Balancing Play Encouragement in Balancing

Balancing Play

Encouragement in Balancing Play With a Test-Driven Curriculum

In the past, parents and even many care providers saw early childhood as a time where children could explore through play, relatively free of the stress that plagues adults' lives. Today, however, each developmental period of childhood is also seen as a period in which children must learn and be assessed in order to be competitive and successful in their adult lives. Clark (2007) even notes that "teachers are drilling pupils to pass tests instead of encouraging them to enjoy learning" (para. 1). It is the challenge of today's early childhood education provider to achieve an appropriate balance of learning activities in an academic world that stresses a test-driven curriculum. In my own classroom, I plan to achieve this through implementing a variety of learning through play activities and focusing on both the students' needs as children and their needs as future adults.

One of the most important ways to keep the balance between play and a test-driven curriculum is to engage students in play that fosters learning. According to Carlsson-Paige (2008), "Through play children make sense of the world around them and work through new experiences, ideas, and feelings" (para. 1). Thus, play is a necessary stage in child development, a phase in child learning that cannot be assessed through standardized tests. Despite this fact, Carlsson-Paige states that today's children do not play as much as children in the past because of two reasons -- parents whose work schedules leave the TV as the babysitter and teachers who are pressured by test-driven curriculum. Because of this, Carlsson-Paige (2008) says:

"We educators have an important role to play in taking back healthy play for children today. There is so much we can do to help them create play that truly meets their needs -- play that gives children a strong foundation for learning, the emotional and mental readiness to learn, and the social and emotional skills they need for success in school and in life" (para. 4).

Based on this information, I plan to incorporate play that encourages learning into my classroom. While I will encourage children to develop their own play, I will also provide templates for creative play, which Almon (n.d.) suggests allows children to learn "meaningful and focused life lessons" (pg. 2). By allowing children to create their own play situations, I will encourage them to engage a deeper interest in their play and discover important concepts themselves. In addition, I plan to use the techniques that Carlsson-Paige (2008) observes in the classroom she watches, such as taking note of children's preferred play and steering them toward similar situations when it comes to lessons, as well as encouraging students to expand their play in order to incorporate more concepts. For instance, if I notice that two children enjoy playing house, I will encourage them to test their math skills by counting the apples that they will serve for lunch or the dishes in their sink. In addition, I will encourage them to expand their play to include new skills, such as note writing (language) and matching (math).

In addition to encouraging this more learning-focus type of play, I will also need to teach students to get used to the system of testing and assessment, as this is how they will be assessed throughout the rest of their school careers. Thus, I plan to encourage a positive attitude toward this type of assessment in my classroom. I will do this through using methods similar to those I will use to encourage learning-based play. Although the fact that "children are active learners who contribute to their own development and learning as they strive to make meaning out of their daily experiences" ("Early Childhood Education," 2008, para. 4) seems to be more closely associated with pay, it can also be associated with assessment. I plan to encourage children to have a positive attitude toward assessment by putting assessments into their daily routines. These will include formal assessment practices, as well as encouragement to think critically about the decisions they make. For instance, if two children enjoy playing house, I might ask them to explain why they chose certain foods to serve for lunch or identify two food items that match.