Schoolification ? What is it and how is it infiltrating play?
Have you noticed childhoods seem to be getting shorter and shorter?
An increased pressure for children to get ahead, get prepared, get ready for the next stage of their lives.
After a year unlike no other there is talk that children need to ‘catch up‘ for the lost year of 2020!
Even our younger children, those that have recently been offered their school places. These next few months there is increasing pressure to count, write their name and be ready for starting school !
Helen Dodd, a professor of child psychology at the University of Reading, says:
“Schoolification of childhood is impacting on our youngest children through the increasing pressure to get very young children “school-ready”;
decreasing opportunities to play outside and a drive on ‘academic catchup.”
Read the full article attached below.
At The Curiosity Approach we look to encourage and empower children to play, learn and develop in the here and now.
To offer experiences that are age and stage appropriate.
To see how capable and competent they are TODAY, instead of constantly looking to get them ahead, achieving sooner, faster or quicker than their peers!
To see 2-year olds as capable competent 2-year olds, instead of expecting them to act like 3-year olds.
3-year olds to act and play like 3-year olds instead of expecting them to act as if they were 4, 5-year olds or even older.
Let’s remember in Scandinavian countries, children don’t go to school until they are 7!
Waldorf Education believes that formal reading should only begin at 7!
But sadly for us academics are creeping in every aspect of children’s play.
Let’s consider?
Have you noticed that even an innocent baby gym has ABC or number recognition on it?
It’s subtle, but ‘academics’ are infiltrating every aspect of children play even for our youngest infants!
It’s important we notice and become consciously aware to saviour and SAVE childhoods, to take our foot off the ‘schoolification’ accelerator of even our youngest children and let them PLAY and naturally unfold.
Let’s remember every child is unique and needs to progress through milestones of development. Play in these earliest years is the foundation building blocks for all future learning. To embed idea, thinking, to solve problems work things out!
To develop skills of self-regulation, empathy, respect. To form friendships and be able to resolve conflicts. To develop an intrinsic desire to learn. To become an active learner who is curious to discover, find out and over come challenges. A child who is physically ready for school, core strength, coordination and development of gross motor skills and pivotal joints. A child who is happy, excited and eager to find out, solve problems and is confident in their own abilities.
These skills and so many more are ‘school readiness’.
How early they write their name is not a pre-indicator of how well they succeed at school!
Saviour childhoods, SAVE play and prevent academics being pushed into Early Years (preschool life).
LET them be LITTLE
Read an article here from the Guardian and below ‘ I’m not ready to write my name ‘ Let’s take the pressure off our youngest children! Read the attached articles below this last photograph
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