I am in the joyful and exhausting throes of “Cousins’ Camp” (this year we have 18 first cousins, ages 4-13!) and don’t have time for a long post. But I felt compelled to let everyone know about an important window of opportunity to advocate for our youngest children. Currently NAEYC (National Association for the Education [...]
|
||||||
|
In our current world, play has gotten squeezed out of our lives and has become a four letter word. Helping to spread the word about the importance of play is a major part of Empowered by Play’s mission. I am thrilled to report that this week I received three wonderful emails with new resources [...]
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 [...] Today I write about two unique opportunities. Your voice can help make this country a better place for children and play. First, as I’ve written recently, the Common Core Standards are now available for public comment at www.corestandards.org (until April 2nd). The current draft for kindergarten includes: “Read with sufficient accuracy and [...] You know something is wrong when a kindergartner asks: “Mom, can I retire from school?” Kindergarten has traditionally been a wonderful world of discovery and playful learning. It has been a place where young children grow in their independence, form relationships outside the family circle, and learn about the world around them in a thoughtful and [...] Two big snow storms rocked our area last week. Our kids missed about a week of school. We lost power for our home, as did thousands of other families. It has been a great time to have children who are not addicted to electronic entertainment. Our sons easily entertained themselves by building with Legos, sledding, [...] “I am so happy!” my son declared recently as he got off the school bus. What made him so happy that day? In a word: recess. His class had gone outside to play. So much is working against recess these days – with one major factor being the high stakes testing that came with No Child [...] Considering the fact that the test-prep pressures of No Child Left Behind have already wreaked havoc on developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood classrooms, the impending common-core standards will do nothing but add further damage. These proposed standards come with the federal Race to the Top funding. States must agree to adopt these standards – [...] |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2010 Empowered by Play - All Rights Reserved |
||||||