Education Essay Samples - The Value of Play

The Value of Play

The U.S. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) which were introduced in the 1980s changed the focus in the kindergarten education from play-based to more academic teaching. The children are now required to do things (for example, reading) that most of them are not yet ready for. Moreover, the methods that are supposed to be used to conform to the Standards are not appropriate. Academic techniques only confuse and frighten little children whereas play-based programs can lead to necessary results with less harm to children’s psychics.
The value of play in small children education cannot be overestimated. It not only prepares them for further education at school but also prepares them for their further life in society. Play-based education teach children all essential social and emotional skills which they need to adapt in society and be emotionally strong to respond adequately to different situations in life. Hands-on exploration of things can strengthen children’s background knowledge that is vitally important for successful grasping of more complicated academic knowledge and therefore must precede it. So, teaching children to read or to write before they are developmentally ready for these things is useless. More than that, it can cause confusion, anxiety, and inadequate behavior in children. Thus, teachers spend precious time on the things that can be learnt with ease and interest by children later; but they have no time left for teaching kids the practical knowledge they urgently need at that period of their life. There are facts that prove that ignoring play-oriented pre-school teaching can lead to problems in adulthood: “police records showed a higher rate of arrests for felony offenses among those who were previously in the instructional program (34 percent) compared to those in the play-based programs (9 percent)” (Carlsson-Paige, McLaughlin, & Almon, 2015, p. 4).
Thus, the traditional approach to teaching children through play has proved to be more effective. It not only prepares them for further more complicated knowledge gaining but gets them ready for adult life by teaching them vital practical skills in the way they understand the best.

References

Carlsson-Paige, N., McLaughlin, G. B., & Almon, J. W. (2015). Reading instruction in kindergarten: Little and much to lose. Alliance for Childhood and Defending the Early Years, 1-12.
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Parents can and should be as active in educating their kids as teachers are. This fact should be recognized both by teachers and parents. They must collaborate in their efforts to adapt the kids to further life and make them comfortable in the social environment they live. To achieve this goal the U.S. Department of Education has a number of programs aimed at involving parents in the education process. It is believed parents can play different roles – “supporters, encouragers, monitors, advocates, decision makers, and collaborators”. The best thing is if they can manage it all; but even if they, at least, show interest in the things their children do, it can be great help and encouragement that are sure to bring positive results.
It is important for schools to be ready to initiate parents’ involvement. For example, Baltimore City Public Schools is practicing a program of engaging families in home-based literacy practices. Each week students are given “a different bag filled with award-winning children’s books, exposing children, on average, to more than 100 books per year”. The book rotation also requires parent to take part in this sharing books and promoting children’s early literacy skills as well as nurturing their love of learning. Thanks to the program, families are also connected with their local public and school libraries. At the end of the program, children are given a permanent bag with the help of which they can go on “borrowing books and building a lifelong habit of reading”.
Smith, J., Kuzin, Ch. A., Pedro, K., & Wohlstetter, P. (n.d.). Family Engagement in Education: Seven Principles for Success. Retrieved from http://www.uscrossier.org/ceg/wp-content/uploads/publications/Family-Engagement-in-Education.pdf.