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Education -
PreK through K6
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Successful parents want to see their children succeed and sometimes we get a good feeling when our child does well on a 'test'. But testing isn't always good for young children, many experts agree. Play is slowly being phased out of schooling and being replaced with old school practices that sap away a child's love of learning.
Here are six recommendations to incorporate more play in kindergarten, for education policymakers, school administrators, teachers, and parents: 1. Restore child-initiated play and experiential learning with the active support of teachers to their rightful place at the heart of kindergarten education.2. Reassess kindergarten standards to ensure that they promote developmentally appropriate practices, and eliminate those that do not.3. End the inappropriate use in kindergarten of standardized tests, which are prone to serious error especially when given to children under age eight.4. Expand the early childhood research agenda to examine the long-term impact of current preschool and kindergarten practices on the development of children from diverse backgrounds.5. Give teachers of young children first-rate preparation that emphasizes the full development of the child and the importance of play, nurtures children’s innate love of learning, and supports teachers’ own capacities for creativity, autonomy, and integrity. Use the crisis of play’s disappearance from kindergarten to rally organizations and individuals to create a national movement for play in schools and communities.
Source: Crisis in the Kindergarten at www.allianceforchildhood.org. |
Education 
