I hope some of you had time to look up the Wildlings podcast ? If not, have a look this week - it is such a fantastic resource for all parents, giving sound advice on the real life situations that we have all found ourselves in at one time or another; for example, saying things we don't mean to our children in the heat of the moment. Wildlings share some real gold nuggets of advice that can save you a lot of heart ache. There is no such thing as a perfect parent and we are all still just practicing to be better versions of ourselves. Remember to forgive yourself and move on, the next opportunity you have you can handle the situation differently.
Peter Gray, an inspirational professor of play, neuroscientist, who wrote the book 'Free to Learn' was the first guest on the Wildlings podcast and last week I wrote an introductory blog on free play. This week I wanted to highlight the amazing things that Peter Gray found out through his research about children who play freely.... It's fascinating!
His research was prompted by the fact that his own son did not fit into the traditional school model and was rebelling 'school was not a good place for him and he wasn't going to go anymore'. This led him to discover Sudbury Valley School which is a school where children are allowed to explore their own interests and choose what they would like to learn about and at what pace. They have an enormous amount of freedom as long as they stay within the school rules, which is not a problem since they are not fighting against school so there are no rules to be broken. It doesn't look like you would expect a school to look like. Children are reading but they are reading what they want to read, not the next book in the scheme chosen for them. Ok so many of you reading this will be thinking well that sounds like a very lovely fairytale but what happens when these children grow up? What if they haven't chosen to learn to read or write? Will they get jobs or still be 'finding themselves' will they all choose creative jobs? Interestingly, not so.
Peter Gray did a systematic study of 100 graduates and found that there was no realm of activity that wasn't included in the professions that the children went into. These professions included: scientists, entrepreneurs, artists and social workers. Some children that went there had been labelled 'bright but bored' that it was somehow a special school for children with particular needs. This is not true; in fact, children that had been labelled with behaviour issues or given additional needs diagnoses didn't have these issues at Sudbury Valley when they were allowed to choose how they learnt. It makes sense when you think that all children are not the same, they are all unique, which is what makes them wonderful! They are all interested in exploring different things in different ways; on their own or in a group, reading, listening or doing. It therefore makes sense that when you try to teach one thing to a group of children there will be some that don't engage, which then leads to a change in their behaviour or over time their attitude towards learning.
Peter Gray found out that in fact the students from the school were in careers that were directly linked to the play that they engaged in as children. For at least half it was what they played with and enjoyed as children that had then extended into a career. The skills they had practiced over and over again in play. He also found that they had no problem finding a job because they knew what they wanted to do, they all had had the opportunity and time to work it out, they were self directed. I know that some of you will still be hanging on to the thought of children not choosing to learn to read. In fact, during early years (when traditional schools start to teach children to read) children don't want to learn to read because they can't see the purpose, instead they want to play because there are so many other things to learn that are meaningful to them, like using a spade to dig with friends and pretending to be workmen. However, as children grow up the study found that children realise that reading is meaningful and is required in order to further their learning of a particular interest. It is then that children can't put a book down and find learning to read much easier, maybe around 7 or 8 years old.
I find play absolutely fascinating and I have so much that I want to share with you that I am going to blog it in bite sized pieces. Let me know if you are learning something new or making any kind of new connections about your own children and free play. My motivation is to give you all information that will be of interest and help you practically as a parent so let me know by commenting below what your thoughts are. It would be great to hear from you. Next week I am going to let you into a secret about children that a lot of parents don't know about but for now will leave you with the fabulous Peter Gray in the 10 minute video below.
