Parents of littles! When my four children were young and I was homeschooling, there were many articles that piqued my interest. My best intentions to read them were often sidetracked by more pressing matters. With that in mind, I have summarized and identified some findings from the article Early Academic Training Produces Long-Term Harm by Petr Gray, Ph.D..
Several studies in this article support the idea that academic, rather than play- based preschools/kindergartens actually have an adverse effect on young children. Initially, there appears to be academic gains but by 4th grade the students often perform worse than peers who were in a play-based school. These studies did not include any social/emotional studies, only academics.
Interestly, the next study mentioned included a longitudinal study on a group of children in a high poverty demographic. Although this is not my demographic, many of the outcomes make sense to me as both a mom and educator. This study began the same way as the others, however, they did a follow-up with the children at the ages of 15 and 23. The students who participated in the play-based school performed similarly academically to the academic kindergarten, the difference was in social/emotional growth. I’ll end with a direct quote from Dr. Gray:
”Those in classrooms where they learned to plan their own activities, to play with others, and to negotiate differences may have developed lifelong patterns of personal responsibility and pro-social behavior that served them well throughout their childhood and early adulthood.”
Of course you will draw your own conclusions based on this type of research, but my encouragement to you is simple: Relax and enjoy your littles. Play, explore, and encourage their innate curiosity!
Ms. Gina
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