Early learning, late living

"A lot happens in those early years that goes beyond classroom and curriculum. Unstructured play forces children to learn the value of compromise, how to deal with others who are different from them, the social consequences of treating others unfairly and vice versa. And it extends beyond just the preschool years. At every step of the way children are forced into structures with increasingly less unstructured play time. Even after school children are immediately thrust into more structure — the legions of organized youth sports attest to the virtues of play under the watchful eyes of Little League coaches, with the rules set in stone. It’s always better to be on the ball field with freshly painted lines and adult supervision, the thinking goes, than down the street playing stickball.

"But these same children will get out of college one day and still have the work of the preschool years to do — only the play will be more dangerous. And perhaps one day a whole generation of parents will find themselves scratching their heads, wondering why their children cannot grow up after receiving the best education available."

in "Under Played"


via Streetplay

from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith