"Childhood doesn't end the day you turn five, Ruth Lue-Quee said to me on the phone as she shepherded her son to the playground this half term. Playing is what children are born to do. It's innate in them. It is how they learn. The former deputy headteacher's petition to make play-based pedagogy a core part of the key stage 1 (KS1) national curriculum in England has garnered almost the required 100,000 signatures for debate in parliament."
"Observe any nursery or reception class and you'll see what she means: kids roaming freely, modelling wet clay encrusted in glitter, playing pretend kitchen, banging on drums in the music cupboard. They're interacting in an organic, self-guided way, moving around, using their imagination and following their own initiative. This is how the vast majority of early years pupils spend their time learning."
"Like many others, I find myself wondering if we are setting them up to fail by pushing too much on them too soon, and by making them sit still when they want to move their bodies. This shift at age five makes England something of a global outlier. In Scandinavian countries, formal schooling is delayed until the age of six or seven."
Playing is innate and central to children's learning. A petition aims to make play-based pedagogy a core part of key stage 1 (KS1) in England and is close to 100,000 signatures. Nursery and reception classes feature free, imaginative, self-guided play with children moving, exploring, and collaborating. At age five, children commonly move into Year 1, where teaching becomes more formal and teacher-led with children sitting for lessons. Concerns arise that early emphasis on formal instruction may push academic demands too soon and restrict natural movement and learning. Several high-performing countries delay formal schooling or integrate play into early primary.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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