Protecting playtime in preschool

Recently, The Daily Telegraph wrote an article about the Australian Government’s announcement that it will be rolling out a multi-million dollar digital learning program, ELLA (Early Learning Languages Australia) aimed at teaching preschoolers a second language via an app they can use on an iPad in their classrooms.  

The article makes the argument that parents need to be wary of the shift towards more screens and structured learning in preschool because the casualty of such a shift may be unstructured play, and that would be harmful to the children’s development. The author, who is also an educator, spoke to a leading Australian educator and early childhood advocate, Maggie Dent, who said:

The removal of play in kindergarten and preschool can be damaging to our children’s ability to function as social beings, which is still our key biological drive. They need more physical play, more constructive play, more movement, more caring human interactions.

This story serves as a reminder that as technology presents more and more compelling ways to educate and engage our kids, the importance of, and the time dedicated to, play and movement cannot be diminished. Read the original story and let us know what you think.