Maybe It is the Parents !!

[nonseq]

The role of play on executive functioning:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514


In short, children who do not engage in imaginative play do not develop the ability to control themselves. Parents and schools are to blame for this, as none feel that play is important.


Article really reinforces the parenting that I have read about in all those ethnographies.

 

[pbjmaker]

Have you ever heard of Tools of the Mind or Play Plans?

It is something that the Head Start programs around here have implemented. The children are taught to think about what/where they want to play then they create the materials that are needed to role play in that center.

One class the other day decided they needed a vaccuum (sp) cleaner and created their own out of boxes and a slinky, etc.

For the most part they are not supplied with anything "pre-made".

 

[welsummerchicks]

It seems every few years, there is a bubble of some new thing that's going to damage our children's thinking. The fear is predicated on the idea that the environment the child grows up in has to be exactly a certain way, and social or technological changes are taking that 'certain way' away.

I think brain development is probably more flexible and adaptable than that.

There have been a lot of articles on this subject, either focusing on the loss of unsupervised play or the influence of video games and other very 'Thingy' passtimes.

I could give a lot of examples of very creative play I've seen recently in kids. I am not really sure that creative play really has gone away or is going away.

And what is executive function?

Two definitions. One, in psychology, executive function is a general theory revolving around 'how people decide what to do'. It isn't necessarily 'deciding to be good', it's just people deciding. Under stress, in new situations, in the face of a habit, etc.

If you ask a person that's more into neurology/brain research, it's probably a lot more about some very specific things the prefrontal cortex (front of the brain) does, the part of the brain that coordinates a lot of things. The functions are higher level than blinking at a ball about to slam into your face, but not usually as general and as theoretical as the psychological meaning of 'executive function'. They are things a researcher might try to measure or test, that might change as the result of neurological or mental disease or brain injury.

Executive function can be completely normal, and a kid can still misbehave. The article kind of makes it sound like 'executive function' is synonymous with 'good behavior' and 'good decisions'. I don't think it is.

 

[PineappleMama]

IMO.... Control = Choice (more specifically making the correct choice)

This thing is about .... Play (specifically Free, not structured) = Learn to make the RIGHT choices.

Seems to me that while Free, non-structured, play might teach a child to choose between legos and lincoln logs without any adult prodding it wouldn't necessarily teach them to choose between right and wrong in a completely different set of circumstances.

It might help them learn to make choices, so they don't just stand there frozen and indecisive.. but I don't see how it would effect good/bad... since legos and lincoln logs are both good IMO, and both bad in other's opinion... if that makes any sense??

 

[Tala]

My sister and I spent a lot of time in creative, immaginative play. We never understood why our (all public school btw, we were homeschooled) neighbors didn't enjoy spending hours playing like we did. It just wasn't fun to them, I guess coz they didn't know how.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

Quote:
Me too, but we were in public school. We were just too stinkin dirt poor for toys

We had more fun playing at home than we ever did in school.

 

[suzettex5]

I wonder how much of the lack of imaginative powers have been due to pretty much all the toys marketed today do all the playing for the kids. Seems like all the toys these days have to DO something. All the dolls are expected to sing or dance or go potty or eat, all the cars and trucks seem to run on batteries, and all the video games, well, you know how those can be. Kids hardly have to imagine anything anymore, the advertisers tell them how its supposed to go.

I remember the days when Barbie did nothing but what we told her to, when My Little Pony was totally silent and stationary, and Lincoln Logs and Legos were made into homes and cabins FOR our other toys. Hotwheels were propelled only by our hands, unless we had the ones you could pull back and let go.

Between that and TV, I'm not suprised kids arent using their imagination like they used to. Around here, I dont buy alot of new fangled toys, mostly the basics, like kid sized shovels and buckets, big legos, sandboxes, swingsets, bikes, scooters, (stuff that encourages physical action) and let them go outside to play.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
Me too, but we were in public school. We were just too stinkin dirt poor for toys

We had more fun playing at home than we ever did in school.

Said neighbors also had video games and cable TV, which probably contributed as well.
We had a rabbit ear tv that you had to get up to change the channels

We watched Mr Rogers and some early morning shows like that, and had some school-related videos, but TV was not our main etertainment.

 

[PineappleMama]

Quote:
Oh, I've seen that too... but ALL PS kids involved. One time I swear the kid looked GUILTY when I walked around the corner and "caught" him pretending... what's THAT about? I donno, maybe the parents are training him to be an accountant? Creativity is NOT a good thing in that particular field?

 

[welsummerchicks]

'Creative accounting' means jail.

Well. Jail and a book deal.