The Ultimate Block Party: Celebrating the importance of Play (From the General Secretary)
When the Ontario government unveiled the province’s full-day kindergarten program last year, it ushered in a new era in early learning. With teachers and early childhood educators working together in the classroom, Ontario’s youngest students benefit from the guidance of two professionals with comple mentary skill sets.
The government also mandated a play based curriculum, which further revolutionized learning for young children. ETFO has long been an advocate for play-based learning, so we welcomed the new approach. We have created a variety of resources and professional learning opportunities for our members to help them implement the new curriculum (To access these please visit the website etfo.ca).
We went one step further. As you are read ing this column we will have staged the largest celebration of learning through play ever held in Canada. The Ultimate Block Party celebrated the arts and sciences of play. Thousands of families and children flocked to Toronto’s Fort York to play at centers hosted by our 25 partners, an impressive group of non-profit organizations dedicated to demonstrating the importance of play to children’s healthy growth. (For a full list of our partners, please visit the website ultimateblockparty.ca.)
Research has shown us that play stimulates children’s brain development in important and unique ways. Play is not an adjunct to literacy and numeracy instruction; it develops literacy and numeracy skills in the most effective way. It also fosters many personal characteristics — the ability to solve problems, flexibility, self-confidence — that are crucial to success in our increasingly high tech world.
There are a host of factors that have reduced the opportunities for today’s children to engage in imaginative, self-directed play. The Ultimate Block Party highlighted the need to reverse this trend. More, it encouraged the recognition that play is not only an essential vehicle for learning for young children, it is important for effective learning in all elementary grades. The play of a student in grade 8 will not look the same as that of a child in kindergarten, but it is equally critical in engaging learners and in helping them develop the skills they need for a successful life.
We know there are many skeptics in our education system. Many of our schools are staffed with administrators committed to the idea that pencil and paper learning and con stant testing are the only ways to educational success. Our children’s full educational poten tial is being stifled as a result and too many of them will tune out and drop out.
Every new program has growing pains, and the full-day early learning program is no exception. But in implementing it with a play-based curriculum, the Ontario government set in motion a new approach to learning. It is to be commended.
And now, summer is here and there is no better time to take the time to play. Visit the website ultimateblockparty.ca and learn about creative ways to engage in play at home with your own children, and with your students when you return to the classroom next fall.