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Sunday, September 6th, 2015

The decline of play in preschoolers — and the rise in sensory issues

Author:     Anglea Hanscom
Source:     The Washington Post
Publication Date:     September 1, 2015
 Link: The decline of play in preschoolers — and the rise in sensory issues
Stephan:   My wife Ronlyn spent nearly two decades as a Waldorf teacher, a pedagogy that stresses that it is the business of childhood to play and exercise imagination. Failure to do this results in what this story describes. The research is clear about why children need to play use their imaginations so the question is: Why isn't this overwhelming research put into practice in American public schools?
Credit: istock

Credit: istock

Here is a new post from pediatric occupational therapist Angela Hanscom, author of a number of popular posts on this blog, including “Why so many kids can’t sit still in school today,” as well as “The right — and surprisingly wrong — ways to get kids to sit still in class” and “How schools ruined recess.” Hanscom is the founder of TimberNook, a nature-based development program designed to foster creativity and independent play outdoors in New England.

I still recall the days of preschool for my oldest daughter. I remember wanting to desperately enrich her life in any way possible – to give her an edge before she even got to formal schooling. I put her in a preschool that was academic in nature – the focus on pre-reading, writing, and math skills. At home, I bought her special puzzles, set up organized play dates with children her […]

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1 Comment

  1. Steve Hovland on Sunday, September 6, 2015 at 7:31 am

    My wife helped found the San Francisco Waldorf School and is on her third cycle. I know how rich this education is, and what the kids are like after it. Public schools are factory schools to produce factory workers, except that we have very few factories anymore.