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4-year-olds Learn More Through Teacher Interaction Than in Free Play, Study Shows
Filed under: Preschoolers, In The News, Research Reveals: Toddlers & Preschoolers
Your child spends his hours at preschool happily building giant towns with colorless wooden blocks or sitting quietly in a corner, mesmerized by the pages of the book he's flipping through. This is how kids learn, right?
Actually, maybe not. A new study shows that 4-year-olds make more significant gains in early language and math skills when being guided by a teacher.
Researchers looked at more than 2,700 children in public pre-K programs in 11 states, and broke down their learning time into four categories: free play, individual instruction, group instruction and scaffolded learning (where a more capable adult or child engages the learner).
Some of the children spent most of their time choosing from a variety of educational materials they could play with, and others spent more time learning through teacher-directed activities that focused more on fine motor and early literacy skills. Some programs consisted largely in small- and whole-group instruction while, in others, teachers worked across a range of individual and group settings, according to a report in the journal Child Development.
Researchers assessed the children's academic skills in the fall, and then again in the spring.
Those who spent most of their time in free choice play with limited instruction -- the model used in more than half of the children's classrooms -- made smaller gains in language and math than children in other types of programs. Kids in free play programs spent little time on academic activities, the report notes.
"If early childhood education is to level the playing field by stimulating children's academic development, more quality instructional time spent with teachers and less free play time without teacher guidance may prepare children better for starting kindergarten," says the study's lead author, Nina Chien, a postdoctoral fellow in pediatrics at the University of California at San Diego. Chien conducted the study while at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Related: Well-funded Preschool Programs Reduce Crime, Report Says
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
9-16-2010 @ 2:07PM
Ramblings Of A Stay At Home Mom said...Thank you for this!!! I once posted about basically the same thing and got blasted for it! Glad I came across this!
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9-16-2010 @ 2:14PM
Misty said...Children need to be children! I remember in kindergarten we had nap time and we learned our alphabet and how to tie our shoes and how to write our names. Now most schools have taken naptime out of kindergarten and if a child can't spell his/her name or know every letter of the alphabet then they are considered "behind". We are pressuring our children to grow up too fast and it is causing them to lose their focus! Yes, all children need to be taught, but that should be at home as well as at a childcare center. By talking to our children from the time they are born through the years, they get their vocabulary from what they hear at home. Most children have to be "retrained" when they go to school because there are a lot of selfish parents out there who are more concerned with their needs and wants instead of their children's needs and wants. It is a PRIVILEDGE to be a parent. It is the hardest yet most rewarding job a person will ever have.
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9-16-2010 @ 2:45PM
Ramblings Of A Stay At Home Mom said...BTW I had to blog about this! I can't leave a link but you can find my blog at http : // ramblingsofastayathomemom . com
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9-16-2010 @ 8:42PM
Sandyone said...Another study to prove something like this?
Of course children are going to learn tasks more quickly when they are shown them. If that's what you value, then that's the type of educational environment you should choose for your kids.
If you value a different learning style, find a school that encourages that.
Each model is going to produce different benefits. It's up to each parent to figure out what they want for their kids and then it's up to the educational system to implement what the town wants. Me? I'll choose to live in the district that allows children self-knowledge before filling their heads with facts.
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9-16-2010 @ 4:54PM
Janice said...I'm not impressed that the article focuses exclusively on academic success when academics is such a small part of necessary learning for preschoolers. As children grow, they need support in all areas of development. Further, the assumption that there is no teacher interaction during free play in a play-based program is absurd. That's when teachers teach the HARD STUFF! The curriculum for free play includes, but is by no means limited to:
If somebody is doing something you don't like to you, you have to tell him or her to stop it. If somebody is hurting you, you have to say it loud enough so the teacher hears it too.
Only knock over block buildings that you built yourself.
Don't sit and linger at the bottom of a slide; it's an excellent way to get clobbered.
No good ever came from throwing sand.
There's a big difference between sharing and taking turns. It's important to know which strategy to apply in a given circumstance to achieve maximum cooperation. For example, a tub of play-do is shared, but the play-do toys require taking turns AND the vocabulary necessary to make this strategy successful (please pass the ___, may I have the ____when you're done.)
If you have to pee, stop playing and go pee!
You only have two hands, so if you try to collect/hoarde more than two toys, you're going to spend more time defending your toys than playing with them.
When somebody yells "Watch out! It's a shark!" then you probably don't need to worry. Nevertheless, it's best to avoid stepping on the blue areas of carpeting.
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9-18-2010 @ 8:48AM
Joan Almon said...One problem with this study is that it creates an either/or dichotomy. Either the teacher instructs or he/she seems to keep hands off from the learning process. In our report, "Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why children need to play in school", we advocate for a middle ground that combines child-initiated play with content from teachers offered in a creative, experiential way. Perhaps, for example, the teacher wants children to understand the seasons, then each season she offers songs, verses, stories, food, and activities that bring the season alive in the mind but also in the feelings, the tummies, and all the way to the toes. That's learning that sticks with a child. Furthermore, it supports children's own play and discovery which in turn makes them more eager to learn.
In general, most studies of the type described here follow young children for a year or two and show significant gains from whatever curriculum intervention is used. The gains, however, fade out after a few years. A recent study of children in NZ and England compared those who learned to read at age 5 and those who learned at age 7. By age 11 there was no difference in their reading abilities. This is a typical result of long-term studies with some showing significant gains from play-based education.
There is another aspect regarding the intense early focus on academic achievement. Many teachers are reporting a higher rate of serious behavioral problems in preschools and kindergartens and link them to the pressures of getting young children to stop playing (their natural state of being) and having them sit for long periods of instruction. And then there is the dirty little secret of American education that no one wants to discuss or research: Burn out by third or fourth grade. We hear about it over and over from teachers, and there is almost certainly a connection between pressures in preschool and kindergarten and burn-out later.
All of these issues are addressed in "Crisis in the Kindergarten." It can be found on-line at www.allianceforchildhood.org
Young children need parents and educators to advocate for their right to learn in ways consistent with their own nature: hands-on, experiential, full of discovery and play. Children want to learn. They need support in doing it their way.
Joan Almon, director, Alliance for Childhood
9-18-2010 @ 9:55AM
Mary O'Connell said...Thank you, Joan, for your words of wisdom regarding this study! Of course we can spend our time with our four-year-olds drilling information into their brains and guiding them through learning activities to expand their knowledge base going into kindergarten. But at what price?
Thank you to the Alliance for Childhood for protecting play for our children. Play is not a waste of time.
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