School or Play

The other day Malachi woke up with the decision that he wanted to go to the "hot pool" - Logan Aquatic Center which sadly closed after Labor Day weekend. Just the same he was determined to go swimming and put on his swimsuit and goggles and kept them on for the whole day, including the walk to pick up Isaiah.

Isaiah didn't seem to mind this, and Julianna wondered why she didn't get to wear her swimsuit too. Maybe in a year or two.

Anyways, as I continue to fervently study child development my children are becoming more interesting to me (which Shelly thinks is nice). I was considering putting Isaiah into a charter school next year which I had assumed would be better and provide him with excellent education opportunities, but upon talking to my professor I decided otherwise.

She has evaluated schools all over Cache Valley and though she only saw kindergarten and first grade there she said the classrooms she saw seemed joyless. Many charter schools are great and even this one scores well, but one must consider the cost. This particular school really emphasizes academics and academic performance for even the younger ages. I think this reflects a disturbing trend in how parents often approach educating their children.

Across the country recesses are being cut down and our current Presidential Administration is talking about extending school hours to be in better competition with foreign countries. Hmm . . . like Japan where the suicide rates are extremely high perhaps?

The early years of life - including much of elementary school, should be focused more on how to learn and the joy of learning rather then cramming heads with info. Part of this includes allowing and fostering play. Sometimes parents worry if a class is too fun then the kids are not learning something. Kindergarten expects that you know how to spell your name before you get there as if somehow you would never figure this out unless it happened before then.

However, contrary to common belief, you can skip buying that leap frog or computer program for your preschool kids because who cares if they will learn how to read faster than the others - because it doesn't make any difference. By second grade it's all a wash. Rather we should be focused more on how to learn than what to learn. Additionally, children need to learn through playing. They need to pour things out and stack things and make messes - that is how they learn. Environments should be set up to support a child's intrinsic ability to learn (can you say Montessori?).
Something my child development professor pointed out was that children raised with an emphasis on academics and rote learning outperformed their peers until 4th grade. Then, its the children who were always allowed to problem solve and experiment who truly excel in academics. They know how to learn and they enjoy it.

Its up to us as parents to provide our children with that balance of learning through play and academics. We all want our kids to be successful in school. But what really want is for them to be successful in life. Funny, but it all starts with play - like wearing swimsuit on a walk to school.


- written by Jim & Shelly