Why Play Is How We Learn

People often ask me about academics and play in early childhood, and this morning it started out on my mind as I read these great quotes about play. Many people understand that play is how young children learn, but sometime they still wonder what about the academic preparedness? Piaget taught us that young children learn through the hands-on manipulation of materials. Vygotsky taught us that young children's learning can be scaffolded by adults intentionally supporting their learning just a little above where they currently are through their zone of proximal development. 

Today was a perfect example of what this looks like in a mixed age classroom. After winter break each year, we take advantage of the spurt in development that always seems to happen, and begin more small group work. This small group work usually takes place in the context of Choice Time, with the teachers making sure each child cycles through the groups throughout the week. This allows children who are ready for more focused instruction to spend more time in small groups with a teacher, while children who need time for open-ended experimentation with a supportive teacher are able to do this as well. Some people believe that the focused instruction is more "academic" or more likely to foster "preparedness." While it is a part of preparedness, open-ended play is almost more important for it is in play that children are able to direct their own learning, test their own hypotheses, understand the natural and physical world, build relationships with their peers, develop problem solving skills, integrate learning experiences across various domains, collaborate, investigate, and learn. It is also important that while all the children cycle through the various groups, that there is joy and choice in their play, for my most important job is to foster children's natural curiosity and joy in learning. That is the single most central element of preparedness for young children.
And so back to our morning...

Uno was again a popular choice, with children signing up to take turns in teams. Taking turns and following rules are just as important academic skills as the more obvious color and number recognition.

Play dough is beloved for its imaginative scripts from making ice cream to cutting cookies. Other academic skills include fine motor development for developing hand strength and finger articulation, sharing, problem solving, planning, collaborating, and negotiating are all important academic and social skills.

Journaling is an obvious place for readiness, as children develop their language and literacy skills. The many many components, however, are less obvious. As they develop their representational drawing skills, they begin to plan, incorporate details, use multiple colors, tell stories. Before they are ready to write themselves, they must develop the joy in their words, and as they watch us write their words, they connect meaning to the written word. The first writing they do is in their journals, signing their name. Some children are doing kid-writing, writing letters as an adult sounds out, or segments, the word. Later, the children will sound out the words themselves. Because writing is such a concrete skill that we as adults often take for granted, we forget all the incremental steps it takes to learn to write. And we must remind ourselves that at each step to forgo the rote learning we are know from our youths and embrace the fact that for young children, learning to write should be imbued the joy of learning about the power to communicate ideas.

Another popular choice this week has been the geometric tile on cork boards. Using small hammers and tacks, the children affix the shapes to the cork. Some children create free for shapes and other children use the design sheets to create designs. Creativity, spatial relationships, problem solving, and fine motor coordination are all engaged in this work.