text | Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
“how do you 5span strong” 5 _span strong span5 p21 span5 p Know how to play?!"
This is what many parents often say criticizing their children. In the eyes of many adults, playing = a waste of time.
However, the truth is: games are human nature. children who never love to learn will only learn more May be depressed or aggressive.
01
strong6 What is real " strong"?
What kind of activity is the real "play"? Some well-known researchers have reached a consensus: There are five elements in play:
first,Play must be a process of enjoyment. This does not mean that you are lying on the ground and laughing forward and backward to play, but it must be fun to play.
Second, there is no external goal for playing.
You don’t say when you’re playing: "Well, I think I’m playing now and I’ll gain some pre-class reading skills later." _p sp2p strong Play is to play for the sake of playing. does not have any function, nor does it incorporate any utilitarian purpose.
Third, play is voluntary, and players make their own choices.
You cannot specify the game. In fact, in a study, when a kindergarten teacher assigned a game activity to a student, the student thought it was a task.
However other times,They describe the same activity as play!
If you let your kids play football for utilitarian purposes, it can’t be considered play. If a child feels stressed, it must not be play.
Fourth, playing requires the active participation of players.
The player must want to play the game by himself. If the player just sits passively and does not participate too much, it is not playing.
Fifth, there is a certain imagination in play.
In many games played by young children, there is an abstract element, an element that is out of reality. A child pretends to pour out a drink and then drank it. This is play.
Ironically, many parents nowadays are disturbed by these factors. If measured by these standards, some of the activities that we let children participate in are not "fun".
For example, Many parents and teachers believe that they must choose what to play for their children, rather than let them choose for themselves.
Their ideas are contrary to the definition of play , should be derived from the desire of children to play.
Of course, we can provide children with a limited set of options and let them choose from them. Then we should promote their play, this is our role.
What is really good for children is free play , not the activities arranged by the parents and teachers.
02 02 _span8 playing?
In the eyes of experts,Playing is not a waste of time, play=learn!
In this anxious society, the second element of the game seems to be difficult to satisfy: must play without any external goals.
How many of us do we really let children play without any practical purpose?
Even the toys we choose for children hide the purpose of learning!
Taking into account this trend, a 1995 article in the " Wall Street Journal " pointed out that "anything that shows signs of death in classroom learning is considered a toy" .
However, in 2002, only 7 years later, the sales of educational toys rose sharply.
The same is true for our children’s classes.Do we want them to have a good time in the class and mingle with other children, or do we hope to cultivate some potential talents for them in our hearts?
Let 5-year-old children join the Junior Baseball League. Do we think that letting them learn some new skills like catching with a glove will add more fun to them, or do we want them to score? Finals, or even win the game?
As Dr. Susan Bradkamp of the American Association for Early Childhood Education wrote: "Children will have a sense of accomplishment when they join a game they design." _span9strong _p p _strong
If the teacher uses those "highly structured, teacher-guided courses, decide what the children will do and when, and expect the children to passively listen to lessons or complete tasks with pencils and paper for a long time", these The behavior is not at all conducive to the development of the child.
However, more and more parents hope that their children’s kindergarten will provide this type of complex curriculum.
We also visited kindergartens that provide "computer science" and "mathematics teaching". The children there seem to be busy. The question is, what have they lost because of this?
This kind of academic preschool that emphasizes learning more than play is highly regarded.Because parents want their children to be one step ahead in life.
Life is not easy, no doubt, but it’s not just that tall and smart adults directing children’s actions is the best way to learn.
Nor is it that children who are in academically oriented preschool will have better skills and a more correct learning attitude.
Years of research have shown that children need to arrange their own play activities. When children have the opportunity to play, their creativity and problem-solving skills will improve.
Another core function of playing is to give children a sense of span 8 span _strong 5 span 8 span _strong 5
Play freely, and children can practice to be the master of their own affairs-without any real-life influence. It is through free play that children become the masters of the real world or the imaginary world and make independent choices.
During play, children will invent new things or solve problems in dinosaurs, and dinosaurs are often substitutes for real people.
Although organized activities have their own value, we should not mistake them for play. Only simple play can bring many basic intellectual and social advantages to children.
"In those play games, children can be whoever they want to be and go wherever they want to go.
br21span and learn how to deal with feelings , How to turn a big and chaotic world into a small and controllable world; how to become good at socializing in sharing, communication and mutual cooperation.
The most important thing is that they are just pure Have fun.
_span8sp _span8sp br _span8 p2p _span8sp _span5 Parents "deprive children of the opportunity to play" will make their children deeply depressed and full of aggressiveness. After all, if you never rest, you may also get depression!
Although adults may not like some of the days in life, you can still control them. But the child has little control over what happens.
Children need rest time to absorb the knowledge they have learned, master new skills, overcome terrible negative emotions, and simply entertain themselves!
Some recent studies have shown that depriving animals of playing time may have a negative impact on their brains.
Jayak Panksepp, professor emeritus at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, has shown that play has an effect on the frontal lobe of the brain, which is the brain that controls itself. part.
Professor Panksepp and his student Nicky Gordon discovered that if the mouse has no time to play, the maturation of the mouse brain will be delayed.
And, After those mice with damaged frontal lobes play,Some damages will repair themselves. People think of frontal lobe damage as a condition similar to children suffering from attention deficit disorder.
In fact, researchers working with children have also found similar results-
strong play will help children relieve their attention deficit 6 The school settled down and focused.
We learned from the work of University of Minnesota Professor Anthony Pellegrini that providing school-age children with play breaks can help students think more To improve concentration.
Nowadays schools are increasingly reducing students’ playing time. Such a move is "wrong and will actually cause some harm to students."
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21st century,Play is more important to children?
In the 21st century, people who solve problems creatively, think independently, and are highly socially sensitive will inevitably surpass those who only get the right answers.
How do these people ask new questions and get answers? The answer is play.
"Before learning to organize language and any gestures for communicating with others, play seems to be the basic characteristic of productive scientific thinking." _strong Stan
Playing is not a waste of time, but only makes children smarter.
We put our children on a full schedule, but gave up the important values in our hearts.
2000 Harvard University ’s "zero to three years" research association conducted a survey,87% of parents of children aged 3 to 5 believe that play is important for healthy growth! Parents even know which types of games are most beneficial to their children.
In the survey, they believe that certain activities-building blocks (6 months), playing a tea party (2 years old), using art tools to make art (4 years old), playing cards with dad (6 years old)-can motivate children to the maximum.
Activities such as playing on the computer (2 years old), drawing on the computer (4 years old), and memorizing literacy cards (4 years old) are considered to be detrimental to the optimal growth of children.
The survey shows that parents and researchers have the same views, which is particularly funny.
We know what to do, but we can’t do it. We worry that if we trust our instincts, children will miss the learning of some key skills.
However, free and guided play is the key to a fulfilling life- is not only for children, but also for parents.
This article is excerpted from "Game Nature: Why Children Who Love Playing Are Smarter"
solves problems without anxiety, Love your children more love yourself
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