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Want to get you’re your kids into college? Let them play

By Erika Christakis and Nicholas Christakis

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/29/christakis.play.children.learning/index.html

“The beauty of a play-based curriculum is that very young children can routinely observe and learn from others’ emotions and experiences. Skills-based curricula, on the other hand, are sometimes derisively known as “drill and kill” programs because most teachers understand that young children can’t learn meaningfully in the social isolation required for such an approach.”

Benefits of Dance in Early Childhood

By Tiny Toes Dance Academy

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=81255948927

 

“One of the greatest benefits of dance is that it sparks a child’s imagination and nurtures individual creativity in a unique way. Dance classes share the joy of physical self-expression in a supportive and structured setting. This can have a positive impact on children who have limited physical abilities, who act out or who have a difficult time sitting still. Involving children in dance also teaches the basic elements of creative movement, such as time, space, rhythm and design.”

Academic Benefits to Play during Early Childhood Education

 

A 2007 study published in Science evaluated a play-based program, Tools of the Mind, against a non-play-based one. After two years in the play-oriented classrooms, children scored better on self-regulation, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. The self-control kids learn through interacting and playing with others has an academic payoff, too; it’s more strongly correlated with future academic success than either IQ or early reading and math skills.