Research and Advocacy: What's New

 

Crisis in the Kindergarten:

A New Report on the Disappearance of Play

New research shows that many kindergartens spend 2 to 3 hours per day instructing and testing children in literacy and math—with only 30 minutes per day or less for play. In some kindergartens there is no playtime at all. The same didactic, test-driven approach is entering preschools. But these methods, which are not well grounded in research, are not yielding long-term gains. Meanwhile, behavioral problems and preschool expulsion, especially for boys, are soaring. Read and comment on the Alliance’s new report, Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School.

A flier and 8-page summary of the report, including recommendations for action, are also available.

Fact sheet on kindergarten testing, with advice especially for parents.

A webinar hosted by KaBoom! and featuring the authors of the report was recorded on June 2, 2009.  To listen you need to register with your name and email.

To submit a comment on Crisis in the Kindergarten, click here.  Please include your name, city and state, and occupation. 

Press releases about the report are posted in our Newsroom.

Alliance Co-hosts Congressional Briefing with The Forum for Education and Democracy.  See a video of the briefing here.

 

 

Play and Playwork

In April and May 2009 the Alliance hosted London playworker Penny Wilson in a series of conferences on inclusive play and play in nature in Ohio, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The Playwork Primer by Penny was distributed at the events.

See our new fact sheet on playwork, play, and adventure playgrounds.

 

 Play in the News

Recent articles on the importance of play: 

Kindergarten Cram
Peggy Orenstein,  The New York Time Magazine
May 3, 2009

Developmentally Appropriate Practice
in the Age of Testing

David McKay Wilson, Harvard Education Letter
May/June 2009

10 Reasons Play Can Make You Healthy, Happy, and More Productive                                                                               
Play Author Stuart Brown: Why Playtime Matters to Kid's Health and Brains
Nancy Shute, US News and World Report
March 9, 2009

Click here for more...

 

"Where Do the Children Play?"

This new 55-minute PBS documentary is now available for public screenings by schools, universities, and community organizations. The film examines the social and technological trends that conspire to rob children of their birthright: time and opportunity for unstructured, spontaneous play, especially outdoors in nature. Beautiful companion volumes edited by Elizabeth Goodenough are also available.

  

See Also

"Play in the Early Years": a guide for parents and educators

 Fact Sheet on Healthy Play

 

A Decade of Advocacy—For the Sake of Children

The Alliance was founded in 1999 so that educators, health professionals, and other advocates for children could join forces to reverse the decline in children's health and well-being.  Its public education and advocacy campaigns focus on restoring play to children's lives, the overuse of computers and other advanced technologies in childhood, the commercialization of childhood, and the impact of high-stakes testing on children and their schools. The Alliance has published reports and position statements. It is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization based in College Park, Maryland, with partners and affiliates all over the U.S. and in Europe and South America.