Kindergarten Benefits: Think about your fondest sporting memories. Where were you, who was with you, what powers did you pretend you had? If possible, would you like to go back there, even if just for a moment? Unfortunately, there are very few children who have this kind of experience, which is distressing for many reasons. The main takeaway is that games make kids (and people of all ages) happy, and our society is seeing a dearth of happiness. As a child psychiatrist, along with many others working in the health field, I am deeply concerned about this. Mental illness has increased among children and teens, and some mental health researchers are linking lack of sports to it. Why is kindergarten important?
Ontario recently announced there will be a new kindergarten curriculum that focuses on back-to-basics literacy as a response to the province’s inquiry into the right to read, which called for changes in reading education. Has been done. Ontario’s Education Minister has said that a play-based approach will remain a part of kindergarten. But some experts in the field fear that we will see an increase in the “schoolization” of kindergarten – and the end of a rich environment where teachers support children’s curiosity and playful activities. Our children can thrive and learn to read if classrooms embrace “acoustic learning”—enquiry-based, play-based activities with some direct instruction from teachers. However, the success of this type of education will depend on many factors. Reading does not come automatically. Reading requires developing new neural pathways. This requires some direct instruction to develop specific skills, and this can be done through play-learning, which does not mean a loss of play.
This will depend on: The kindergarten team (comprising one teacher and one very young children’s teacher) fully understands their roles and the priorities of the new curriculum. The team explores how to support play-based learning in the classroom, and explores how they will combine some direct instruction with rich play- and inquiry-based activities; The team should be adequately equipped and resourced. Ideally, this would mean having a literacy coach versed in evidence-based teaching strategies to support children’s emerging literacy and play. Until recently, many people considered play to be the opposite of work and learning, believing that play is best done when the actual work of learning is finished. Many people still do not understand that playing instead of practicing the alphabet or counting is not a waste of valuable time. But once people discover that experiences with emotional connections are more memorable, you can organize the game in ways that increase learning. From a neuroscientific perspective, it is clear that sport is not trivial: it changes the brain by enhancing its structure and function. Children learn about themselves, the world, and much more through play. From a health perspective, the absence of sports, especially outdoor sports, increases obesity rates. Through play, children learn interpersonal skills, how to be friends and how to solve problems—skills desperately needed in this time of artificial intimacy.
Play promotes thinking, problem solving, impulse inhibition and executive function. These are essential skills for learning to read. There has been a lot of work in the science of learning that asks: How does the brain learn? Kathy Hirsh Pasek, professor of psychology at Temple University, and her team are leading scholars in the science of learning. According to their research, learning occurs best when children are “mindfully” active rather than sitting passively for long periods of time with a teacher talking or giving instructions; He is busy; The information is meaningful; They are interacting socially; Learning is ”iterative”, meaning that information or concepts are repeated in different contexts and across subject areas, to help children see new ways to combine smaller parts; they are having fun.
Critical to success is this: Teachers must see that a shift toward playful learning is necessary to achieve both engagement and academic success. Principals need to be involved in and support this vision. When it comes to learning, not all games are the same. Educators need to understand the different types of play described and researched by child development professor Angela Pyle. As his work outlines, play is considered to be a continuum ranging from free play to guided play to formal play. Teacher-directed play is where the teacher sets the context for children to develop language, literacy and mathematical activities under the guidance of the teacher. Teacher-directed play places more emphasis on specific learning goals such as literacy and numeracy skills, making them the facilitator rather than the director of the game.
Let’s remember, playing time is down around the world. British education advocate Sir Ken Robinson famously said that on average, around the world, criminals spend more time in prison than children spend playing outside. A 2022 survey by the NGO Save the Children in the United Kingdom found that only 27 percent of children in the baby boomer generation said they regularly played outside their homes, compared to 71 percent. Specifically, for those aged 55 to 64 today, the rate was 80 percent in childhood, indicating a steady decline in play rates in just a few generations. Research from other countries has also shown how the growing sense of business in children’s lives has driven out play. Parents need to be encouraged to support playful learning methods in school. We must understand that play and the relationships it creates are important for children’s well-being. There is nothing more basic than the right to belong and the right to play.