Children Learn through Play? 9am Last Class

Everywhere you go, everything you read tells you that:

 Children learn through play.  

You won't find many that debate otherwise.  

You certainly won't hear me saying anything to the contrary.

BUT...

I want to modify this statement with one word...

Children learn through UNINTERRUPTED play!

This is what makes the concept of learning through play more difficult to conceptualize.

First of all, what constitutes an interruption?

Simple Answer:

Grown-Ups!

Complex Answer:

Not enough time

Most parents agree that Focus, Staying on Task, and Self-Discipline are the keys to success both in school and life in general.

However, without realizing it, we prevent those skills from developing when we impose our Agenda on our children.

And the biggest culprit in interrupting children's play is that dude...

Father Time.

We all think that we need to schedule our children's lives...

They will get bored if we don't have them in soccer...swim lessons...ballet...trips to the aquarium...TV...IPAD...playdate after playdate...

And if we don't offer these "Activities", then we will be in charge of entertaining our young ones.  

AAAAAHHHHH!  I will go crazy if I have to play Babies with my little one, one more time.

Now, it's summer time...School is out...what in the heck are we going to do for the next 2.5 months?

What if we gave our children the Gift of Time?

Prepare yourselves...

They WILL get bored.

They WILL whine!

They WILL drive you INSANE!

BUT...

But then...(If you stay strong, consistent, and Unyielding)...

They Will PLAY!

They WILL play all Day!

Without the TV on... Without the yelling and bribing and coaxing..."We're Late!, Let's Go!  Get Your Shoes On!, Etc...Etc.."

If you work really hard to not entertain your kids, they will learn to entertain themselves.

And besides the wonderful gift you give to them to be Self-Initiators...and Self-Fulfilled...

YOU will get to Play too!

You can have some uninterrupted time yourself.

And if you're very careful and you watch your little ones Playing...

***don't let them see you, because that does constitute an Interruption ;)

You will see what all these books and teachers mean when they say:

Children learn through Play.