Over the past decade there has been a significant reduction of playtime during a school day, starting with the elimination of recess. There are several social factors that lead to decreased play time in and out of the school setting. One factor involves the approach to early education that once naturally incorporated play into the school day but is now shifting toward a more academically oriented instructional approach as new standards for reading readiness have changed for students, including kindergarteners (http://www. ecementor. org).
Other factors involve many districts having less school time designated to the creative arts and physical education as well as after-school activities that are being shifted away from play and physical activity, toward being an extension of academics and a space for homework completion (http://www. ecementor. org). Play time is being replaced with more academic activities due to our educational system being taken over by Mayoral control. Our school system is now focusing on the increased use of standardized tests as well as informal and summative assessment.Poor ranking on international tests have caused the scoring on these high stake exams to be highly emphasized.
The theory behind this new system is having early exposure to rigorous academic activities will lead to higher scores on high stake exams. The more efficient a reader is the more they will be able to read and understand information and texts. This theory also suggests it will help students to be college ready. On the other hand there are many benefits of play time. Many theorists and studies have found that different types of play can be beneficial to a child’s learning processes and functional development.There are several types of play including, rough and tumble, fantasy and socio-dramatic, war toys/war play, video/computer games, games with rules, and language play (Smith, Cowie, & Blades, 2011, p.
216-227). All of these types of play exemplify behaviors of play signals, such as laughter and the open mouth play face. Some theorists, including Vygotsky, have suggested that imaginary play or pretend play is important for the mind development. Sigmund Freud thought play provided children with an avenue for wish fulfillment and mastery of traumatic events, Smith, Cowie, & Blades, 2011, p. 31).
Leslie (1987) argued that pretend play is an indicator of meta-representational abilities as early as 18 months, and is important in developing these latter abilities for understanding that someone else may have different knowledge or beliefs from yourself (Smith, Cowie, & Blades, 2011, p. 232). Play offers more than cherished memories of growing up, it also allows children to develop creativity and imagination while developing physical, cognitive, and emotional strengths, as well as contributes to healthy brain development (http://www. cementor.
org).Play In a school setting play helps children enhance their learning readiness, learning behaviors, and problem-solving skills. Play and recess may even contribute to increasing a child’s capacity to store new information, as well as an essential component of a child’s social and emotional development. Play helps to build bonds with family and promotes healthy communication and interaction between parents and children.
Play time helps children learn how to share, resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills when necessary.It teaches them leadership as well as group skills that may be useful in adult life (http://blog. famigo. com).
In conclusion, although play time may be decreasing in schools in order to help benefit students to excel more academically, it should still be allowed in early childhood classrooms in order to coincide with their academic activities. In my opinion playtime enhances a child’s hands on multi-sensory experiences. It leads to children having a greater understanding of the properties of objects and how objects interact with each other. It allows students to develop a better understanding of how things work in their world.
