Comments on: Watch and Learn From a Child’s Play

By: Michelle Willow

Michelle Willow — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:16:25 +0000

It’s curious how child’s mind see things in different light than adults. And yet, at most part, they are honest and you can learn a lot about the world they live in when they are not around you through their play.

By: PragmaticMom

PragmaticMom — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:08:20 +0000

That is a powerful story. Thank you for sharing!

By: Melissa Taylor

Melissa Taylor — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:01:56 +0000

In reply to Teacher Tom.

wisdom for life, isn’t it?

I always think of a frightening story my friend Feather Berkower tells where the mom didn’t question why her son said his church teacher was so gay — she just scolded him instead. And, if she’d only asked why he said it, she would have saved him from years of abuse. Her book is really good & I recommend it to everyone -https://imaginationsoup.net/2011/05/have-you-forgotten-the-most-important-safety-rule/

Thanks for stopping by, Tom -I love your blog!

By: Melissa Taylor

Melissa Taylor — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:56:40 +0000

Thanks, I love the work that Debbie and Elena are doing – they’re here in Colorado at McRel. But, so far only one school district in the state is doing their preschool play Tools of the Mind curriculum. I emailed Elena recently about some ideas but haven’t heard back yet. The parent feedback I’ve heard is that they don’t like Tools because it doesn’t prepare the kids for the academic rigor (!) of kindergarten. Seriously. In this same district, in at least one elementary school I know about, the kinders only have recess on Friday. !!!! Aaaaah. Makes me nuts.

Anytime you want to write a guest post, you’re always invited!! 🙂

Melissa

By: patricia

patricia — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:38:27 +0000

In reply to Melissa Taylor.

I’m not sure how we can convince parents of the importance of play. Maybe we can bop them over the heads with all that research–playfully, of course! Just the other day, one of my blog readers tweeted this (older) NPR story about how plays encourages important self-regulation skills. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514

I just always bring it back to nature. Why do young animals in the wild play? To learn vital survival skills. Humans are no different. Kids play for a reason. Many reasons!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:43:22 +0000

so interesting!

By: Teacher Tom

Teacher Tom — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 04:13:23 +0000

“. . . asking, rather than correcting.” Perfect.

By: Melissa Taylor

Melissa Taylor — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 03:51:58 +0000

In reply to patricia.

so true – and what I can’t figure out and would love to hear your ideas about – is how do we convince parents that don’t get the importance of play? How do we create a cult of play that educators and parents want to join vs. the cult of achievement they’re in? (borrowing from Einstein Never Used Flashcards) The research is clear. Plus, it’s easier, quite frankly, I just don’t get it. Maybe we need to invent a Mother Nature / Play PR firm?

And, I posted about this on Facebook, too but I saw this tragic racist scenario with American Indian students in southern Utah. It was beyond horrifying,