My two-year-old son is in an accredited daycare program. The center environment is loving and stimulating, but focuses on free play rather than academics. My son is quite advanced and I am beginning to be concerned about his continuing in the same place through pre-school. Do you think that I should be looking into an environment that would provide more academics and structure? Or is a loving, free-play environment adequate for children of this age
Yes, a free-play environment is just fine for a child of your son's age -- even a gifted one. Children learn much more than their letters and numbers in pre-school. They learn to get along with other children, to follow a school routine, to share, to wait their turn, to use words instead of hitting and, generally, to live in a community setting. These are the important lessons of pre-school. Early academic learning is not nearly so important as these issues are. You or the teachers can always get extra books for your son to read, if necessary. But no one can replace the social advantages of a classroom of your child's peers.
When it comes to learning "subjects," the best way for children is to learn through free play. There may be a child who can learn in lesson form, by sitting down and concentrating, at your son's age, but that is rarely the case. Most children learn by doing things. A free-play environment is perfect for that.
For instance, my students, who are three this year, have learned to count to 14 really well, even though a lot of them couldn't count past five when they started class three weeks ago. Why? Because they count with me as I count the number of children who are here each day. Soon, we'll go up to 20 by counting other things. Those who can go farther will work with me individually.
But, as I tap each child on the head when I count, my students are learning not just the order of the numbers. They are also learning that one number stands for one item. This principle, called one-to-one correspondence, is one that every child of three needs to master before he can go any further in math. And this is an easy way to master it -- while they are having fun counting with the teacher!
In a free-play environment, learning should be easy and anxiety-free. It's the best way for a child under six to learn, because it teaches children that school is fun. And when learning is fun, they want to keep coming back.
