Play In The Land of Academics

As an after-school educator, I have observed children at play for many years. The amount and emphasis of play have changed since I started teaching. Play and physical activity are an essential part of education. Play benefits the growing and active brain. In trying to figure out the history of play and education, a question came to mind. 

What made test scores and grades more important than the rest of life's activities?

The history of standardized testing started in 1838. Testing in some form has been a part of our education system for a long time. Testing shifted in form and function in 1965. Having children compete with other countries became crucial in a cold war world. Another change occurred in 2002 when our government adopted No Child Left Behind and paved the way for every state to engage in high-stakes testing. 

My work in after-school care started in 1994. At that time, the children in our program used most of their time for play. The children played organized sports outside. They climbed trees, played tag and chase games, Ping-Pong, swings, and Frisbee golf. The children experienced freedom to move inside or outside at will. Inside, children would play board games, paint, use clay, cook, bake, draw, and read. Homework and discussion about it were minimal. Parents and children viewed our time together as time off from school to develop another part of the self. Some children did homework but on their schedule. The parents created the expectations for completion, and very few children participated in extracurricular activities like dance or Taekwondo.

The first time I noticed a change in the expectations for homework was in 2002. I was working in a different program. Parents demanded that educators be responsible for the completion and accuracy of homework. The amount of homework the children encountered each day increased, especially for children starting in fourth grade. Older children shared anxiety about how much required work they had each day. The same children expressed regret for not having time for play. More children in our program left early. They attended extracurricular activities related to sports, academics, dance, and martial arts.

Through conversation, the educators were able to educate parents on the value of play. We shared the importance of children having some time away from school responsibilities. Our program invited children to use their skills and abilities to create. We wanted the children to have fun playing. Homework became a more voluntary process again. The parents determined the ground rules for completion and accuracy. Now a new distraction to children's play was gaining popularity, the computer. 

Fast-forward to 2011, and the program where I work with school-age children. The emphasis on homework has increased. Now children in Kindergarten have weekly homework assignments. The demand for homework completion has risen to an all-time high. It was two years of effort to educate parents about the need for balance. 

The amount of extracurricular and adult-directed activities has increased. Most children leave our program early to participate in educational, social, sports or enrichment programs. The result is a lack of unstructured play and time for children to experiment in the physical, creative, and social worlds. 

Again, the pendulum appears to be shifting direction. Many parents are calling for a return to playtime and changes in access to recess. More recess is an excellent first step toward a return to balance. Academia in the past included the whole person. Humans developed minds and bodies. The physical self was as important as the mental self. 

What were your homework, extracurricular and play experiences in school?