Empowered by Play » David Elkind

The good, the bad and the Common Core Standards

Geralyn — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:49:41 +0000

I am back from Boston and the MassAEYC conference and have had time to think about some of the points David Elkind made in his keynote address. Dr. Elkind is the author of many respected books, such as The Hurried Child, Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk and most recently, The Power of Play. One idea that Elkind shared during his keynote was that good experiences are the best preparation for bad experiences, and bad experiences only prepare you for bad experiences. He gave the example of children who were directly affected by the events of 9/11. Researchers followed some of these children for several years, and found that the children who had no prior traumas were able to better cope with the events of 9/11. Children who had already experienced trauma in their lives were more adversely affected by the events. Their prior bad experiences did not make the bad experience of 9/11 easier to handle.

His words made me think about our current emphasis on standardized tests and the academic push into our early childhood classrooms. High-stakes tests; the weeks and months that go into preparing for them; and “kill and drill” scripted curricula have turned education into a “bad experience” for many of our elementary, middle and high school students. Pressures from the federal, state and local policy makers has trickled down to our youngest students. (See previous post Kinder Kindergartens, Please) And with Arne Duncans’s Race to the Top, it looks as though these pressures will continue.

What is the best way to prepare our youngest students for the inevitable bad experiences (high-stakes testing for example) they will encounter? Do we give them more bad experiences? Do we take away playful learning, child-centered curricula, developmentally appropriate expectations and engaging environments? Do we remove all that we know is good for young children’s learning and replace it with didactic instruction that kills curiosity and threatens to turn kids off to school? Or, do we make our children’s early experiences rich with discovery; full of language; and complete with secure relationships?

I had the chance to ask Dr. Elkind about this connection I was making between what he said, and the pressures of high-stakes testing. He replied that hadn’t thought about it quite that way – but agreed it was a valuable point. He stands with the many early childhood experts who have made a public statement about the new Common Core Standards, and the negative impact the current draft will have on early childhood classrooms. There are just two more days to comment on the current draft of the Common Core Standards, and the early childhood push-back is getting some attention. If you haven’t already, please visit the Alliance for Childhood website today and learn more about the standards and how to comment on them. I urge you to do what you can to help secure good experiences for our children in the early years – and help prepare them for what lies ahead – both good and bad.

Empowered by People

Geralyn — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:40:12 +0000

It is easy to feel small and powerless when corporations like Disney bully and try to silence watchdogs and advocates such as Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (see story in yesterday’s NY Times). The small staff at CCFC works tirelessly on a small annual budget of $250,000, protecting childhood from corporate encroachment, yet have been forced to leave their home. (Read CCFC’s press release here.) And at the same time, playful learning in early childhood is threatened by yet another blow – this time in the form of the Common Core Standards. How do we stay strong and keep fighting the good fight?

Here is where there Internet can be a powerful connecting tool. The Alliance for Childhood used it to gather the expertise of early childhood experts from around the country to issue a Joint Statement from Early Childhood Health and Educational Professionals on the Common Core Standards Initiative. CCFC is using the Internet to share their side of the Disney story, refusing to be silenced, and gaining support through a growing membership and financial donations. Facebook and Twitter help connect like-minded activists and agencies and help the grass-roots movements gain traction.

For me, one vital way to feel empowered is to surround myself with others who are fighting for children. This weekend, I will be connecting with folks at the City College of New York conference In Defense of Childhood – Play and Active Learning in Urban Schools. The conference is held “in honor of the 20th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and in memory of Professor Emeritus Lillian Weber, whose work honored the active nature of learning and furthered the cause of equity in education.”

Later this month, I’ll be joining a colleague from TRUCE (Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment) to share our new Infant – Toddler Play, Toys and Media Action Guide with early childhood professionals at the MassAEYC (Massachusetts Association of the Education of Young Children) Annual Spring Conference. I look forward to hearing the words and ideas of the keynote speaker, Dr. David Elkind, author of numerous books including The Hurried Child and The Power of Play.

In about a month I will join hundreds of others at CCFC’s 7th Consuming Kids Summit in Boston. The theme is Market Values, Human Values and the Lives of Children. From their website: “The values children learn in the marketplace – excessive consumption, impulsive buying, and unthinking brand loyalty – are antithetical to healthy development, independent thinking, spirituality, community, and democracy. What happens to childhood — and society — when market values trump human values? How can we make a difference? What role can parents, educators, public health professionals, faith communities, and policymakers play in stopping the proliferation of market values, and in nurturing positive values, in a commercialized world?”

Today, I work hard to stave off the feelings of doom and gloom. I am trying to rise above feelings that the job of protecting the best interests of the youngest members of our society is damn near impossible. The powerful wheels of corporate greed and the one-size-fits all educational movement are bearing down harder than ever. Today, I look forward to the personal connections I will form and deepen at these upcoming conferences. I trust these connections will help energize and empower me and others in the pursuit of protecting young children and preserving childhood. As my friend and colleague Diane Levin says, “Onward!”

The Wisdom of Play from Community Playthings: A gift to the early childhood world

Geralyn — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:30:00 +0000

Leave it to Community Playthings to convince me to break my rule against corporate sponsored teaching resources. Their new professional development guide The Wisdom of Play: Why Children at Play Are Their Own Best Teachers is outstanding. Their guide is free to anyone who asks. When school budgets are tight (as they are these days), it is tempting to use corporate sponsored materials. Usually these materials have one sole purpose: to further brand recognition and increase sales. With the publication and distribution of The Wisdom of Play, however, Community Playthings keeps the child – not the bottom line – at the center.

The ten short essays are written by a wide range of experts in the field, such as David Elkind, PhD, Stuart Brown, MD and early childhood teacher Sydney Gurewitz Clemens. There is information about current research from the Alliance for Childhood, and practical ideas for the classroom on nature, block building and open-ended play. The colorful photographs help convey the rich and inviting world of children at play. At a time when there are far too many companies making harmful inroads into our schools, Community Playthings does not market to children, and that, for me, makes all the difference. Their work supports good teaching practices and is a gift to the world of early childhood.

Contrast that to marketing plans such as Google’s Doodle4Google campaign in which elementary and secondary school children in Ireland were asked to design a new Google logo to be used on the website for St.Patrick’s Day. I learned about this tactic from the comprehensive report released by the Commercialism in Education Research Unit at Arizona State University – Click: The Twelfth Annual Report on Schoolhouse Trends:2008-2009. In the report, the authors explain that the Google lesson plan for young elementary students directed teachers to:

…write the word ‘Google’ on the board and show the pupils a print-out of the logo template. Explain that Google helps us find information when we are using the computer….Identify all the letters and colours in the Google logo.

Clearly, the aim of the lesson was to enmesh school children in the Google name. This is basically propaganda masquerading as educational curriculum. It happens all the time. If you are concerned about protecting students from devious marketing tactics like these, I urge you to read the Arizona State University’s report. It is one of the best resources around for combating exploitation – both blatant and hidden – of our children, and of schools in need.

Then take a look at Community Playthings’ The Wisdom of Play and see what genuine corporate responsibility looks like.

Erector sets and engineering

Geralyn — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:52:00 +0000

My last post about building with LEGOs reminded me of a revealing passage in The Power of Play by David Elkind, Ph.D. The following passage comes from the chapter “Toys Aren’t Us”.

The need for hands-on play is now recognized in higher education. In the school of architecture at Stanford University, students are required to play with erector sets as part of the curriculum. Too few students have had actual experience in building real things, which is essential before they begin designing them.

Whoa! Did you catch that? It is fascinating and saddening, yet not surprising, that universities have picked up on this major gap in modern students’ learning. So now, when young school children are being rushed into academics too early, pushed to perform well on irrelevant tests, and deprived opportunities to build and create, university students are being required to build with erector sets and learn what they should have been learning all along!

Elkind gives another example from the dean of the school of engineering at Iowa State University, who believes that people who grew up on farms make the best engineers due to their first-hand knowledge of machines and how they work.

Given that engineering is a career that isn’t going away any time soon, I wonder how these universities can help us shift schools away from irrelevant rote learning (which only prepares kids for tests) and more towards engaging and relevant hands-on play which helps kids become innovative builders and doers.

Raising Free-Range kids

Geralyn — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:23:00 +0000

On Monday, a reader left the following comment on the post Connecting with nature, connecting with each other: “I remember as a kid exploring woods by myself and with friends, and by ten I was riding my bike alone a mile or more from home. But I don’t feel comfortable letting my kids even go to the park across the street alone. They don’t spend nearly as much time outside as I used to. I don’t know how much of the concern for children’s safety is real and how much is my perception, but I wish I could give my kids the freedom I had. It means that my kids get a very different childhood experience than I did, and not for the better in that sense, and although I think about this issue a lot, I’m frankly not sure how to resolve it, except to try to get more time outside myself with them.”

The issues raised in the comments are good ones. Something that many parents are struggling with these days. David Elkin reports in his recent book The Power of Play that “on a typical day, a child is six times more likely to play a computer game than ride a bike.” (p.27) I’ve read a few parenting websites which emphasize that the dangers of children staying inside and connected to the internet are far greater than those dangers they face playing outside. Whether the threat is real or perceived, however, finding ways to give children freedom to explore and connect with the world safely is a excellent goal, and finding time to spend with your children outside is a great start. It was the topic of recent NY Times op-ed essay by Nicholas Kristof, How to Lick a Slug. In the article, Kristof talks about his family’s backpacking summer ritual and reminds us of the powerful book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. In many places, public parks (national, state, county and neighborhood) are taking on a renewed value in the eyes of families looking for inexpensive and accessible ways to spend time together outdoors. But that doesn’t answer the question of children exploring independently. For that, the best resource I know of is the book and blog Free-Range Kids by syndicated columnist Lenore Skenazy – a writer and mother who is raising her preteen kids in New York City. (The subtitle of her book is Giving kids the freedom we had without going nuts with worry.- sounds pretty good to me!)

Your kids’ childhood will be different than yours – in someways for good and someways for the not-so-good. Do what you can to find small ways to recreate the times you loved most. For example, I come from a large family (nine kids) and love the memories of playing together. Since I only have two kids of my own (and most of my siblings have just two kids) we had a “Cousins Camp” week in July. We brought most of the kids together to get just a taste of “Big Family” feel. Maybe there is a friend or relative you can trade living spaces with for a week or long weekend. Kids in the city benefit from spending time in more rural areas, and vice-versa. If it works well, make it a summer tradition or try it in a different season. Or, perhaps explore bike trails where your kids can at times ride ahead of you. Even small moments of independence and exploration can translate into good feelings for your children and for you.

Thank You, Community Playthings!

Geralyn — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Today I had the extraordinary privilege of spending a morning at Community Playthings. There, I met a fantastic group of people who are working hard on behalf of children everywhere. This is truly a company that understands what is good for children and has kept faithful to that ideal for decades. Their high quality maple furniture and toys can be found in classrooms around the world.

Their own words say it best: “We take our cues from children: They’re genuine and straightforward. How can we make products to match? We use natural materials like solid maple. We steer clear of complicated and contrived, and aim for intuitive and teacher-friendly. Our goal is to design open-ended products that inspire imaginative play.”

I’ve known about the company for many, many years, having used their furniture and toys in my classroom. However, I am just beginning to understand how truly dedicated they are to promoting happy, healthy and child-centered development. Their website is full of helpful and engaging resources, many of them in the archives of their free e-newsletter, Community Collage. For example, there is the May 2009 article Learning Through Play by David Elkind, PhD, and the May 2007 issue of Community Collage is all about Play vs. Technology. Every issue also contains an abundance of excellent book suggestions and other resources. They offer free tools (booklets and CD-ROMs) for designing spaces and creating environments. Every time I look at the site, I find new treasures to behold!

And to all of the folks at Community Playthings: I extend a heartfelt thank you – as a teacher and as a parent – for all your fine work. I can say with confidence – on behalf of generations of playful, happy, imaginative and innovative people – you are a certainly a treasure!