If you have visited the library or attended any of the preschool programs, you will know that I believe in the benefits of play.
There is a great shift in our educational system stressing academics at an earlier and earlier age in an attempt to get higher test scores. There are three-year-old kindergarten classes, all-day four-year-old kindergarten and preschool and daycares that run like a regular school. Recess time is being shortened or even eliminated to make time for more and more academics.
The funny thing is that children now may be at more of a disadvantage than past generations. They may actually be learning less. Play is the natural context in which children learn and develop all sorts of skills - physical, cognitive and social skills.
It's like the idea that "baby talk" or what they call "parentese", that sing-songy way most people naturally talk to babies, was "dumbing down" babies. People started to talk to their babies with the vocabulary that most college students wouldn't recognize! But now they know that this natural way of speaking to babies has a purpose! It helps the baby learn language! Babies prefer it to a normal adult conversation. A baby will turn his head toward a voice using a high-pitched voice like this.
So, my point is let's allow the children to play! Have a tea party! Play hide-and-seek in the house! Let them dress-up in your clothes! Get messy, get dirty, jump in puddles, roll around leaves, make snow angels! My biggest regret in life is that I didn't take more time to enjoy these things with my daughter because the time is now gone and there is no going back...
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