Play v. Reading: How Flawed Thinking About Preschool Has Become Accepted Practice
Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.
~Fred Rogers
One education topic that every politician running for office mentions is preschool for all. What do they mean? What do they think preschool should be about?
It’s common knowledge that children are capable of learning much the first years of life. This doesn’t mean it’s right to douse them with developmentally advanced information they aren’t ready to learn.
Many kindergarten teachers expect more from children when they enter kindergarten than they did years past. Kindergarten play kitchens and art easels were discarded long ago. Young children are lucky if they get recess breaks.
Because kindergarten has become more advanced, preschool is seen as the time children must have prereading skills for kindergarten. If they don’t, it’s seen as a red flag. This makes teachers and parents push children to learn to read early.
Children are expected to know letters and numbers, even basic sight words. They’re CONTINUE READING: Play v. Reading: How Flawed Thinking About Preschool Has Become Accepted Practice
