From their website:

The HighScope educational approach is based on the belief that young children build or “construct” their knowledge of the world – they are “active learners”.  This means learning is not simply a process of adults giving information to children.  Rather, children discover things through direct experience with people, objects, events, and ideas.  They learn best from pursuing their own interests while being actively supported and challenged by adults.

And:

The space and materials in a HighScope setting are carefully arranged to promote active learning.  The center is divided into interest areas organized around specifics kinds of play; for example, block area, house area, small toy area, book area, sand-and-water area, and art area.

Sounds good, right?  Sounds great, actually.  I agree wholeheartedly with the foundations of the HighScope curriculum, which is why I was shocked and disappointed recently when I read in one of their new resources that “Computers are a ‘must’ in early childhood classrooms.” (Setting Up the Preschool Classroom by Nancy Vogel, p. 81)

WHAT?!?  Since when?  And says who?  Computers are a “must”?!?  Not according to over 70 professionals who recently signed a letter to NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children).  This letter was written by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood with help from the folks at the Alliance for Childhood.

From the letter:

In the world of medicine, implementation of any medical practice intervention is guided by the principle “Do no harm.”  We believe that maxim should guide the use of new technologies in classrooms, particularly since screen time may displace activities with proven benefits for young children such as direct hands-on exploration of the world, connecting with nature and with other human beings, and child-initiated play.  Given the vast amount of time that young children are spending with screens and out of child-care settings, and the growing concerns about the impact of screen media on children’s well-being and development, we urge the NAEYC to take a leadership position in efforts to reduce the amount of time children spend with screens and promote the kinds of hands-on creative play proven to be beneficial to their growth and development.

And:

Given that there exists a wealth of screen-free educational activities known to be beneficial to children, and limited data on the costs/benefits of screen media – particular, new media – for young children, we strongly recommend that the burden of proof should be on documenting the benefits of screen media, and on proving they are not harmful, before it is assumed that screens should be incorporated into early childhood environments.

Lisa Guernsey of The New America Foundation is more in favor of computers than those who signed the CCFC’s letter.  She has her own letter to NAEYC posted on her blog, Early Ed Watch.  But even though Guernsey is more supportive of computers in early childhood settings, she also cites her own warnings and recommendations, and doesn’t agree that computers are now a “must”.

So I ask: why such a strong (and in my opinion, dangerous) statement from HighScope?  Believe me, I am trying to find out.

And consider the e-mail I received recently, with the message line reading “Here is your Digital Kindergarten”.  The pitch letter started out like this:

Please enjoy this Digital Sample Digital Mini-Text for your students.  Complete Curriculum publishes dynamic K-12 digital textbooks and highly-interactive web-based instructional programs that make learning fun and “cool” for today’s whiz kids who eat, breathe, and sleep technology.  Our groundbreaking format takes students out of the dull world of traditional print textbooks and transports them into the exciting world of interactive textbooks and lesson plans where learning becomes fun.

Uggh!  So now we have a digital alternative to the “dull” world of print textbooks.  Hmm, here’s a radical idea: how about letting our students interact with the world around them?!  Play with real people and real open-ended materials?  Explore nature, art materials, building materials and actual books?!  Could the real world be an alternative to the “dull world” of print textbooks?  To paraphrase Free-Range Kids author Lenore Skenazy, when did the preschool/kindergarten we grew up with become so radical?

Carved in sand on a slight incline, they made an initial track and then tested and re-tested their creation, perfecting  it as they went. When the ball only made it halfway down the track, one of the boys suggested, “Push it harder this time.” When the ball jumped the track, one declared, “Don’t worry! I know how to fix it!” I listened and watched the boys as they played.  They didn’t need me; they had plenty of their own ideas. Eventually, though, they came running over to ask me to join in their hypothesizing. “Mom, the ball smashed through the sand wall. So what do you think will happen if we make a cement wall with sand, rocks and water?”

Hypothesizing, testing out ideas, making observations and re-testing – all in the name of good fun – keeps children engaged. I always know their minds are engaged when I hear children say, “Let’s see what happens if I do this…” It’s right up there with hearing them say, “I have an idea!”

When they weren’t busy making the track in the sand, or riding their boogie boards in the waves, they were busy collecting rocks. “These are not usual rocks,” they explained. The boys had names for the categories of rocks they found:  “Clear rocks; flat-bottom rocks; multi-rocks” and even some uniquely shaped rocks, such as “The Heart Rock” and “The Maine Rock.”  I heard one boy sigh to himself, “This is a lot of work,” as he added his latest findings to their lines of rocks in the sand. Then he turned to me and professed, “Aren’t these some supremely cool rocks?”

Eventually, we had to go, and they decided to count the rocks.  The total: 112 in all, plus two shells and one piece of beach glass. “Mom, can we bring our collection home?” they asked. “Yes,” I replied.  “I suppose so.” “And can we have some egg cartons so we can organize them?”  “Of course!”

Collecting, sorting, categorizing, and admiring objects – especially those from nature – is another way to capture the minds of young children. The best thing about these beach endeavors is that the boys themselves decided what they were going to do, and then did it. For hours they were engaged and entertained in a beautiful blur of work and play. Were they learning? Absolutely.  Were they laughing and living? You bet.  Sometimes I wish life was always just a day at the beach.

Check out related posts:

A day at the beach – playing with the wind and other wonderful problems and

“I have and idea!”

For one thing, you have have a flexible structure for them to work within. Setting the parameters, and giving choices within them, goes a long way in keeping everyone actively engaged. Second, you find materials and experiences that are open-ended and usually quite simple. Think natural materials such as water, sand and wooden blocks; and art materials such as  finger paints, paper, crayons, markers and clay. Nothing fancy or gimmicky here,  and definitely no batteries required.  Of course, what a 4 year-old and 13 year-old chose to do with blocks, sand, clay or finger paints will vary. Their methods, attention span and ability to coordinate their play with others will look very different, but isn’t that the beauty of open-ended materials? In these instances, the child is in charge of deciding the how and the what; the grown ups are there just to provide the materials, the time and the space.

“Quiet Time” in the afternoons gave us all a chance to relax, take a deep breath and entertain ourselves individually. Within the “Quiet Time” framework older campers read novels and wrote in their journals; younger campers read or looked at books and drew pictures; and our youngest campers took their afternoon nap. And singing was something we did daily together – with lots of songs that have become family favorites – including call and response songs which everyone (including the youngest non-readers) can enjoy. Our oldest camper even taught the rest of us a new song – now a favorite – which we will add to our growing songbook.

But there is one more crucial ingredient – interesting adults.  This year, we had a rotating list of aunts and uncle who came and shared their interests, time and talents with the kids. One of my brothers, a former art teacher, made paper with the campers. Another brother is a talented musician, and he joined us with his guitar for some of our singing sessions. My sister came one day and shared her talents in the kitchen to help our campers make lunch and snack for that day.  Launching rockets, starting a campfire, pitching a tent, telling a funny story, performing a skit…so many interesting grown ups spending time with the campers…sharing laughter and love and making memories.

So, how do you keep kids engaged? Open-ended and simple materials. Flexible structure. Quality time spent with interesting  and caring adults.  These make for a fantastic summer camp experience. And you know what…pretty great for school, too. I remember times in my second and third grade classroom at Mission Hill School – when things were feeling stressful and unproductive, and our insightful principal Deb Meier would say to me, “What about making the classroom feel more like summer camp?”  That question would help me tweak my routine, materials and attitude in a way that could get us back on track – and making it fun for all ages.

See a related post: KEVA planks – creating fun for everyone

This blog began in May 0f 2009, and since then, I have been on the computer more than I ever have before. It often strikes me as ironic, that in my efforts to encourage imaginative play, and to help families and children reduce screen-time, I have increased my own screen-time. Yuck. I am trying to do more connecting and sharing of ideas and information through Twitter and Facebook – and doing so has actually helped me cut down on my time online. I was worried about adding them to the Empowered by Play networking plan, in that they might increase my time spent in front of the screen, but thankfully the opposite has proven to be true.

Nature. That’s where you’ll find me, whenever possible. Right in my own yard, usually – where the bird feeders, breezes, flowers and general green-ness help me relax. This weekend in the backyard, I even spied two spirited fox kits playing and wrestling while their mom watched nearby. Very cool. It reminded me of Bill Crain’s piece about the need for play being innate. Clearly, for these young fox kits, it is. And for my kids, too. In fact, my son just came up and asked me to play – so I’ll be signing off.

Here’s to playing outside, finding snakes, swinging in the breeze and picking ripe strawberries!

“You can go back outside and ride bikes. Or we can play backgammon. Or you can do LEGOs.” The boys didn’t immediately jump at any of those options. They weren’t quite done sulking yet. Eventually, one went back to the LEGO car he’s been working on, and his brother took me up on the offer to play backgammon. Halfway through the game the brothers joined forces against me in the backgammon game.  We laughed and strategized. We tried our best to plan ahead; to anticipate each other’s moves; to make good decisions; and roll with the luck of the dice. They beat me fair and square. And by then it was time for the night time routine of bath, books and bed.

I am happy that I stuck to my guns about our school night rule, even though it initially made the boys sad. It would be easy to slide into the habit of watching DVDs every evening, but I know that small moments, such as beating mom at backgammon, and reading together, are too precious to give up.  These small moments are disappearing from our busy lives. It is sad, because the cumulative effect of these small moments are connected relationships and emotional security. Instead, we often have electronic gadgets entertaining our babies (check out this AT&T commercial) and plugged in, multi-tasking, tweens, teens (see the recent Kaiser Family Foundation report) and stressed-out grown ups (see just about any of us).

So, here’s to singing off-key on long family car trips – instead of using headphones and video screens; to talking together and sharing laughs over dinner – and leaving the TV off during the meal; and to beating mom real good at backgammon – especially on a school night.

I just talked with my sister-in-law. Her family had “D.E.A.R” time (Drop Everything and Read) during the power outage, and her youngest daughter made the leap to truly seeing herself as a reader. She used a book mark as well, for the first time last week. Two big snow storms with power outages have helped a few budding readers blossom, giving them a chance to raise their skill and their pleasure to the next level.  I am guessing there are others out there who also enjoyed this success, but we’ll never know for sure. For now, I’ll just delight in the image of hundreds of thousands of children going “unplugged” and discovering new ways to entertain themselves.

Well, yesterday I heard from a mom who lives in the mid-Atlantic region. They were hit with a big snow storm earlier this week. As she and her children were ready to enjoy their snow day, she received an email from her children’s school – a “Snow Day Learning Packet”!  Yikes!

As this mom writes: It is a “Snow Day Learning Packet” with a list of suggested online activities for the kids, with a list of 30 -THIRTY!!!- recommended websites for the students to visit. As I read the email, I wanted to jump up and block the computer screen to protect my kids from the school and yell back, “It’s a snow day! Leave my kids alone and let them play! Let them have a day or two of playing in the snow, sledding, making a snow fort, just finding out what it’s like to tromp around in the snow, having fun and making memories, without having to think about school.”

I agree wholeheartedly with this mom’s reaction to the school’s email – she wanted to protect her kids from the message sent.  For me the email is insulting, and implies that families can not come up with their own ideas for how to spend this unexpected free time. It is an encroachment on family life (even though it may be well-intentioned) and will make some parents second-guess the value of how they were planning on spending the day. Playing board games, baking muffins, tromping outside, reading a book, taking a nap – these are all worthwhile pursuits on a snow day! The fact that the school focused on websites, and getting the students to go online just adds to the insult of it all. Just say no to “Snow Day Learning Packets!” and say yes to child-directed and parent endorsed downtime.

Now, let me get back to my sons and our snugly snow day!