let the kids learn through play.pdf
TRANSCRIPT
8/9/2019 Let the Kids Learn Through Play.PDF
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Let the
Kids
LearnThrough
Play
-
NYTimes.com
Paee of4
Let
he
Kids
LearnThroughPlay
BJORN
IE
ByDAVIDKOHN
MAY16,2015
12861
L...-.- -l
\
TWENTY
ears
ago,
kids
n
preschool,
indergarten nd even
irst
and second
grade
spentmuch of their time
playing:
building
withblocks,
drawing
or creating
imaginary
worlds,
n
their own
headsor with classmates.
ut ncreasingly,hese
activities
are
being
abandoned
or
the teacher-led, idactic
nstruction ypically
used
n higher
grades.
n
manyschools,
ormal education
ow
startsat age
4
or
S.
Without this earlystart, he thinking
goes,
ids risk
falling
behind
n crucial
subjects
uchas
eading
and
math,
and may
nevercatch
up.
The deaseems bvious:Startingsoonermeansearningmore; he earlybird
catcheshe
worm.
But
a
growinggroup
of scientists, ducation
esearchers nd educators
ay
here
s
little
evidence
hat this approach
mprovesong-termachievement;
n fact,
t may
have
he
opposite ffect,
potentially
slowingemotional
and
cognitivedevelopment,
causing
nnecessarytress
and
perhaps
ven
souring
kids' desire o
iearn.
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Let
the
Kids
Learn
Throueh
Play
-
NYTimes.com Page
of4
One
expert
talked o
recently,
Nanry
Carlsson-Paige,
professor
meritaof
education t LesleyUniversityin
Cambridge,Mass.,
escribeshis trend asa
profound
misunderstanding
f howchildrenleam..
She
egularlytours
schools,
and sees
ounger
students loundering
o comprehend
nstruction:
I've
seen
t
many,manytimes n many
manyclassrooms kidsbeing
old to sit at
a
table
and
just
copyletters.They
dont knowwhat
they'redoing.
t's heartbreaking.
The stakesn this
debate
reconsiderable.
s the
skeptics f
teacher-led arly
learning
see t,
that
kind
of education
will
fail
to
producepeople
who
candiscover
and
nnovate,
and
will
merely
produce
people
who
are
ikely
to be
passive
consumers f
information,
ollowers
ather
han
nventors.Which kind
of citizen
do
we want or
the
2$t
century?
In
the United States,more
academic
arlyeducation
as
spread
apidly
n
the
past
decade.
rograms
ike No
Child Left Behind
and
Race
o the
Top
havecontributed
to moretesting and moreteacher-directednstruction.
Another
eason:
he CommonCoreState
Standards,
detailed etof educational
guidelines
meant
o ensure hat
students
each
certainbenchmarks
etween
kindergarten
nd
rzth
grade.
Currently,4g
states
and he
Distriet
of
Colurnbia
ave
adopted oth the
math
and
anguage
tandards.
The
shift toward didactic
approaehes
s
an attempt
to solve wo
pressingproblems.
By
many
measures, merican
educational
chievement
agsbehind hat of other
countries;
at
the
same ime, millions
of American
students,many of them
poor
and
from minoritybackgrounds,emain ar
below
nationalnorrns.
Advocates
aythat
starting
ormal
education
arlier
will help
close
hese
dual
gaps.
ADVERTISEMENT
w*ro 16d{#r$dffia
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Let
the
Kids Leam ThroughPlay
-
NYTimes.com Page of4
But thesemoves,while well
ntentioned,
are
misguided.Several ountries,
including
Finland
and
Estonia,
don't start
compulsory
ducation ntil
the
ageof
7.
In the
most recent
comparison
f national
educational
evels,
he
Program or
International
Student
Assessment,
oth countries
anked
significantly
higher
han
the
United
States n math,
science nd
reading.
Of cowse, hesecountriesare smaller,essunequaland essdiverse han he
United States.
n
suchcircumstances,
ducation
oses
ewer
challenges.
t's
unlikely hat startingschool
at
7
wouldwork here:
oo
many
young
kids,
disadvantagedr otherwise,
would
probably
endup
watchinghoursof
TV
a day,
not an activity hat
promotes
uture
educational chievement.
ut the complexities
of the
task
n
this country
don't erase
fundamental
act
hat overlystructured
classrooms o
not
bene{it
manyyoung
children.
Some
esearchndicates
hat earlyinstruction n readingand other areas
mayhelp
somestudents, ut theseboostsappearo betemporary.A zoog studyby
Sebastian
.
Suggate, n education
esearcher
t
Alanus
University
n Germany,
looked
at about
4oo,ooo
r5-year-oldsn more
han
5o
countriesand
orrnd
hat
earlyschoolentry
provided
no
advantage. notherstudyby
Dr.
Suggate,
ublished
in
zotz, looked
at
a
group
of 83 students
over
several
ears
and
ound
hat those
who startedat age
5
had
ower reading
comprehension
han those
who
began
learning
ater.
Other
esearch as ound
hat earlydidactic
nstruction
might actuallyworsen
academic
erformance.
ebecca . Marcon,a
psychologyprofessor
t the
University
of
North Florida,
studied
S+g
children
vhohad
attended
a
preschool
class hat
was
academically
riented, one hat
encouraged
child
nitiated
learning,or one
n
between.
She ooked
at the
students'performance
everal
ears
later, n
third
and ourth
grade,
and
ound
hat bythe
end of the
fourth
grade
hose
who
had receivedmore
didactic
nstruction
earned
ignificantlylower
grades
han
those
who had
been
allowed
more
opportunities
o
learn
hrough
play.
Children's
progress
may
have
beenslowed
y
overly
academic
reschool
xperiences
hat
introduced
ormalized earning
experiencesoo
early
or most children's
developmentaltatus, Dr. Marconwrote.
Nevertheless,
any
educators
want
to
curtail
play
during school.
Play
s
often
perceived
s
mmature
behavior
hat doesn'taehieve
nything,
says
David
Whitebread,
psychologist
t CambridgeUniversity
who has
studied he topic
or
decades.
But
it's
essentialo their development.
heyneed
o
learn
o
persevere,
to
control attention, o
controlemotions.
Kids
earn
hese
hings hrough
playtng.
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/27/2A15
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Lgt the
Kids
Learn
ThroughPlay
-
NYTimes.com
Page
4
of
4
Over he
past
20
years,
scientists
avecome o understand
much
more
about
how
children
earn.
Jay Giedd,a neuroscientist
at
the
University of
California,San
Diego,
has
spent
his
career tudyinghow he
human
brain
develops
rom
birth
through
adolescence;
e
says
mostkids
younger
han
7
or 8 are
better
suited
or
active
exploration han didacticexplanation.
oThe
trouble
with over-structuring
s
that
t discouragesxploration,'oe says.
Reading,
n
particular,
can't
be
rushed.
t has
been
around
or
only about
6,0oo
years,
o he abilityto transform
marks
on
paper
nto
complex
meaning
s not
pre-
wired nto the
brain.
It
doesn'tdevelop
naturally,
asdo other
complex kills
such
as
walking;
t
can
be
ostered,
ut
not forced.Too often hat's
what
schools re
tryrng
o do
now.This
s not
to
suggesthat
we
shouldn't
ncrease ccesso
preschool,
nd
mprove
earlyeducation
or
disadvantaged
hildren.
But
the early
education
hat
kids
get
-
whatever heir
socioeconomicbackground
should
ruly
he$ their development.
We must hope
hat those
who make
education
olicywill
startpayingattention o this science.
DavidKohn s
a
freelance
ciencewriterbased n Baltimore.
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The NewYorkTimesOpinion ection
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5/27/2015