Page 24 - Tracy Anderson Magazine - Fall 2021

The U.S. towers over the world in Nobel Prizes given for showed superior academic, motivational, and well-being working with the child’s psychosocial development process “UNSTRUCTURED
,
chemistry, economics, literature, medicine, physics, and outcomes for children who had attended child-initiated, to learn and grow rather than against it.
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peace, with 390. China has won eight. On the Global Com- play-based preschools, with a particular advantage for PLAY AS OPPOSED
,
petitiveness Index, the U.S. is ranked 2nd in the world, children from low-income households. Unstructured play, Known as the Waldorf Method, Steiner’s approach is based
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behind only Singapore. China is 28th. The U.S. ranks 1st as opposed to work, gives children the freedom to focus on on a combination of educational and esoteric philosophies TO WORK GIVES
on the Global Entrepreneur Index. China ranks 34th. 17 the means rather than the end, which is vital to developing he collectively called anthroposophy. In the Waldorf School,
On the latest Global Creativity Index, the U.S. ranks 2nd problem-solving skills, higher-order cognitive functions, the goal is to develop free but morally responsible individ- CHILDREN THE
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behind Australia. China is 62nd. The U.S. is 3rd on the and social-emotional skills. uals with a high degree of social competence and creative
Global Innovation Index behind Switzerland and Sweden, capability. In the early years, factual knowledge, homework, FREEDOM TO FOCUS
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while China is 14th. Clearly America was producing great There is extensive evidence regarding the relationship be- and tests are not introduced—instead, all learning is expe-
minds and creating great things long before aggressive tween the complexity and sophistication of pretend play and rienced through creative play, experimentation, and story- ON THE MEANS RATHER
early-childhood academics. emotional well-being and stress levels. Rough-and-tumble telling, with lots of outdoor excursions to connect to nature.
play—as well as artistic expression, pretense, role play, and Students are encouraged to experience things first and then THAN THE END.”
Creativity is crucial to the growth and progress of any so- games with rules—play a crucial part in language develop- explain them in their own words and drawings instead of
ciety. Without creativity and innovation, we wouldn’t have ment and the ability to self-regulate cognitive and emotional simply reading or being told about them by a teacher. This
any of the technological, medical, scientific, or artistic processes. Taken together, language and self-regulation are approach simultaneously engages the visual, auditory, and I can relate, because my children also attend a Waldorf
advances we enjoy today. According to the LEGO Foun- powerful predictors of academic achievement and well- kinesthetic ways in which children learn. school. But when schools were shut down in 2020 because
dation, which researches the importance of play in child being, while the loss of play is directly linked to increased of the pandemic, they struggled like all students who were
education and development, CEOs regularly report skills indicators of stress and mental health problems. The only books in these early years are the ones that stu- doing their best to navigate online learning. Not wanting
like collaboration, imagination, innovation, and explora- dents create for themselves based on what they’ve learned. them to fall behind, my wife and I joined with several lo-
tion (all fundamental aspects of creative play) are lacking Children who can process information more quickly, which Every lesson becomes a tangible, hands-on experience, as cal families and hired a Waldorf teacher to instruct nine
in the workforce today, not MBAs. 20 is associated with cognitive ability, engage in more symbolic children may learn about math, patterning, and problem- children in person at our farmstead, Mystic Village. There
play. “Private speech,” when children commentate as they solving by knitting socks or understanding fractions by the children could continue their education in an immer-
Play in Primary Development play, has been extensively studied and is associated with cutting up food. Sculpting, painting, weaving, pottery, and sive way by visiting the gardens and greenhouse, making
episodes of challenge and problem-solving. Many studies other sorts of physical activities are used to make every yogurt from our sheep’s milk, and feeding the animals.
Forcing young children into early academics is harmful, have shown that by the third to fourth grade, there is no lesson an engaging and dynamic experience to stimulate When not out on the grounds, their main classroom was
not just because of the emotional and physical stress they difference in ability between children who learned to read all areas of the child’s brain development. our guest suite above the garage. It turned out to be one
experience but because it goes directly against their social at 5 when compared to those that learned at 7. In fact, those of the best decisions we ever made.
and psychological development. The child brain develops who learned to read and were exposed to academics sooner Absolutely no computers are used in the classroom un-
at a very rapid pace, as it learns in a much more holistic had a poorer attitude toward school later. til the upper grades, as they are seen as interfering with Letting Life Lead
way through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic inputs from spontaneous creativity. Multiple studies show that flood-
every experience in its environment. When we confine A related study was performed in Germany in the 1970s, ing classrooms with computers doesn’t improve student How can we expect young children to love learning if we
the developing child to using his brain in only analytic or when the push was on to transform play-based kindergar- performance and has largely been a failure. don’t give them the chance to learn how to learn through
abstract ways, we compromise his growth in other areas, tens into early-learning centers. Researchers followed 50 their own natural creative play, which is how they make
particularly problem-solving, social cooperation, emo- kindergarten classes: Half were play-based and half were 15. Wikipedia; 16. World Economic Forum; 17. World Data Atlas; 18. World Intellectual Property Organization; 19. World Data Atlas; 20. CNN; After examining results from 70 countries, the Organiza- sense of the world? This doesn’t happen in academic pre-
tional regulation, and language development. academic. Following the children through the fourth tion for Economic Cooperation and Development stated school and kindergarten.
grade, it found that those from the play-based programs that technology in the classroom “provided no noticeable
As much as “experts” would like us to believe that early excelled over their early-academic peers on all 17 mea- improvement” for students, particularly in reading, math, The real educational crisis we face is our compulsion to
schooling for young children is what’s best for them, an sures, including being more advanced in reading and and science, and had raised “too many false hopes.” Even mold children into the products that we think society
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overwhelming amount of research going back to the 1920s math, and better adjusted socially and emotionally in the largest U.S. teacher’s union, the National Education needs rather than guiding them into the fullness of who
proves the very opposite is true. In a report titled “The Im- school. It was because of that study that Germany reversed Association (NEA), said, “Don’t believe the hype” when it they already are. Only a truly self-actualized human being
portance of Play,” Dr. David Whitehead of the University of its move toward early academics and made all kindergar- comes to computers in the classroom engaging students, can find their perfect path in life and fill the need in the
Cambridge compiled a large number of studies for the Toy tens play-based again. 22 increasing motivation, or helping them perform better. 24 world that only they were uniquely created to meet. We
Industries of Europe (TIE) showing why a later start to for- 23. BBC News; 24. neaToday; 25. The Huffington Post; 26. The New York Times can solve the real education crisis simply by getting our
mal education (age 6 or 7) and unstructured creative play Intuition & Alternatives 21. The Importance of Play; 22. Handbook of Research on Curriculum An article published in The Huffington Post titled “If we politics, money, technology, preconceived notions, and
for young children are fundamental to their cognitive de- don’t let our children play, who will be the next Steve ourselves out of the way and letting creative play, instinct,
velopment and emotional well-being, and the consequenc- Like Germany, hopefully the U.S. will eventually see the Jobs?” explains why free thinking and explorative outdoor and nature be the teachers for your young children, as
es that come with starting at age 5 and younger. counterintuitiveness of its action to rush children younger play are essential for success. It also reveals that Jobs, a they have been for millennia. That’s a lesson anyone can
than 6 into early academics and instead make play-based computer genius, never advocated that children be ex- learn. As Rudolf Steiner advised us, “Receive the children
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The research reveals that pretend play supports under- early education a priority again. Nearly 100 years ago, Rudolf posed to hours of technology use. In fact, a large number in reverence, educate them in love, and send them forth
standing symbols, particularly as they relate to literacy, Steiner, a German scholar of philosophy, anticipated this of administrators at tech companies like Google, Yahoo, in freedom.” That’s how we create a love of learning and
more than direct instruction. Several longitudinal studies, trend toward early academics and created a style of educa- Apple send their children to the mostly tech-free Waldorf lifelong learners. ■
including one from the British Department of Education, tion that would preserve the innocence of childhood while School in Silicon Valley. 26

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