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Game On
Let your child play freely to learn
Forget flashcards, scrap structured activities - did you know that letting your little one play freely is crucial to his development? We make a case for encouraging your child to enjoy himself (without any adult involvement).
By Mary Lim and Julia Goh
Through unstructured play, your little one picks up a host of life skills and knowledge that will come in handy in school and later, at the workplace, including creative, communication, social and decision-making abilities.
“Free play should be done in a natural setting context, that is, not by ‘sending’ a child for numerous enrichment classes or simply to learn how to play in a restricted environment, such as a playgroup.”
“Children who develop a passion for learning are most likely to fare better in their studies because they are aware of what and how they are receiving and applying the knowledge.”
“Kids are explorers by nature, and parents should function as guides to help make their journey more effective and fruitful.” |
Peering from behind her pillows, 3½-year-old Joy asks mum Jasmine Choo, “Mummy, do you want to buy some candy from my candy shop?”
Jasmine laughs, nods her head and replies, “Okay, can I have one red candy and two green ones, please?”
Joy hands a red beanbag to her mother, adding happily, “Now you have to pay ? that will be $5.”
Jasmine, 32, an accounts executive, says that playing shopkeeper is one of
Joy’s favourite activities, “She sets up shop with her mattress or with her plastic table, and voila, starts selling everything, like dinosaurs, bread and colour pencils. It’s interesting that she has a vivid imagination, which I think will not only help her learn better but also allow her to enjoy learning when she goes to primary school.”
Early learning experts say that Joy’s role-playing is actually free play. Unlike guided play, free play refers to a play activity chosen voluntarily by the child and is free of adult-imposed rules and interference. This form of play is self-motivated, imaginative, non-goal directed, spontaneous and active. Examples include constructing a building with colourful blocks at home to having a soccer game at school with friends.
RESULTS DRIVEN
Play is so important to child development that in 1989, the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights established it as a right of every child.
Still, many parents forget or are unaware that free play is vital to a child’s learning process. Through unstructured play, your little one picks up a host of life skills and knowledge that will come in handy in school and later, at the workplace, including creative, communication, social and decision-making abilities. More significantly, it develops in him a love for learning.
Tammy Teo, Josiah Montessori’s centre supervisor, points out, “A love for learning benefits a child of preschool age because it improves his attitude towards education. In fact, learning should be an enjoyable process where activities are freely chosen by the child, so as to satisfy his innate need for and inculcate the joy of learning.”
She notes that parents in Singapore, no thanks to our fast-paced lifestyle, are especially attracted to educational methods and courses that promise quick results. As a result, they spare little thought for the learning process.
RACE TO BE THE BEST
Indeed, Dr Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, director of the Infant Language Laboratory, Department of Psychology, at Philadelphia’s Temple University in the US, attributes our academic fixation to various factors.
She says, “Parents these days are more aware of the need to get ahead. It is not necessarily part of the Singaporean or Asian culture, in fact, it’s a global phenomenon ? everyone’s racing to be the best.”
Dr Hirsch-Pasek wrote the international bestseller Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn ? And Why They Need To Play More And Memorize Less in 2003. She blames the global obsession with learning products on over-zealous marketing by businesses selling educational products and services, which bombard parents with messages to provide the best learning opportunities for their children.
“All this culminate in a culture of fear and the notion that academic success is the only option. It explains why many parents snap up learning tools such as flashcards, or sign their child up for a string of enrichment courses touted to enhance learning capabilities,” she observes.
LET'S PRETEND
You can introduce free play to your child at any age, says Dr Tzuo Pei Wen, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood & Special Needs Education at the National Institute of Education.
“Play interactions between parent and child can be established at any time. But free play should be done in a natural setting context, that is, not by ‘sending’ a child for numerous enrichment classes or simply to learn how to play in a restricted environment, such as a playgroup,” she adds.
If your child is a preschooler, ensure that her curriculum offers activities to develop thinking, besides academic instruction. While there are no hard and fast rules on the proportion between study and play, Dr Tzuo suggests giving your child at least an hour a day to enjoy a play activity of her choice.
Parents can encourage their children to play by blending symbolic, constructive and pretend play. In make-believe play, your little one will be responsible for developing the story and directing how it should be acted out. You can join in and boost her confidence by asking questions that help her explore possibilities.
“In the long run, the child’s ability to make sense of her imagination by understanding the cause-and-effect relationship through plot development, along with literacy and language skills, will boost her thinking capabilities,” Dr Tzuo notes.
ROOM TO GROW
Make sure to give your child room and time to play so that she’ll get the maximum benefits. Observe her, follow her lead and offer options whenever required. For example, you can imitate her actions, such as clapping, and talk to her about what’s happening. Or if the tower of blocks she is building tumbles down, ask her why she thinks it happened. When she stops the action, encourage her to proceed to the next activity. And when the activity is potentially dangerous, such as running and screaming in a department store, help re-direct her play by pointing out other options, such as by counting the number of robot toys on the shelf, Dr Tzuo suggests.
Don’t forget to include bonding activities in your child’s daily routine. This includes reading before bedtime, going for a walk after dinner, gardening, painting with sponges and toothbrushes, folding laundry together and dancing together when listening to music. Engaging with your kids on such an interactive level makes the activity more natural.
Remember that passive play - watching TV, as well as video and computer games, doesn’t count. And regardless of the play activity your child enjoys, never over-schedule or over-structure her learning process.
Teo explains, “Otherwise, learning becomes regimented and restricted, and the child does not have time or space to gain new knowledge and skills. In worst-case scenarios, her love for learning will slowly diminish and once it dies, can never be rekindled again.”
If you have any comments or practical suggestions, write to us at editor@family.sg
- Mother & Baby
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