value

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Many preschool and kindergarten teachers have told me that they are extremely upset-some to the point of being ready to resign-by the increased pressure on them to teach academic skills to little children and regularly test them on such skills. They can see firsthand the unhappiness generated, and they suspect that the children would be learning much more useful lessons through playing, exploring, and socializing, as they did in traditional nursery schools and kindergartens. Their suspicions are well validated by research studies.

A number of well-controlled studies have compared the effects of academically oriented early education classrooms with those of play-based classrooms (some of which are reviewed here, in an article by Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn McLaughlin,and Joan Almon).[1] The results are quite consistent from study to study: Early academic training somewhat increases children's immediate scores on the specific tests that the training is aimed at (no surprise), but these initial gains wash out within 1 to 3 years and, at least in some studies, are eventually reversed. Perhaps more tragic than the lack of long-term academic advantage of early academic instruction is evidence that such instruction can produce long-term harm, especially in the realms of social and emotional development.
A Study in Germany that Changed Educational Policy There
For example, in the 1970s, the German government sponsored a large-scale comparison in which the graduates of 50 play-based kindergartens were compared, over time, with the graduates of 50 academic direct-instruction-based kindergartens.[2] Despite the initial academic gains of direct instruction, by grade four the children from the direct-instruction kindergartens performed significantly worse than those from the play-based kindergartens on every measure that was used. In particular, they were less advanced in reading and mathematics and less well adjusted socially and emotionally. At the time of the study, Germany was gradually making a switch from traditional play-based kindergartens to academic ones. At least partly as a result of the study, Germany reversed that trend; they went back to play-based kindergartens. Apparently, German educational authorities, at least at that time, unlike American authorities today, actually paid attention to educational research and used it to inform educational practice.
A Large-Scale Study of Children from Poverty in the United States
Similar studies in the United States have produced comparable results. One study, directed by Rebecca Marcon, focused on mostly African American children from high-poverty families.[3] As expected, she found-in her sample of 343 students--that those who attended preschools centered on academic training showed initial academic advantages over those who attended play-based preschools; but, by the end of fourth grade, these initial advantages were reversed: The children from the play-based preschools were now performing better, getting significantly higher school grades, than were those from the academic preschools, This study included no assessment of social and emotional development.
An Experiment in Which Children from Poverty Were Followed up to Age 23
In a well-controlled experiment, begun by David Weikart and his colleagues in 1967, sixty eight high-poverty children living in Ypsilanti, Michigan, were assigned to one of three types of nursery schools: Traditional (play-based), High/Scope (which was like the traditional but involved more adult guidance), and Direct Instruction (where the focus was on teaching reading, writing, and math, using worksheets and tests). The assignment was done in a semi-random way, designed to ensure that the three groups were initially matched on all available measures. In addition to the daily preschool experiences, the experiment also included a home visit every two weeks, aimed at instructing parents in how to help their children. These visits focused on the same sorts of methods as did the preschool classrooms. Thus, home visits from the Traditional classrooms focused on the value of play and socialization while those from the Direct-Instruction classrooms focused on academic skills, worksheets, and the like.

The initial results of this experiment were similar to those of other such studies. Those in the direct-instruction group showed early academic gains, which soon vanished. This study, however, also included follow-up research when the participants were 15 years old and again when they were 23 years old. At these ages there were no significant differences among the groups in academic achievement, but large, significant differences in social and emotional characteristics.

By age 15 those in the Direct Instruction group had committed, on average, more than twice as many "acts of misconduct" than had those in the other two groups. At age 23, as young adults, the differences were even more dramatic. Those in the Direct Instruction group had more instances of friction with other people, were more likely to have shown evidence of emotional impairment, were less likely to be married and living with their spouse, and were far more likely to have committed a crime than were those in the other two groups. In fact, by age 23, 39% of those in the Direct Instruction group had felony arrest records compared to an average of 13.5% in the other two groups; and 19% of the Direct Instruction group had been cited for assault with a dangerous weapon compared with 0% in the other two groups.[4]

What might account for such dramatic long-term effects of type of preschool attended? One possibility is that the initial school experience sets the stage for later behavior. Those in classrooms where they learned to plan their own activities, to play with others, and to negotiate differences may have developed lifelong patterns of personal responsibility and pro-social behavior that served them well throughout their childhood and early adulthood. Those in classrooms that emphasized academic performance may have developed lifelong patterns aimed at achievement, and getting ahead, which-especially in the context of poverty-could lead to friction with others and even to crime (as a misguided means of getting ahead).

I suspect that the biweekly home visits played a meaningful role. The parents of those in the classrooms that focused on play, socialization, and student initiative may have developed parenting styles that continued to reinforce those values and skills as the children were growing up, and the parents of those in the academic training group may have developed parenting styles more focused on personal achievement (narrowly defined) and self-centered values-values that did not bode well for real-world success.

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What has been your experience with early education, as a parent or a teacher? What effects have you seen of early academic training, or, conversely, of experience in traditional play-based preschools and kindergartens? This blog is a forum for discussion, and your views and knowledge are valued and taken seriously, by me and by other readers. Make your thoughts known in the comments section below. As always, I prefer if you post your comments and questions here rather than send them to me by private email. By putting them here, you share with other readers, not just with me. I read all comments and try to respond to all serious questions. Of course, if you have something to say that applies only to you and me, then send me an email.

See also: Free to Learn; and alternativestoschool.com; and join me on Facebook.
References
[1] Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin, & Joan Wolfsheimer Almon. (2015). Reading Instruction in Kindergarten: Little to Gain and Much to Lose. Published online by the Alliance for Childhood. http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files...

[2] Linda Darling-Hammond and J. Snyder. 1992. "Curriculum Studies and the Traditions of Inquiry: The Scientific Tradition." Edited by Philip W Jackson. Handbook of Research on Curriculum. MacMillan. pp. 41-78.

[3] R. A. Marcon, 2002. "Moving up the grades: Relationship between preschool model and later school success." Early Childhood Research & Practice 4(1). http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/marcon.html.

[4] Larry J. Schweinhart and D. P. Weikart. 1997. "The High/Scope Pre- school Curriculum Comparison Study through age 23." Early Childhood Research Quarterly 12. pp. 117-143.

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Early Academic Training Produces Long-Term Harm

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Many preschool and kindergarten teachers are extremely upset by the increased pressure to teach literary and numerical skills to little children and test them regularly. They can see firsthand the unhappiness generated, and they suspect that the children would be learning much more useful lessons by playing.

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Restore child-initiated play and experiential learning with the active support of teachers to their rightful place at the heart of early childhood education.  A healthy program needs a balance of child initiated play in the presence of engaged teachers and more focused experiential learning guided by teachers.

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Use Reggio Emilia Approach

Do lots of art project so children who are visual thinkers can participate well

Create Reggio influenced play and academic learning combination activities for children with challenges to make it easier to engage in play activities.

Communicate to others the importance and value of play for children from birth through third grade

Combining free play with intentional teaching, and promoting play with mathematical objects and mathematical ideas is pedagogically powerful.

Shift our focus to developing the intellectual abilities of young children

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Bodrova, E. & Leong, D. J. (2005). Uniquely preschool: What research tells us about the ways young children learn. Educational Leadership, 63(1), 44-47.

Lester, S. & Russell, S. (2008). Play for a change. Play policy and practice: A review of contemporary perspectives. Play England. Retrieved 21.6.2010 from http://www.worldleisure. org/pdfs/Copy%20of%20book_rev_play_for_change.pdf

South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework (2009) Learners and Learning in the Early Years. Retrieved 15.6.2010 from http://www.sacsa. sa.edu.au/content/doc_fsrc.asp?ID=%7BDCB8452E-3D30-40E7-9C3C- 570AE5168C17%7D&sec=%7B25AAFB50-4954-457F-9426-FDB72E5202EF%7D

Shipley, D. (2008). Empowering children. Play based curriculum for lifelong learning.(Fourth edn). USA: Nelson Education.

Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2008). Understanding the relationship between curriculum, pedagogy and progression in learning in early childhood. Hong Kong Journal of Early Childhood, 7 (2), 6-13.

Steglin, D. A. (2005). Making the case for play policy: Research-based reasons to support play-based environments. Young Children, 60(2), 76-86.

Peter Gray (2015). Freedom to learn. Early Academic Training Produces Long-Term Harm from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201505/early-academic-training-produces-long-term-harm

Elizabeth Ann Wood (2013). Play, Learning the Early Childhood Curriculum. Developing Play in the Curriculum. (chapter 5, Third edn), 118-157.

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1) Declaring each student’s contribution to the presentation

For this assignment, I worked on: 1) making outline 2) editing and creating Padlet presentation, and 3) found a couple of videos which relate with this topic.

2) One key aspect of learning in the process of studying the issue.
I am from Japan and my entire school career focused heavily on academic skills. Education in Japan is stressed very highly to the point where if one doesn’t do well in elementary school they will not go to a good college. Therefore, I used to believe that early academic training was such an important part for child development until I started researching about this issue. I know that “play” is such a big part of early childhood education and it has a positive influence on children. However, I thought that teaching children academic skills as early as possible is also important part of development.  I was shocked that I found early academic training can actually hurt children.  This assignment was such an eye opening experience for me.

Anagnostou, E., Zwaigenbaum, L., Szatmari, P., Fombonne, E., Fernandez, B. A., Woodbury - Smith, M., Brian, J., Bryson, S., Smith, I. M., Drmic, I., Buchanan, J. A., Roberts, W., & Scherer, S. W.( 2014). Autism spectrum disorder: advances in evidence-based practice.(Report). CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal,  Vol.186(7), p.509(11)

Auger, A., Farkas, G., Burchinal, M. R., Duncan, G. J., & Vandell, D. L. (2014). Preschool center care quality effects on academic achievement: An instrumental variables analysis. Developmental Psychology, 50(12), 2559-2571. doi:10.1037/a0037995

Harkins, J. (April 1, 2015). Academic vs. play-based preschool debate fading in favor of intellectual discovery. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [Pittsburgh, PA]. Retrieved May 10, 2015. from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA407803874&v=2.1&u=s1185784&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w&asid=b8cf653f63d1c5eda681cdb8ac153584

Kohn, D. (2015, May 16). Let the Kids Learn Through Play. The New York Times. Retirieved May 19, 2015 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/opinion/sunday/let-the-kids-learn-through-play.html?mwrsm=Email&_r=0

Mohammadzaheri, F., Koegel, L., Rezaee, M., & Rafiee, M.S. (2010). A Randomized Clinical Trial Comparison Between Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) and Structured Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Intervention for Children with Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 44(11) , 2769-2777. doi: 10.1007/s10803-014-2137-3

Weisberg, D. S., Hirsh-Pasek, K., & Golinkoff, R. M. (2013). Embracing complexity: Rethinking the relation between play and learning: Comment on lillard et al. (2013). Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 35-39. doi:10.1037/a003007

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http://www.easternct.edu/cece/documents/TheCaseforPlayinPreschool.pdf

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5-KrozleK9jUnJMYTQwY0dxckk&authuser=0

http://www.journalofplay.org/sites/www.journalofplay.org/files/pdf-articles/3-1-article-does-play-make-a-difference.pdf

http://udel.edu/~roberta/play/Zigler_Bishop.pdf

http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=134 http://repository.usfca.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=diss

http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/kindergarten_report.pdf

http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/kindergarten_report.pdf

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/our-publications/every-child-magazine/every-child-index/every-child-vol-16-3-2010/play-based-learning-free-article/