Not A Stick

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Alec @ Child's Play Music

Did you know that the humble stick has been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame? Few toys have the open-ended possibilities of the stick, and yet in many schools and early childhood settings playing with sticks is forbidden.

I think that is a tragedy. Sticks are childhood, just as much as mud and puddles and cardboard boxes and sofa-cushion forts. To deny children stick-play is to deny them one of the most powerful tools of the imagination. A stick can be anything a child can imagine. Anything.

Recently my friend Karen from Flights of Whimsy challenged some of us ECE bloggers to write poems celebrating the stick as creative toy. Click here to read Karen’s powerful post, her own poem, and a poem by Candy (the talented writer of the Aunt Annie’s Childcare blog).

Here’s my own poem; it’s called:

Not A Stick

Hold this for me, Dad – it’s not a stick.
Really it’s a wizard’s staff,
And we will fight dragons together,
Heroes, side by side.

But wait, Dad – it’s not a wizard’s staff.
Really it’s a fishing rod,
And we will catch fish together,
And dangle our toes in the water.

No, no, you see, Dad – it’s not a fishing rod.
Really it’s a shining horse,
And we will ride races together,
As the earth shakes beneath our hooves.

Oh, I know, Dad – it’s not a shining horse.
Really it’s a hammer,
And we will build a house together
To keep us warm when the cold wind blows.

And the best thing, Dad – do you know the best thing?
Outside there are more sticks,
So many stories waiting to be told:
Let’s find out what they are.

We’ll write them together.

All images licensed under Creative Commons licenses. Mouse over each image for image credit and license details; click image to go to the original image source.

The Future of Education is Play

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Alec @ Child's Play Music

There’s a lot of questioning now about “The Future of Education”. But the answer is simple: The Future of Education is Play.

Images of children playing in natural environments

You can right click on this collage and select “view image” to see a larger version.

Image sources: let the children play; Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning;
Precious Childhood; Flights of Whimsy

I get a lot of emails from people all around the world about Child’s Play Music. But this one touched a chord with me, because it’s about the Future of Play-Based Learning. And to me that means it’s about the Future of Education, period.

It’s from Malissa Carey, a 20 year old student from Kansas, who is now studying at Concordia University. Let me quote from the email and you’ll see why it means so much to me.

My name is Malissa Carey. I am from Princeton, Kansas but I attend school at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. I stumbled upon your website and have fallen in LOVE with your program. I am double majoring in Early Childhood and Special Education and will continue to get my Masters in Music Therapy and hopefully a Doctorate. I would love to get to experience one of your classes but I don’t think that will ever get to happen, at least not in the near future.

I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate what you are doing and how much I want to base my future classroom like what you have! I am so very passionate about children’s learning through play. In a time where most teachers are worried about teaching to the test and hitting standards it’s refreshing to be able to just experience play and something that God intended us to do… to just live.

Anyway, now that I have ranted and raved about how much I love what you’re doing I just want to simply say, THANK YOU! Sincerely, Malissa Carey.

Now, it’s lovely that Malissa likes Child’s Play Music so much – I’m honoured and, indeed, humbled. But what struck me most was Malissa’s passion for play-based learning.

I am so very passionate about children’s learning through play … it’s refreshing to be able to just experience play and something that God intended us to do… to just live.

I know only too well that play-based learning is under serious threat in the US (and to a lesser extent here in Australia too). As Malissa says, we are living “in a time where most teachers are worried about teaching to the test and hitting standards”.

Continue reading →

Let Me Play! (Trust Me, I’m Learning)

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Alec @ Child's Play Music

This poster exploded onto the early childhood pages on Facebook yesterday. Within hours of Jeff from Explorations Early Learning, LLC posting it to his Wall shares hit the hundreds and as I write it’s been shared over 1,800 times (possibly much more – some Pages have been sharing the image without attribution to Jeff and his Page). [Update: it’s now been shared almost 5,000 times as at 3/10/12, and it’s also available for purchase from Jeff’s website]

I am 3 - let me play poster

Source: Explorations Early Learning, LLC

It seems to have struck a chord; the vast majority of comments have been along the lines of “I love this!”, “so true!”, “yay!”, “amen!”, “I want to give this to all the parents at my centre/preschool!” and “I want to give this to all the teachers at my child’s centre/preschool!”

And those last two comments are, of course, the point. Because learning through play is something that is increasingly getting lost in the relentless drive towards academic programs for preschoolers, and unrealistic expectations of children’s behaviour and needs. More so in the US (where Jeff is based) than here in Australia, but even here many preschool programs are less play-based than they used to be.

There is a tendency to push the curriculum downwards – what would previously have been expected of Year One students is now increasingly being taught in kindergarten, and what would have been taught in kindergarten is being taught in preschools. Worksheets and standardised testing are supplanting construction play and home corners. Outdoor play is being replaced with desk time. Children’s needs are being overruled by society’s demands.

And this goes against 100 years of solid research into child development and how children learn. Academic preschool programs that focus on direct instruction are worse than useless: they are actively harmful to children’s development in both the short and long term.

Similarly, programs that have unreal expectations of children’s behaviour – programs that require 3 year olds to sit still, to keep their hands to themselves, to stand in line, to be patient – are setting children up for failure. Children with perfectly age and developmentally appropriate behaviour are being labelled as problems. Children are being punished with time-out or other aversive systems for behaviour that is not only normal – it is desirable!

Everything that children need to learn comes through play, and developmentally appropriate quality programs that provide extensive opportunities for learning through play provide the best environment for children to flourish.

Now understand: I am not arguing that preschool programs should be a free-for-all, in which children are merely left to play without adult support and guidance about behaviour. Again, the research is unequivocal – such laissez-faire programs are ineffective at best, and harmful at worst.

But unless we as a society recognise that young children need extensive opportunities to learn through play, that academic direct instruction models are harmful to them, and that their “undesirable” behaviour is normal and developmentally appropriate, we are are failing them.

The adverse outcomes will be felt for generations; we must not allow that to happen. Play and play-based learning must be nurtured, it must be at the heart of every educational program whether that is child care, preschool, kindergarten or school. As professionals or parents we need to stand up and defend play; to capitulate to the forces that oppose play is to fail both our children and society.

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