THE EARLY YEARS - Too Little Playtime?

"Are young kids losing the brain-boosting benefits of playtime?" PBS NewsHour 7/5/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As kindergarten and pre-K have become more academically rigorous, some worry that the very youngest students may be missing out on crucial development through abundant playtime.  But other educators believe setting high expectations for achievement helps kids, especially low-income students, excel.  Special correspondent Cat Wise reports.

CHILD (NewsHour):  Let’s go, Liam.  Let’s go, Karen.

CAT WISE:  At ages 3, 4, and 5, most children want to play pretend.

CHILD:  This is our babies.

CAT WISE:  But in today’s world of high-stakes academic testing, some preschool teachers feel pressure to put away the baby dolls and pick up the school books.

GERALYN BYWATER MCLAUGHLIN, Teacher, Mission Hill School:  I have been teaching for 25 years, and I have seen a big change.

So you’re pretending to be the sister?  And you’re pretending to go on a walk?

CAT WISE:  Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin teaches prekindergarten at Mission Hill, a public school in Boston.

CHILD:  I’m the momma.

GERALYN BYWATER MCLAUGHLIN:  So you’re the momma?

CAT WISE:  She and other educators have started a campaign they call Defending the Early Years.

GERALYN BYWATER MCLAUGHLIN:  The goal of Defending the Early Years is to really help rally early childhood educators to push back against this push-down of academics into the early years.  The standardized tests, the disappearance of play, teachers are feeling it, and we’re helping to bring voice to their frustrations and their concerns.