Play Power for All Ages

I admit I have not been posting original material here for quite some time, as I have been playing with too many projects lately. (I know…this Punk player is a real lame duck, just preaching the play and workin all the time.) And the next project is due for grad school by early next week. But, I do intend on using these great resources I have been collecting, due to my ambitiously supportive advisor, and pass it along to my dear readers. This is a must read for us adults. However here’s my disclaimer: You may not want to read this piece near the office, as it may send you running for the beach and in lost of a job.

Most of us think of adult play as respite or indulgence, but having fun is no trivial pursuit. In fact, it’s crucial to put mental creativity, health and happiness. Say the words and they conjure the gentle tickle of waves against the shore, the harder kick of surf dashing against rocks, the slap of spray against heated skin. For most of us, the place where earth meets ocean is the very essence of play—antic, full of novelty and joyful abandon. At the beach, we are all children. As we gambol in the shallow surf and toss in the deeper waves, we feel the freedom of helplessness and the satisfaction of improvising defenses. Unburdened by consciousness or self-consciousness, we are caught in the moment. Suffused with pleasure, we exult in the sheer lightness of being.

Yet, as welcome and wonderful as those feelings are, play’s value among adults is too often vastly underrated. We would all agree that play lifts stress from us. It refreshes us and recharges us. It restores our optimism. It changes our perspective, stimulating creativity. It renews our ability to accomplish the work of the world. By anyone’s reckoning, those are remarkably worthy achievements.

But there is also evidence that play does much more. It may in fact be the highest expression of our humanity, both imitating and advancing the evolutionary process. Play appears to allow our brains to exercise their very flexibility, to maintain and even perhaps renew the neural connections that embody our human potential to adapt, to meet any possible set of environmental conditions.

And it may be that playfulness is a force woven through our search for mates. Certainly, playful people are the most fun to be around. But the ability to play may be a strong and appealing signal of something more. Especially among males, playfulness can protect us. It may be a way to indicate to potential partners that a man is not a threat to himself, to his offspring—or to society at large.

It can truly be said that we are made for play; after all, humans are among the very few animals that play as adults. What the evidence adds up to is this: we are most human when we play—and just because we play.

Like art, play is that quintessential experience that is almost impossible to define—because it encompasses infinite variability—but which we all recognize when we see, or experience. So let us go back to the beach in an attempt to understand all that contributes to such a necessary, and exalted, psychological state.

The beach is, above all else, Somewhere Else, far enough away from home, office, and everyday routines in character and distance. That dislocation sets the stage for us to be attuned to the moment, to relax our focus on long-term goals.

Being at the beach invariably forces a measure of spontaneity. We bring few of our usual possessions and tools. We are forced to recline, stretch out, relax.

If the sand and the water offer their own endless cache of novelty, the sun draws our attention to them. And it cossets us, taking tension out of our bodies with its warmth. Then, too, there is the novelty of (relative) nudity. It renders us all childlike and opens us to the enjoyment of sensations. It renders us ready to play.

Keep reading!

Kids in Battle Play

I wanted to catch some of my students in the glory and fantasy of battle play. What I find most interesting about this particular interaction is the gender cross over.

Play is Serious Stuff

The Serious Need for Play was originally published in the Scientific American Mind by By Melinda Wenner. This is a must read that examines the seriousness of play.

Scientific American Mind – January 28, 2009

On August 1, 1966, the day psychiatrist Stuart Brown started his assistant professorship at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, 25-year-old Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the University of Texas Tower on the Austin campus and shot 46 people. Whitman, an engineering student and a former U.S. Marine sharpshooter, was the last person anyone expected to go on a killing spree. After Brown was assigned as the state’s consulting psychiatrist to investigate the incident and later, when he interviewed 26 convicted Texas murderers for a small pilot study, he discovered that most of the killers, including Whitman, shared two things in common: they were from abusive families, and they never played as kids. Brown did not know which factor was more important. But in the 42 years since, he has interviewed some 6,000 people about their childhoods, and his data suggest that a lack of opportunities for unstructured, imaginative play can keep children from growing into happy, well-adjusted adults. “Free play,” as scientists call it, is critical for becoming socially adept, coping with stress and building cognitive skills such as problem solving. Research into animal behavior confirms play’s benefits and establishes its evolutionary importance: ultimately, play may provide animals (including humans) with skills that will help them survive and reproduce. Most psychologists agree that play affords benefits that last through adulthood, but they do not always agree on the extent to which a lack of play harms kids—particularly because, in the past, few children grew up without ample frolicking time. But today free play may be losing its standing as a staple of youth. According to a paper published in 2005 in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, children’s free-play time dropped by a quarter between 1981 and 1997. Concerned about getting their kids into the right colleges, parents are sacrificing playtime for more structured activities. As early as preschool, youngsters’ after-school hours are now being filled with music lessons and sports—reducing time for the type of imaginative and rambunctious cavorting that fosters creativity and cooperation. A handful of studies support Brown’s conviction that a play-deprived childhood disrupts normal social, emotional and cognitive development in humans and animals. He and other psychologists worry that limiting free play in kids may result in a generation of anxious, unhappy and socially maladjusted adults. “The consequence of a life that is seriously play-deprived is serious stuff,” Brown says. But it is never too late to start: play also promotes the continued mental and physical well-being of adults. Worries over the demise of play began surfacing as far back as 1961, when the International Play Association was founded in Denmark to protect, preserve and promote play as a fundamental right for all children. But the idea became more popular a little over a decade ago, when many more nonprofit foundations—such as the National Institute for Play in Carmel Valley, Calif., started by Brown, and other organizations, including the Alliance for Childhood and the Association for the Study of Play—began forming around the globe to promote the value of play and to raise concerns over its demise. Freedom Counts But kids play soccer, Scrabble and the sousaphone—so why are experts concerned that these games and more structured activities are eating into free play? Certainly games with rules are fun and sources of learning experiences—they may foster better social skills and group cohesion, for instance, says Anthony D. Pellegrini, an educational psychologist at the University of Minnesota. But, Pellegrini explains, “games have a priori rules—set up in advance and followed. Play, on the other hand, does not have a priori rules, so it affords more creative responses.” This creative aspect is key because it challenges the developing brain more than following predetermined rules does. In free play, kids use their imagination and try out new activities and roles. The child initiates and creates free play. It might involve fantasies—such as pretending to be doctors or princesses or playing house—or it might include mock fighting, as when kids (primarily boys) wrestle and tumble with one another for fun, switching roles periodically so that neither of them always wins. And free play is most similar to play seen in the animal kingdom, suggesting that it has important evolutionary roots. Gordon M. Burghardt, author of The Genesis of Animal Play, spent 18 years observing animals to learn how to define play: it must be repetitive—an animal that nudges a new object just once is not playing with it—and it must be voluntary and initiated in a relaxed setting. Animals and children do not play when they are undernourished or in stressful situations. Most essential, the activity should not have an obvious function in the context in which it is observed—meaning that it has, essentially, no clear goal. Face Time How do these seemingly pointless activities benefit kids? Perhaps most crucially, play appears to help us develop strong social skills. “You don’t become socially competent via teachers telling you how to behave,” Pellegrini says. “You learn those skills by interacting with your peers, learning what’s acceptable, what’s not acceptable.” Children learn to be fair and take turns—they cannot always demand to be the fairy queen, or soon they have no playmates. “They want this thing to keep going, so they’re willing to go the extra mile” to accommodate others’ desires, he explains. Because kids enjoy the activity, they do not give up as easily in the face of frustration as they might on, say, a math problem—which helps them develop persistence and negotiating abilities. Keeping things friendly requires a fair bit of communication—arguably the most valuable social skill of all. Play that transpires with peers is the most important in this regard. Studies show that children use more sophisticated language when playing with other children than when playing with adults. In pretend play, for instance, “they have to communicate about something that’s not physically present, so they have to use complicated language in such a way that they can communicate to their peer what it is that they’re trying to say,” Pellegrini explains. For example, kids can’t get away with just asking, “Vanilla or chocolate?” as they hand a friend an imaginary cone. They have to provide contextual clues: “Vanilla or chocolate ice cream: Which one would you like?” Adults, on the other hand, fill in the blanks themselves, making things easier for kids. If play helps children become socialized, then lack of play should impede social development—and studies suggest that it does. According to a 1997 study of children living in poverty and at high risk of school failure, published by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation in Ypsilanti, Mich., kids who enrolled in play-oriented preschools are more socially adjusted later in life than are kids who attended play-free preschools where they were constantly instructed by teachers. By age 23, more than one third of kids who had attended instruction-oriented preschools had been arrested for a felony as compared with fewer than one tenth of the kids who had been in play-oriented preschools. And as adults, fewer than 7 percent of the play-oriented preschool attendees had ever been suspended from work, but more than a quarter of the directly instructed kids had. Animal studies lend support to the idea that play deprivation leads to poor social skills. According to a study published in 1999 in Behavioural Brain Research, rats that are kept isolated during the two weeks of development when they most frequently play—the fourth and fifth weeks after birth—are much less socially active when they later encounter other rats as compared with rats that are not isolated during the same two-week period. And a study published in Developmental Psychobiology in 2002 revealed that male rats reared in isolation during their youth fail to display normal avoidance behaviors when introduced to dominant male rats that repeatedly attack them. Could play deprivation specifically cause these behavioral problems—or could social isolation in general have been the culprit? Another study suggests that play promotes neural development in “higher” brain areas involved in emotional reactions and social learning. Scientists reported in 2003 that play fighting releases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)—a protein that stimulates the growth of new neurons—in these regions. The researchers allowed 13 control rats to play freely with companions for three and a half days and kept 14 other rats isolated for the same period. On examining the rats’ brains, the researchers found that the cortex, hippocampus, amygdala and pons of the rats that had played contained much higher levels of BDNF than those of the rats that had not. “I think play is the major mechanism whereby higher regions of the brain get socialized,” says Washington State University neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp, who co-authored the study. Stress Relief Research suggests that play is also critical for emotional health, possibly because it helps kids work through anxiety and stress. In a 1984 study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers assessed the anxiety levels of 74 three- and four-year-old children on their first day of preschool as indicated by their behavior—whether they pleaded, whined and begged their parents to stay—and how much their palms were sweating. Based on the researchers’ observations, they labeled each child as either anxious or not anxious. They then randomly split the 74 kids into four groups. Half of the kids were escorted to rooms full of toys, where they played either alone or with peers for 15 minutes; the other half were told to sit at a small table either alone or with peers and listen to a teacher tell a story for 15 minutes. Afterward, the kids’ levels of distress were assessed again. The anxiety levels of the anxious kids who had played had dropped by more than twice as much as compared with the anxious kids who had listened to the story. (The kids who were not anxious to begin with stayed about the same.) Interestingly, those who played alone calmed down more than the ones who played with peers. The researchers speculate that through imaginative play, which is most easily initiated alone, children build fantasies that help them cope with difficult situations. Animal studies also support the idea that play helps to alleviate stress—a concept known in neuroscience as social buffering. In a study published in 2008, Gettysburg College neuroscientist Stephen Siviy put rats into a chamber by themselves and exposed them to a collar previously worn by a cat, which made them visibly anxious. Later, the chamber was cleaned so it no longer smelled of the cat, the rats were put back in without the cat collar, and the rats immediately became anxious again, probably because they associated the space with the cat. But if Siviy and his colleagues then introduced another rat into the chamber—one that had never been exposed to the cat collar and was not afraid—the two would begin playing by chasing each other, tumbling and pretend fighting. And shortly thereafter, the first rat would relax and become calm, suggesting that play helped the rat to lessen its anxiety. Play to the Head of the Class Relieving stress and building social skills may seem to be obvious benefits of play. But research hints at a third, more counterintuitive area of influence: play actually appears to make kids smarter. In a classic study published in Developmental Psychology in 1973, researchers divided 90 preschool children into three groups. One group was told to play freely with four common objects—among the choices were a pile of paper towels, a screwdriver, a wooden board and a pile of paper clips. A second set was asked to imitate an experimenter using the four objects in common ways. The last group was told to sit at a table and draw whatever they wanted, without ever seeing the objects. Each scenario lasted 10 minutes. Immediately afterward, the researchers asked the children to come up with ideas for how one of the objects could be used. The kids who had played with the objects named, on average, three times as many nonstandard, creative uses for the objects than the youths in either of the other two groups did, suggesting that play fosters creative thinking. Play fighting also improves problem solving. According to a paper published by Pellegrini in 1989, the more elementary school boys engaged in rough-housing, the better they scored on a test of social problem solving. During the test, researchers presented kids with five pictures of a child trying to get a toy from a peer and five pictures of a child trying to avoid being reprimanded by his mother. The subjects were then asked to come up with as many possible solutions to each social problem; their score was based on the variety of strategies they mentioned, and children who play-fought regularly tended to score much better. Pellegrini does question, however, how much cause and effect one can glean from these studies. “What does play do? Is it the vanguard of learning something—so does play precede those sorts of skills—or is it merely practice or consolidation of skills that are already developing?” he asks. Although no one knows, “either way, at some level, it would be beneficial,” he concludes. Does lack of play, then, impede the development of problem-solving skills? Perhaps, according to animal studies. In a paper published in Developmental Psychobiology in 1978, experimenters separated young rats by mesh partitions—they could see, smell and hear other rats but could not play with them—for the 20 days during development when they would have most frequently played. The researchers taught these rats, and a group that had been allowed to play without constraints, to pull a rubber ball out of the way to get a food treat. A few days later they switched the setup so the rats would have to push the same ball to get the treat. The isolated rats took much longer to try new approaches, and thus solve the problem, than did the rats that had played. The authors speculate that through play, animals learn to try new things, and animals that do not play simply do not acquire this same behavioral flexibility. Playing also appears to help with language development, according to a 2007 study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Researchers at the University of Washington gave a box of toy blocks to children from middle- and low-income families aged 18 months to two and a half years. Parents of these kids, as well as parents of a similar group of kids who had no blocks, kept track of how often the children played. After six months, the kids who had played with blocks scored significantly higher on language tests than the others did. The researchers are not sure, however, whether these improvements resulted from playing with blocks per se—because by playing with blocks, the youngsters were spending less time in unproductive activities such as watching television. But why might play help kids excel? Animal researchers believe that play serves as a kind of training for the unexpected. “Play is like a kaleidoscope,” says evolutionary biologist Marc Bekoff of the University of Colorado at Boulder, in that it is random and creative. The bottom line, he posits, is that play encourages flexibility and crea­tivity that may, in the future, be advantageous in unexpected situations or new environments. Some child psychologists, such as Tufts University child development expert David Elkind, agree. Play is “a way in which children learn,” Elkind says, “and in the absence of play, children miss learning experiences.” Let Loose If play is so crucial, what happens to children who are not playing enough? Ultimately, no one knows—but many psychologists are worried. Because play is somewhat risky—animals that are not alert and watchful are at risk of being attacked by predators—it probably evolved and persists because it confers survival advantages. “If it wasn’t important, it wouldn’t have evolved in its elaborate form,” Bekoff says. Indeed, evidence indicates that play is evolutionarily quite ancient. Rats that have had their neocortex removed—a large brain region that is involved in higher-order thinking such as conscious thought and decision making—still engage in normal play, which suggests that play motivation comes from the brain stem, a structure that precedes the evolution of mammals. “This means that the core, genetically-provided circuitry for play is situated in very ancient regions of the brain,” explains Panksepp, who led the experiment in 1994. Of course, many parents today believe they are acting in their kids’ best interests when they swap free play for what they see as valuable learning activities. Some mothers and fathers may also hesitate to let their kids play outside unattended, and they may fret about the possibility of the scrapes and broken bones that sometimes arise during play fighting or rambunctious fantasy play, says Sergio M. Pellis, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta. Although those instincts are natural, protecting kids “simply defrays those costs to later, when those same children will have difficulty in dealing with an unpredictable, complex world,” Pellis says. “A child who has had a rich exposure to social play experiences is more likely to become an adult who can manage unpredictable social situations.” Parents should let children be children—not just because it should be fun to be a child but because denying youth’s unfettered joys keeps kids from developing into inquisitive, creative creatures, Elkind warns. “Play has to be reframed and seen not as an oppo­site to work but rather as a complement,” he says. “Curiosity, imagination and creativity are like muscles: if you don’t use them, you lose them.”

Sticks in Play

I can’t help myself but to allow sticks to enter into games and play. No one has lost an eye…knock on wood… But what is real play, without some risk?

Farting “Dog” Quote

“I’m a dog…and if you pull my paw… I fart in your face.”

Words of wisdom from a five year old playing “dogs.” But, don’t worry, she said she was just pretending. Maybe this one was inspired by a particular book?

Free Schools Push Real Education Reform

This is an except from a larger body of work.

The free school movement during the counter cultural stir of the 60’s and 70’s, with a significant impact even today is a result of highly authoritarian and hierarchal systems of governance that provoked families to seek out more local participatory democracy more reflective of their values and ideals. Families disillusioned by what public schools have to offer during the time of the free school movement, instead sought out educational alternatives with a fondness for spontaneity, freedom, staying true to their ideals and values (Miller, 2002).

Free Schools have been around for countless years, before the dawning of governmental schooling and always sprouting from the heart of community. The attractiveness of free schools is that they can rise and wane, reconstruct themselves, and transform into the genuine needs of children and the community. There are key aspects to democratic free schools that can be of inspiration to those who have suffered from conventional schooling. Free schools are non-compulsory, non-hierarchal, non-coercive, play friendly and do not administer grades. Some of these qualities in education revolving around free schools have been of influence to the public school sphere, either through homeschool network services, educational camps, drop-in centers, or other alternative approaches against the grain of compulsion. However there are many alternatives within the state system of education where parents, teachers, and students have worked hard to have more control over the decisions of the school. And I don’t want to discount the importance of when a public school finds creating ways for “maladjustment,” and collaborate in opposing some of the injustices and inequalities, while insuring that students, parents, and teachers have more of a say in the daily governing of a school. I do however think that the idea of each distinct community having full governance over their school has deep imbedded roots in democratic free schools.

A brief history of democratic free schools

Free schools also have a historical connection to the Modern School movement started by Francisco Ferrer in Spain in 1901 when he opened La Escuela Moderna. By 1906 “thirty-four schools with over 1,000 students were directly or indirectly influenced by the school and its textbooks. (Register of Francisco Ferrer Collection, MSS 0248).” Ferrer’s worked to free youth from the hegemonic grip of state schools (Hern, 2003). A quote in Field Day, Getting Society Out of Schools by Ferrer, sums up the uniqueness of the Modern School in comparison to the schools that operated on a regimented designed curricula. “Since we are not educating for a specific purpose, we can not determine the capacity or incapacity of a child.” Ferrer, a highly outspokenly critic of state dominating schooling suggests that such a education model offers nothing more than “enslavement” for the purpose of molding perfected labors. After being arrested for the second time for suspicion of conspiring to assassinating the King during a period of mass surge of political protest in Spain, Ferrer was detained and then executed before a firing squad. However the Modern School would continue to be influential with the support of Emma Goldman and other leading anarchists. Many who started progressive schools such as A.S Neil with Summerhill in England have been inspired by the work of Ferrer and the Modern School movement.

William Goldwin’s, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) and the publication of The Enquirer (1797) where some of the first of its kind, against nationalizing education. Goldwin presented the case that “national schooling would always subordinate those goals to larger political interests,” and that real education would come from the pursuits of “truth and justice. (Hern, 2003).”

Leo Tolstoy a Christian activist started the school Yasnaya Polyana for peasant children. Tolstoy would objected to the highly authoritarianism around the schools he visited in Germany, Swiss, and English schools and that the matter of education belonged in the hands of family:

I am convinced that the school should not interfere in matters of education that belong to the family; that the school does not and should not have the right to reward and punish; that the best policy and administration of a school consists in granting students full freedom to study, and to settle their disputes as they see fit (Tolstoy 83).

Tolstoy firmly believed in individualism and that youth have the right to freely choose what they want to learn through various interests and curiosities, without being compelled by the purposes of other outside unnatural influences. At Yasnaya Polyana no lesson or instruction was given and was adamant about not interfering even among the disorder, as we would need to be patient in order for it to settle and allow time for genuine learning.

There are many off shoots in the roots of schools like the Modern School and free schools that have provided a cultural hub for activism, nurturing, social responsibility and centeredness on youth have leadership. These are schools that do not necessarily subscribe to a particular model or template when it comes to governing their school, often may be experimental, and usually comes from the ingenuity of creative individuals that make up the group they comprise as school. In away a school existing outside the framework of state schooling is distinctly fit to the needs of the community, and is run, by the community.

It is time to rethink the meaning and purpose of education for youth within our communities, as “the business of a school is not, or should not be, mere instruction, but the life of a child (Dennison, 1960).” Most can agree that the majority of meaningful education has occurred throughout our lives, often in or around the family home, most notable when not interrupted, when free of obligatory strings attached, and when entrusted by adults to take full responsibility of one’s own learning. And some how, unexplainable through inquiry, reflection, experimentation, play, and a continuum of experiences; we can find great liberty in figuring it out on our own, without little, if any, needed instruction.
Bibliography

Ayers, W. (2004). Teaching the Personal and the Political: Essays on Hope and Justice (Teaching for Social Justice, 11). New York: Teachers College Press.

Dennison, G. (1970). THE LIVES OF CHILDREN the story of the First Street School. New York: Vintage.

Neill, A. (1995). Summerhill School: A New View of Childhood. New York, New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.

Noddings, N. (2006). Philosophy of Education. Oxford: Westview Press.

Lowe, R., & Peterson, R. (1995). Rethinking Schools: An Agenda for Change. New York: New Press.

Gatto, J. (2001). The Underground History of American Education. New York: The Oxford Village Press.

Kohl, H. (1994). “I Won’t Learn from You”: And Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment. New York: New Press.

Mercogliano, C. (2006). How to Grow a School: Starting and Sustaining Schools That Work. New York: Oxford Village Press.

Eisler, R., & Eisler, R. (2001). Tomorrow’s Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books.

Miller, R. (2002). Free Schools, Free People: Education and Democracy After the 1960s. Albany, New York: State University Of New York Press.

Gatto, J. (2002). Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.

Goodman, P. (1960). Growing up absurd; Problems of youth in the organized system. New York: Random House.

Neill, A. (1995). Summerhill School: A New View of Childhood. New York, New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.

Illich, I. (1973). Tools for Conviviality. New York: Perennial Library/ Harper & Row Publishers.

Kneller, G. (1984). Movements of Thought in Modern Education. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Hern, M. (2003). Field Day: Getting Society Out of School. New York: New Star Books Ltd.

Holt, J. (2004). Instead of Education: Ways to Help People do Things Better. Boulder, Colorado: Sentient Publications.

U.S. to Require States to Use a Single School Dropout Formula – New York Times. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/education/01child.html.

Dillon, S. (2004, September 24).  Cameras Watching Students, Especially in Biloxi – New York Times.
Retrieved August 23, 2008, from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507EFDF173DF937A1575AC0A9659C8B63.

Hammond, L. (2002, May 2). Evaluating ‘No Child Left Behind’ –The Nation
Retrieved August 23, 2008, from www.thenation.com/doc/20070521/darling-hammond.

Students ordered to wear tracking tags – Gadgets – MSNBC.com. (n.d.). Retrieved August 19, 2008, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6942751/.

Register of Francisco Ferrer Collection – MSS 0248. (n.d.). Retrieved August 23, 2008, from http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/testing/html/mss0248a.html.

“Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 24 Aug. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel#Totalitarianism>.

Punk Player Quote

“I learned everything I need to know…. through watching educational shows for kids!”

Experimenting with Curriculum Meets the Needs of All Children

Here’s the disclaimer: If you dare to embark on this long winded draft, remember this is what Grad school can do to a person! Good-luck getting through this long hard slog. And feel free to deliver my grade in the comment section!

Best!

PP

A sure way to reassure the developmental and unique needs of each child is being met in the classroom, is to experiment with the curriculum. To have autonomy over the decisions of curriculum we must forgo any prescribed curriculums from a top down approach, while experimenting with a more caring and practical curriculum, to suite the needs of children. What atomism therefore fails to do is address the needs of children. Furthermore, atomism fragmentizes subjects into separate units, rendering learning meaningless an impersonal (Miller, 2007). John Dewey in The Child and the Curriculum speaks to the problem of interpreting learning through an atomistic lens. Dewey notes the destructiveness of the classifying and separation of curriculum into parts, rather than an integrative whole. “The source of whatever is dead, mechanical, and formal in schools is found precisely in the subordination of the life and experience of the child to the curriculum (Dewey, 2001). ” Our job as educators as I discover early in my career is too revitalize and experiment with any curriculum that deadens or debilitates the natural development and growth of a child.

Through out models of progressive education there have been numerous situations where teachers decided to replace prescribed textbook curriculum, with a democratically, caring, and more personalized experimental curriculum. Shifting from a domineering structure to a more partnership or democratic approach to the curriculum, does not occur without a degree of personal risk. Riane Eisler addresses the first goal of a partnership model: “The first goal is to help children grow into healthy, caring, competent, self-realized adults (Eisler, 2001).” And this takes a degree of courage for any teacher within a learning environment that holds steadfast to an ideology around standardized test assessments, prescribed curriculums and bureaucratic policies that under serve the needs of children in schools. It is through the course of reforming conventional curriculum that we can then begin to address different needs and meet various learning styles. The aim of this paper is to provide samples of meeting those developmental needs of children in the classroom, personally as a teacher and through my research.

An example of the ability of a teacher to experiment with the curriculum and to take a gamble with what she perceived as conscionable and reasonable way to introduce learning, is in Freedom to Learn by Carl R. Rogers. Barbara J. Shriel a sixth grade teacher, who is described and quoted in Freedom to Learn, announces to her sixth grade class one day an “experimental plan.” The students did not have to do anything with the implementation of the new plan. Shriel notes some of the mixed bag of emotions that came with this proposal in the first day, as some students felt “confused,” others thought it was “great,” and others chose to “goof off.” However, through process of experimenting, Shriel began to modify the plan as the curriculum became more solidified in serving the needs of all the students. By day two Shriel implemented a “work contract” for each student to put into writing a plan for each subject area, while checking off the list as they accomplished self-assigned projects. To deal with the subject of grading, Shriel simply asked each student, what he or she thought they earned. Some of the challenges she faces with the major adjustment within the curriculum is watching those sit in idle doing “nothing,” while another group dove into a research project on automobiles, for example. And another challenge Shriel encountered, was a small group of students who did not know what to do, without being told or instructed. However, the majority of the class appeared excited about learning and appreciated the change. Shriel had this to say about her optimism and doubting of her curriculum experiment, as a teacher: “that one must be secure in his own self concept to undertake such a program (Rogers, 1986).” Shriel did more remedial facilitating with the group that exhibited resistance to the new program, but after some time they found a better sense of security in defining their own pace and directing their own learning. In others words what Shriel did is offer only enough structure to bridge the gap to doing more focused independent, cooperate, and more self-directed class work. Shriel also recognizes that it is important to have the backing of an administrator when experimenting in the classroom, as she did with the superintendent and principal of the school. Shriel goes on to comment that she did not “teach; the children taught themselves and each other (Rogers).”

At the community school I teach at we also have the freedom to implement concepts within the setting up of the curriculum. For example in the beginning of the last school year we separated into two groups, in order to work on more focused academic like activities. The smallest size group consisted of the kindergarteners and the larger group was the first and second graders. We did not refer to these two groups by grade level, but by a name that was voted on by each group. The kindergartners chose the Earthworms and the first and second graders became chose the Tigers. In the morning we would begin class with news they would share, calendar, yoga, a song, or a short activity to start the day. After the “morning meeting” the to groups would split up for Math. In the first couple of months of the year I worked with the Earthworms, doing mainly manipulate based curriculum. The Tigers did less hands on with manipulates and more focused academic work, as developmentally at about the age of six and seven, they were ready for the transition into more concentrated work. This initial morning routine would shift as we began to experiment with the curriculum.

However, we we’re noticing that the students arrived at school enthusiastic about their day, and appeared to be more cued in on socializing with their peers or wanting to launch into journaling or playing, as opposed to a casually organized morning meeting. Especially the kindergarten children had some difficulty controlling their natural wiggles and no matter how inventive or slightly authoritarian we became as teachers, the group showed little interest in coming in and sitting together first in the morning, even for a short amount of time.

The other teacher and I communicated some of these issues, as we both agreed something needed to swiftly change. Our plan was to introduce “stations” as a means for them to launch right into doing engaging work at a variety of tables set with an appropriation of tools and materials for them to solve sections within their books. By this time we have also observed the kindergartners expressing more interest in the books that the Tigers (first and second graders) were involved in, as at the time I was doing more hands on work with the kindergarteners in a separate space. But ordinarily it is not appropriate to expect kindergarteners to sit for too long of a period of time doing academic work. However, appropriately developmentally if we ever detect that the kindergarteners are loosing their concentration or wiggling out of their seats, then we invite them to do more manipulates, such as connecting pattern blocks, sorting, aligning geometric shapes, piecing together puzzles, etc. But at this juncture about three to four months into the school years they exhibited signs that they were ready for doing more book related, academic like work. And now we would be bringing them all together with into one large room for stations. When the idea was pitched to the class they were overwhelmed with joy to hear about the new change. Aware of the national standards of assessment for primary ages, as teachers we recognized the importance of preparing most of them for the transition into public schools, as our school tops off at second grade. It was also important to help ease some of those anxieties among certain parents of the second graders, concerned with the possibilities of their child coping with the potential academic load in public schools. The kindergarten through second program is relatively still new, but as teachers we felt confident about our approach to education. Our new approach was to set-up an environment that would therefore integrate all subjects with more fluidity. To quote a kindergartener, when referring back to his time doing manipulates and other hands on activities, he said, “I didn’t know we were doing math.”

Our curriculum also has some Dewey aspects with a center for sewing, typing, and an area we meet for cooking. In a practical sense never has the thought of slicing up the curriculum in separate subjects has crossed our minds. We want the experiences to be organic and personalized for each child. “Subdivide each topic into studies; each study into lessons; each lesson into specific facts and formulae. Let the child proceed step by step to master each one of these separate parts, and at last he will have covered the entire ground (Dewey).”

In our classroom there was the Game table, Math table, Explode the Code (a workbook series) table, and Math table. The Math table has a container in the center with a measuring tape, rulers, dice, counting sticks, ten blocks, a analog play clock, coins, a calculator, a geometric stencil, etc. Each section in their math books is a different activity and may for example require a measuring device of calculator. Kindergartners may be pacing back and forth on the floor, for example, to get a read on how many steps long the room is or measuring their how tall a friend is. Or a first grade may have to measure the amount of centimeters their pencil is or have to figure out a simple word problem using coins. We chose Mathematics Everyday, a more hands on approach to math, because it makes math more applicable to life, engaging, and interactive for the students.

At the Explode the Code table they work on various activities in reading and writing. In the first few books in the Explode the Code series (as the series continues into upper grades) they trace letters, practice writing letters, draw lines to pictures that begin with a certain letter, color in objects that begin with a letter, write the letter under the picture that begins with that letter, and other listening activities oriented around letter recognition in which we creatively facilitate. The first three books focus on letter development as the next volume of books centers on using letters to construct words. There is a rather natural progression to Explode the Code through the repetition of exercises that still tends to stimulate and excite the learning process, rather than dull their interest. I was skeptical at first, but the students take interest in doing the work, and I have observed the overall progress they have made. A first grader at our school summed up the effectiveness of Explode the Code after his mom caught him reading in his bedroom aloud to him self, he said: “ I owe it all to Explode the Code!”

At our Journal table students draw characters, pictures, write titles, and develop their own stories. I think the students take the longest learning strives at the Journal table for a number of reasons. The student’s journals are usually self-made, and each one is customized. They can personalize their own stories with illustrations. They get to invent their own language and spelling. They can engage with others, sharing their stories as they develop. This is where I find the magic happens, as students come up with their own characters, setting, plot, conflict, and climax in the story. In the beginning days of journaling in particular for the kindergartners they may simply apply the pen or pencil to paper, with scribbles, circles, lines, dots, etc., but this is a crucial stage towards the emergence of literacy. Even if they’re only able to write their name with backwards “s’s” and “d’s” we do not stand to correct this process, knowing, this is valuable experimentation with literacy. Instead, we advocate strongly for them to invent their own spelling, to spend the time sounding out letters, or to discuss their stories with peers. Often there is much of a busy buzz and chatter centered around the Journal table as stories take shape and they share newly discovered words and stories. Of course conversations will drift outside of the Journaling topic, and occasionally we need to remind them to focus on their journal, but mostly this is a space for a full spectrum of language development. There is a clear link of understanding that vocalized word is a gateway to reading and writing, as open communication among children centered around a teacher facilitated objective, in most cases lead to writing. Piaget observed the importance of children under the age of seven to express language as monologues or through conversation as a means of voicing a sense of power. During this age group youth in particular tend to be “egocentric” not by choice, but by where they are developmentally (Piaget, 1951). And this is a highly talkative time of their lives, as their verbal communication is paramount to how they interpret new concepts, ideas, and begin to piece logical reasoning, which becomes more apparent in adolescence. And their drawings and narrations within the pages of their journals reflect a sort of primordial relationship to animals. Many of their cast of characters in their stories stars a rabbit, a cat, a horse, or some other animalistic object that conveys meaning and enables them to confront complex questions popping up as young people discovering the world. Some pictures also depict warrior like scenarios with detailed battle scenes, with rows of soldiers, and various spacecraft. There is an interesting power dynamic that occurs on the pages of their journals, as they sometimes want to simulate a scene in one of their stories with another peer. For example, two will sit next to each other (mainly the boys) and take turns drawing out a scene, sometimes on each other’s books, where typically a ship is shot down and a gruesome end follows. Or maybe a “good guy” swoops and saves the day. The kindergarteners as they experiment with journaling will begin to dabble but there is much more elaboration and depth to their stories as they progress through their journals.

We also allow the time for children to present their journal stories during our “circle times.” Or when visiting Day Star a retirement community we visit twice a month, and walk to, as it is only a few blocks away from the school. This gives an added incentive at times for them to develop their story, as they get an opportunity to read their work in front of an audience. One student read a story called Paw Print or in her words: “The Po Print.” The goes like this: “I saw a po print. What is it frum. I am scard. Is it a goos? No. Is it fram a bog. No. is it a tiger? Yes it is a tiger. The End.” Notice the common mistake when children invent their own spelling of the “b” in “bog” which she intended for it to say “dog.” Also notice the missing vowel sounds that clearly we do not hear when speaking. Never do we correct their spelling, rather what I ordinary do when a student asks is to remind them to concentrate on sounding out the syllables out loud and to take an educated guess. Sometimes I will point them in the direction of the correctly spelled word on their worksheet or guide them to where they may have spelled it correctly before. Always grammar and punctuation is secondary to having children experiment with language. Our objective is to use a multitude of ways to approach reading and writing, for example, as not everyone learns phonetically or through a prescribed method. Broadening the scope of learning and experimenting with curriculum opens up a window of opportunity for reaching different learning styles and developmental needs. And not all of these ways can be found in a teachers guide or textbook, but often through a teacher’s intuitive and creative lead.

The Game table is certainly another table where problem solving, language, the concept of working cooperatively, and learning how to follow the rules can be engaging, but also challenging. If rules of a game have a competitive edge, I emphasis the importance that they work together, and refer to the game as “non-winning.” I find it inappropriate to introduce competitive games, until least into their later years. The game table tends to reflect games that are math oriented, but most games I’ve noticed reflect math is some shape of form. For example, we have several board games under the brand name Cooperative Games as these games also inspire sociodramatic play and lend an opportunity to really work with each other, then against. Plus, these games allow for children to stretch their imagination. We also have several games that call for rolling of dice either traditionally with dots or with color, math symbols (plus and minus) and numbers. One of the most popular as this game has been influential when learning about monetary counting has been Monopoly and the offshoots of this is Catopoly and since the school is in Seattle, there is Seattle In A Box. Our school has a plethora of games for stimulating cognitive development and social development. The games play as an extension to the manipulates and the constructiveness nature of the “stations.” We do not claim that the games are free of structure, as each game has a set of rules to follow, as this is a entry point into practicing taking turns, problem solving, patience, cooperation, and commitment. I have done most of the facilitation of the Game table, however as they learn to stick by the rules, my assistance is less needed. I do not pretend for a moment that these games are unstructured without adult educational objectives or strategies or based on the idea of “free play.”

The core of any curriculum in particular in early childhood education and in those primary age school years, is self led play, without adult interruption. There has been many theories and research revolving around play from Dewey, Piaget, Rousseau, Vygotsky, Montessori, Steiner, Erikson among other, however across colleges the word “play” rarely if ever appears in class descriptions or list under competencies (Klugman, 1991). Despite the research devoted to the benefit of play in meeting the developmental needs of children, play usually receives the least amount of attention in the school setting. However, there is still a rather large contingency of individuals and groups recognizing play as critical to the natural development of children, such as, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), David Elkind, Chris Mercogliano, Lisa Murphy, and a spectrum of alternative schools and educators across America strongly advocating for play-based curriculum. “Play is described as having self-curative or self development power the child would “normally” use with little adult direction needed (Klugman & Smilansky).” Erikson and Piaget, who both devoted a significant amount of theoretical and scientific efforts have concluded that children need to control their own play for the purpose of serving healthy cognitive and mental development (Klugman & Smilansky).

Play-based curriculum is certainly interwoven through our school and curriculum, but I think there is a distinctive line between doing “academic work” and “play.” And this is delineated by structuring our academic time to fall more in the morning, and for play to start in the afternoon. The idea of infusing play “to reinforce learning objectives,” by creating role like scenarios is a gray area and may distort the authenticity of relationships and actual learning. “Rather than blur the differences between work and play, between activity objectives and playing, perhaps it would be better to clarify them (Klugman & Smilansky).

Sociodramatic play, the concept of not relying too much on materials and more on imaginative play is quite prominent in our classroom, however it does often cross over to incorporating props such as other materials to highlight the dynamic in role playing. There sociodramatic play, I have observed, begins to have a set of concrete rules and there is more of a narrative going on with the play, instead of gesture and more body movement communication that occurs in younger stages. From sticks to stones or building blocks, all I have observed become important props for strategizing and reinforcing their dramatic roles. Sociodramatic play can start from about the age of two to eight, as the richness of role playing can increase as they become masters of make believing and pretend play (Klugman & Smilansky).

The primary age group typically ages 6, 7, and 8 is a period when the “concrete operational,” with continuous hands on experiences begins to promote logically and critically thinking (Jones & Reynolds, 1996) as the “sociodramatic play activities seem to serve different needs than those served by functional and constructive play and activate a larger spectrum of dispositions, understanding, and ability (Krugman & Smilansky).”

Ands it is during this time outside of doing stations, where children take the lead with great intention to self-guide their learning, explore, and experiment within their environment. As teacher’s we both agree that this is where most of the development and learning occurs. There is much at stake developmentally for a child when play all this theory about play, can really be put into practice. Play is timeless, ageless, and has deep meaning in the lives of children. After all the most crucial human developmental stages such as speaking, walking, reading, and cognitive reasoning, all commonly occur through self directed play. This is why play is not secondary to the integrative subject stations we have only started to introduce about a year ago.

The stations, like play, are also self-guided with some facilitation. The implementation of stations allows subjects areas to be presented in a less formalized fashion without moving into a different space, to the sound of a bell. The child is in charge of signing him or her self in at each station, as a way to learn how to tell time and to monitor they’re own progression. This is a new addition to the curriculum so that our students can learn more about how to tell time, managing their own time, and for us as teachers to assess what stations they’re spending more or less time at. Again, this is an experimental implementation as we’re not sure if we will continue to use this technique.

There are a few students in class who move at a slower pace through the stations and occasionally do not complete all stations. One student has asked on several occasions that he wanted to finish it later during “open” classroom and “studio” time. Open classroom and studio is a less structured period in the afternoon where students pick and chose each day from new materials being presented or help themselves to the material available on the shelves around the classroom and studio. But generally this is less structured, self-directed, and generally opens up three different spaces, including a side yard with a woodshop for them to build in. It was during this active time that he wanted me to remind him to complete his stations.

As teachers we do not require them to finish, but we do however encourage them to complete all that they can. But there is no requirement to finish the work or to if not finished by the end of the day, to do for homework. During multiple occasions I have watched a few students convene to sit down at a table in the middle of the busy commotion of the classroom during open classroom/studio time to work on their journal or in their Explode the Code book.

More important as teachers we remain aware of the lesson blunders, lost of interest, or grievances students may have as signs that something has gone astray, and needs to be adjusted. Instead of proposing to go the route of increasing our assumed authoritarian role when our lessen plans went a stray, we would evaluate and make the necessary changes to the environment and curriculum. For example, we took notice of the restless behavior and complaints coming from some of the students, who had trouble sitting down as a group first thing in the morning. Instead we decided to postpone our circle time to later in the morning and decided to try out workstations to start the school day. And the students have been much more receptive and appreciative of this new change in curriculum.

We take a logical and practical approach to curriculum, by focusing on what is developmentally appropriate, where their curiosities interests lie, and how each child is uniquely different. As I mentioned above, our afternoon open/studio time centers more on play. Play that is uninterrupted and unfettered by adult intervention is “when the balance of competence and helplessness is determined (Elkind, 1986).” In particular in early childhood and among the primary age group a child’s sense of self, ego, and personality is being developed. And the transpersonal self embodies a deeper more holistic connection, shedding more light on the relationship of a belonging to a collective conscience (Miller). Barbara Clark in Optimizing Learning quotes Carl Jung as we shift from the function of the ego into “something contrary to reason, but something outside the province of reason,” or our intuitive self (Clark, 1986). Play brings children closer to understanding, logic, reasoning, and to find their uniqueness through creative expressionism.

As so we approach this powerful time of play, with little interruption, as students explore and experiment with the materials purposefully placed on the tables, or as they romp about freely socializing with peers or engaging in dramatic play. It is through this play that much of their competence and sense of self-awareness blossoms. For just over two hours in the afternoon, the students seek out their interests and curiosities. For example, they can build in the block area, cuddle with the Guinea pigs, visit the science center table (aligned with aquariums filled with fish, stick bugs, an African millipede, a frog, a turtle, a more recently an un-hatched Luna moth), play with Play Mobil, work in the studio with Perler beads, sew a bag, sort and weigh minipulatives, read a book, listen to books on CD, etc. And each afternoon we swap out or add a different activity to the mix. However our science center, library of books, sewing station, building area, and outside wood shop are affixed throughout the school year. The materials are updated from time to time but these designated areas do not change location throughout the school year. We’ve noticed keeping it consistent with the layout of the classroom allows for a sense of comfort in familiarity and makes it much easier for young children to navigate their learning. In particular, a more consistently organized classroom enables students to effectively navigate their own learning and empowers them to be self- reliant.

Offering stations stimulates the learning environment offering up opportunities for those with various learning styles to construct their learning. There is no question that the in the broad context of supplying a rich program of resources and support, will different learning styles ever be underserved. Garner addresses what has been known as the Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory: “MI theory not only comports with their intuitions that children are smart in different kinds of ways; the theory also holds out hope that more students can be reached more effectively, if their favored ways of knowing are taken into account in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.” Furthermore Garner acknowledges that the MI theory is not to serve solely goal of education, but rather an additional tool. It is the intention of the teacher(s) to create the aim of education. In scope of our small class at an independent school, in addition we offer classes in music, dance, and cooking to serve up as nourishment for all faculties of intelligences. Generally when I approach a particular student, I have an indication of what tool or material to serve up, by tracing the implications of their pattern of interests. There is a one particular kindergartener, for example that has always been intrigued by music. Place a keyboard or other instrument within reach on a table and he will find his way with fingers on the keys. We also have quite a few who thrive in what Garner has coined as a “naturalist” intelligence, is the student content on swashing in puddles on a rainy day or shoveling in the sand all day or is the one close to the animals. This particular group I’ll often discover at our science center holding guinea pigs or caring for the animals.

However there are no boundaries or separations among the “centers” or “stations” through out the classroom, instead it is all integrated to suite the developmentally appropriate needs of primary-age children. All though most children in our class, in particular the older ages, may be able to sit and concentrate for a longer period of time, but this age group and younger need hands on objects that they can manipulate, as well as directly related experiences then longer periods of sitting and listening. Primary-age children also need to concrete experiences that favor more hands on activities in order for learning to engaging, meaningful, and more relevant (Bredekamp, 1986). This need for more experiential learning may wane a bit in later years as children approach adulthood and are able to rationalize and grasp new abstract concepts, but it would be wrongfully, inappropriate to expect children to sit for long periods of time behind a desk.

As teachers we remain vigilant to the latest transformations students undergo. For example, we have a second grader who is just now beginning to actually read and write. Between two different teachers and a few peers he is finally starting to recognize sounds, is inventing spelling, and is figuring out words. He’s not quite reading just yet, but he is made considerable amount of progress and shows strong determined to figure it out. One method for assessing progress overall throughout the year is through collecting data for their portfolios. A portfolio will contain completed Explode the Code and Every Day Math books, drawings, journals, or projects that they have spent a considerable amount of time working on. There are also tests at the end of each of the books they work in for Reading/Writing and Math, and I have never had a student complain about taking the test. Antithetically they rave about taking the test and often will move through the book at an accelerated rate just to get to the test page. The reward for them is to advance to the next book in the series as they pick it out for themselves right off the shelf. We keep them on the shelf within their reach, as they can visualize what is ahead. When we meet with the children’s parents, all the important content is presented through the portfolio along with a “narrative” we submit to the parents before the meeting to summarize their child’s progress with attention to cognitive, social, and emotional development. The narrative is a story or snapshot of the child that brings to light their growth through a school year. We do not issue grades, but rather keep accurate and intentional data collection, and since myself and the other teacher enjoy writing, we manage an online site where we also aim to document our days with pictures, articles, updates, and an occasion video. Our assessment of student progress is always deeply personal and never a standardized formula.

Another potential alternative for assessment is the Shared Responsibility Model (SRM), initially developed for elementary students from a low-income back ground in an urban school, by Saunda Sparling. The SRM relies less on teacher controlled assessment and places more responsibility into the hands of the students. The model is based off of seven activities. The first activity addresses five questions linked to student to teacher contract, in order to fulfill the student’s objective. The second component to SRM looks at the shared feelings among the teachers and students to evaluate and conclude what needs to be changed to further achieve each student’s goal. The third component to the SRM redefines what the goal of each student amounts to, as this determines the “ground rules.” The students set up the steps to achieve their goal in a basic fashion while including what self-discipline and appropriate behavior will lead them to the final result. And the last four components of SRM is for the teacher to assist the students to stay focused on their goals, to reassure that the teachers maintain control over their project goal, to share skills that will help each other achieve those goals, and lastly for the teacher to help facilitate the progress and keep students on track (Clark). It is the experimentation with alternatives to standardized curricula that can transform the curriculum and give students more accountability in assessing and asserting their own learning.

Deeply caring assessment that is not perverse, maintains a anti-biased policy, and comes mainly through an evaluation of observation over a period of time, appropriately serves the development and growth of children. Assessment that relies on solely one methodology or the results of just testing is not a comprehensive way to measure progress of children. “When a student is graded by others on criteria not set cooperatively, perceived control is lost, motivation diminishes, and achievement is far less satisfying and dependable (Clark).” The overall performance of children or the deciding factor for curriculum-based decisions should not, for example rely on standardized tests (Bredekamp).

“We can’t really force kids to do things in the classroom; instead we only attempt to provide an environment that meets their needs (Miller).” Children need to have a sense of real belonging, power, and meaning, in order to engage in the act of learning. A multidisplinary, integrative, caring curriculum where the teacher has the autonomy to experiment, can address the needs of all children. As, I have also seen it in action.

Bibliography
Eisler, R., & Eisler, R. (2001). Tomorrow’s Children: A Blueprint for Partnership Education for the 21st Century. New York: Basic Books.

Clark. (1986). Optimizing Learning: The Integrative Education Model in the Classroom. Upper Saddle River: Merrill.

Dewey, J. (2001). The School and Society & The Child and the Curriculum. New York: Dover Publications.

Elkind, D. (1987). Miseducation: PRESCHOOLERS AT RISK. New York: Knopf.

Elkind, D. (2001). The Hurried Child. New York and Washington D.C.: Da Capo Press.

Garner, H. (n.d.). A Multiplicity of Intelligences. Retrieved Oct. 4, 2008, from http://www.sciamdigital.com/index.cfm?fa=Products.ViewIssuePreview&ARTICLEID_CHAR=C85BA732-2A67-4F78-BE5D-070310BCFFA.

Jones, E., & Reynolds, G. (1992). The Play’s the Thing: Teachers’ Roles in Children’s Play (Early Childhood Education Series (Teachers College Pr)). New York: Teachers College Press.

Klugman, E., & Smilansky, S. (1991). Children’s Play and Learning: Perspectives and Policy Implications (Early Childhood Education Series (Teachers College Pr)). New York: Teachers College Press.

Miller, J. (2007). The Holistic Curriculum. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Piaget, J. (1951). The Language and Thought of the Child. New York: Humanities/Rkp, New York/London.

Rogers, C. (1986). Freedom to Learn : A View of What Education Might Become. Westerville: Merrill Publishing Company.

Brendekamp, S. (1987). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 (Naeyc). Washington, D.C: National Association For The Education Of You.Experimenting with Curriculum

Punk Players Take The Stage

I’ve been getting some flak from a second grader (hint: this kids a stand up comedian and his name begins with a J) about the original name of my blog, Preschool Punk. He would say: “Paul what are you thinking…we’re not in preschool anymore.” And so…good-bye Preschool Punk and welcome Punk Players — we’ve graduated.  The kid’s right, we’re all grown up and in kindergarten, first, and second grade. What was I thinking….

Tell me what you think of the new name??? And be honest!

Preserving the Punk of Play,

PP

Quitting School: For Good!

In my old school days the term or association to a school drop out was like a virus, everyone wanted to fend off. Dropping out of school warranted “shame” – a wrongful act or sin that would brandish you a looser for life. Rather you would be labeled as someone never to succeed — doomed for imprisonment or a lifetime position at the local Mc. Duck’s. Faced with the fear of family abandonment and of being something of a social outcast, one was left to stay on track, steadfast to the world of academia.

The term school “drop out” comes with a completely different twist after reading The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn. In the book, a school drop out is the antithesis of this social stereotypical label. Grace Llewellyn opposes conventional ‘school’ wisdom and instead encourages students to drop out in order to get a “real life and education.”

Glancing over the title of the book now, I imagine inserting the words, “and Adult” after “Teenage,” or perhaps substituting it out with “Human.” For example, a comprehensive book such as this could also read – ‘The Human Liberation Handbook, for those who would rather take control of their education.’ Regardless, this book should be available in every library or in the hands of all teenagers, to push the envelope on mainstream education, and as a preparatory way for youth and adults to have a trusted reference book, before setting foot in another school. I certainly wish it fell off a shelf and onto my head during my junior high years of aimlessly walking library aisles. Perhaps it would have awakened me earlier from my academic stupor and would have provided me some earlier cues to life’s calling.

Before even flipping to the first page, the cover (review) heeds the warning, “a very dangerous book, ” a sign that would surely cause the librarian to re-adjust her glasses and take a second look. Having the flare of an underground book, which barely made it onto store shelves with some 2,ooo copies, it certainly has gained attention and popularity among potential homeschoolers and from the two million kids already being homeschooled in the U.S.

Llewellyn encourages not to bring home the destructive methods of regimental curriculums provided at schools, but to free oneself from the constraints of schools order. Instead, she recommends quitting this academic rubric entirely, and taking a vacation. She provides insightful and supportive ways to regain your natural love for learning that have been drained by school’s incessant rules, intimidation, compartmentalizing, labeling and strenuous testing. According to Llewellyn “school is not for learning.” Rather, she states that schools “destroy one’s love of learning.” Schools control your time, behavior, and ability to think independently.

There is a chapter within this book that provides effective ways to introduce the idea of unschooling to unfamiliar parents. Unschooling is essentially about learning through ones intrinsically self-directed interests, rather then curriculums. To paraphrase Llewellyn, “unschooling generally seems to make parents into allies and friends, rather than disciplinarians and authority figures.” She encourages teenagers to use a gentle art of persuasion and some pre-planning when introducing parents to the idea of unschooling. She provides sound advice for youth contemplating approaching parents for the first time, on such an unconventional and fragile subject. There is also a section with a note from Maria Holt, the wife of John Holt, who commonly referred to as the ‘father figure’ in the “unschooling movement.” In fact, Llewellyn offers multiple short excerpts from a magazine called Growing without Schools, founded by John Holt. To quote Maria Holt, “The most important thing I want to impress upon people about our family school is this: WE NEVER TAUGHT ANYTHING.”

In The Teenage Liberation Handbook young adults and adults can learn responsible ways to critically face authority, to pursue political advocacy, journalism, internships, volunteerism, start a business, and any other means to improve the welfare of others and community. The stories from youth and adults are empowering to read, and provide insightful ways to make a difference in the world we live in. I’ve come to realize that what makes this book so darn hard to put down are the 1,000’s pragmatic examples to put learning back into the hands of each unique individual. Need I say more…to what just sounds like an endorsement. On a last note: Parents turn off any television, video games, computers, cell phones, or i-pods and round up the teenagers and read this book out loud while standing on the dining room table. On second-thought, just diligently place it by their bedside when they’re not looking, and tell them it must have been a fairy godmother that placed it there. And after catching them reading a fair portion, be sure to ask them what they think.