v A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm. ~Bill Vaughan
v Creative play is like a spring that bubbles up from deep within a child. ~Joan Almon
I chose these quotes because they represent my childhood. As a child I was encouraged to be just that, a child! My family encouraged me to play, learn, and get involved in activities that I enjoyed.
Anytime I played outside I had to either ride my bike or play basketball before I went inside. When I played inside I always pretend to be a teacher, I would line my dolls and teddy bears along the wall. I would also pretend to cook before I was able to actually start cooking.
v In the United States today, there is a pervasive tendency to treat children as adults, and adults as children. The options of children are thus steadily expanded, while those of adults are progressively constricted. The result is unruly children and childish adults. ~Thomas Szasz
v Children are one third of our population and all of our future. ~Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981
These quotes represent how I feel about the effects of little play in children today. Play has taken a back seat in today’s world. It has been replaced by standard testing, tv, food, and video games. Even in the school systems play is very limited, I can remember as a child we went outside every day, weather permitting for 30 minutes up until middle school. Now as I look at the school I see some children hoping to get outside just for 15 minutes. I also see that many children have become lazy and do not want to play, they prefer to sit in front of the tv or they are more interested in adult conversations. Too many times I have seen children being treated as adults, forced to play adult roles at tender ages like 4 and 5. It saddens me because I know that play for me awakened my inner child and has kept it alive, it has been a breath of fresh air for me.
I love your quote by Thomas Szasz. I would definitely classify our society as full of "unruly children and childish adults". It seems children are never forced to solve problems on their own, their parents are always making excuses for them. If children were encouraged to walk away from video games and television and pushed to play a little more they would develop their own problem solving skills. By the time they are adults they are used to everyone bailing them out and have no idea how to solve their own situations.
ReplyDeleteYour quote by Thomas Szasz really stuck out to me because many people make children grow up to fast by giving them adult like responsibilites. These responsibilities often occur when they have younger siblings or if mom works long hours. Their play time is limited, or it might not occur at all. It is important to let children be children. Great Post
ReplyDeleteTemeka,
ReplyDeleteI was very moved by everything you said about our society and kids playing less and spending too much time on technology. When we were little we probably spent hours outside each day riding our bikes or just playing outside with friends. But it seems that in today's society by the time kids reach the teen years and even before, they would rather play videogames or stay on the computer, or with their phones and ipads.
Temeka,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your experiences growing up. I also found your quote from Bill Vaughn to be very true. I thought about the number of times as my children were growing up that box the toy came in drew more attention from them than the toy itself. We learned quickly to be thoughtful in the types of toys we provided for our two children. I share your concerns about "adultifying" children when they are so young. I feel fortunate that I grew up in simpler times. The focus on kindergarten was to provide opportunities for children to be children and learn all of the important skills we learn as we played with our peers. Over the years, I have seen the pendulum swing from early school experieinces providing mostly child-directed learning opportunities to extremely structured teacher -directed learning in early childhood. My hope is that we, as early childhood professionals given this important knowledge concerning the importance of play, can influence the programs we are involved with by helping the staff find the balance that is best for young children.
Judi
Temeka,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about the things you grew up participating in. I too was an avid lover of sports and playing with dolls. My parents were also very supportive of me just being a child. I feel like as a result, I have had so many other successes in my life, including this educational journey.