We received the following question from a friend and former student who is now a kindergarten teacher:
“I am public school kindergarten teacher, who is trying to convince my principal to let there be play in the kindergartens in my school. Can you recommend books to give him to help convince him that this can do positive things for the children’s skill learning, especially in social studies and science areas?”
Below is what we suggested…what would you add??
Here are a few quick ideas we culled from our recommended reading/resources page at DEY http://deyproject.org/recommended-reading-and-resources/:
book: A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool: Applying the Scientific Evidence by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Laura E. Berk and Dorothy Singer, Oxford University Press – (this book includes many references to kindergarten as well as preschool)
paper: The Crisis in Early Education: A Research-Based Case of More Play and Less Pressure by Joan Almon and Ed Miller (Alliance for Childhood states: “This four-page article succinctly makes the case for play-based education.”)
article/blog: Education Reform is Malpractice by Steve Nelson, Huffington Post on July 22, 2015
article: The Decline of Play and the Rise of Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents by Peter Gray, American Journal of Play, volume 3, number 4. © 2011 by The Strong. (a .pdf)
article: The Serious Need for Play, by Melinda Wenner for Scientific American Mind, February/March 2009
video: The Role of Play in the Overly Academic Kindergarten by the Gesell Institute. This seven and a half minute YouTube video is well worth your time and is easily shared with others. “Play is being banished from kindergarten classrooms across the U.S. Learn how this is impacting the nation’s youth. Narrated by Marcy Guddemi, Executive Director of the Gesell Institute”
video: DEY’s video Lively Minds
What other resources would you use to advocate for play in your kindergarten? Let us know so we can add them to our list!