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Over at the Core Knowledge blog, early childhood expert Alice Wiggins takes on the false dichotomy between play and cognitive development in Kindergarten. Responding to a new report advocating intentional play, she writes:

I am a huge fan of play in the early childhood classroom (preschool through grade 3). The research is clear. Through play, children develop a host of important skills and knowledge including social skills (for negotiating and cooperating with peers), language (particularly in dramatic play, which studies show fosters children in using more complete and complex language), literacy (as they interact with literacy materials in the play environment), as well as math and science (as they interact with manipulatives including blocks, puzzles, and toy vehicles).

For those of you who didn’t let out a supportive cheer at news of this report, I’d like to clarify two things that I spend a great deal of time communicating to teachers during professional development. “Free play” doesn’t mean “free for all” and “child-initiated” doesn’t mean “teacher-free.”

Free play is distinguished from “structured” play by its opportunity to engage the imagination and its lack of rules (as in game rules, not behavior and classroom management rules). To reap the greatest benefits from free play, teachers need to be intentional about the activities and materials available during this portion of the day.

Her full posting is available here.

The report to which she alludes, "Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School," finds that "didactic instruction and testing are pushing play out of kindergarten. Kindergartners are now under intense pressure to meet inappropriate expectations, including academic standards that until recently were reserved for first or second grade."