The perception of the traditional kindergarten as a holistic introduction to school, full of play exploration, has changed. Recently there has been a growing trend in education toward the usage of scripted curriculum and standardized testing at successively younger grade levels; and this trend has raised serious concerns among early childhood educators. Play, so often misunderstood, with its rich opportunities for creativity, decision-making, problem-solving, social interaction, learning and fun is disappearing from kindergarten classrooms. Play, as a tool of the mind, is a critical foundation for development and learning throughout life.
Candyce K. Seider, Ph.D., Professor of Education and Chair of Early Childhood Education at Concordia University in Wisconsin paid Green Park Lutheran School a visit this year. She is part of the Play Institute at Concordia and visited our campus investigating our kindergarten. She discussed the perceptions and realities of play in kindergarten and stressed the importance of child-initiated play. “Play is not a recess from learning,” Dr. Seider stresses, “it doesn’t mean learning stops.”
Dr. Seider’s work is an extension of a national group Alliance for Childhood’s “Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School” For more information about this study click here.
Her qualitative study explored the quality of child-initiated play and hopes to determine the perceptions of kindergarten teachers and principals related to what a play-based kindergarten is. Her motivation is to raise awareness of the “crisis” in education as play disappears from classrooms, homes, backyards and parks. Dr. Seider was helpful in her visit to Green Park to articulate the definition and benefits of play to learning and health wellness. While our kindergarten curriculum is considered academic, she was pleased to see opportunities throughout the day where Green Park students engaged in child-initiated play.