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***This
article was written by the National Association for the
Education of Young Children, in their magazine "Young
Children" November 1984.***
I received it as a handout
in a child development class in college...and since I
think it's a terrific article, I thought I'd pass it
along...I have written to the NAEYC for official
permission, but so far have received no answer from
them.
Q. We have used
worksheets at our preschool for years. The children love
them and the parents like this evidence that their
children are learning. Now our new director says we
can't use dittoes anymore. She hasn't convinced us. Can
you?
A.
Workbooks,
worksheets, and coloring books have been used for
generations. These materials have a lot in common, so we
will look at some questions about children's learning
that may help you find your own answers about why other
activities are better for young children.
How do young children
learn?
Children are naturally
curious and playful. They learn when they:
- Explore and play
- Involve their senses
- Manipulate real
objects
- Work together with
adults and children
- Make meaningful
plans and decisions
- See the results of
their actions
- Build upon what they
already know
- Children learn best
when they deal with the real world-people, natural
materials, problems to solve, their own creations.
Workbooks, worksheets,
and coloring books, on the other hand, present an
adult's abstract ideas and expectations. They are
neither real nor active ways for children to learn about
the world around them. They leave no room for creative
thinking. To be honest, children don't learn much
through such passive and impersonal activities. What
they do learn may not be what we want them to learn, and
their creativity may be inhibited when they try to
duplicate an adult's art.
What should children
learn?
Promoters of worksheets,
workbooks, and coloring books claim that their products
help children improve their small muscle coordination
and identify symbols. Children will color in the space
between their own drawing or writing, a much more
meaningful way to develop better small muscle
coordination.
Constance Kamii,
well-known for her research on children's learning,
points out that "motor coordination and the learning of
conventional signs (letters and numbers) are surface
skills that have little to do with the intellectual
development that enables children to become able to read
and to do arithmetic."
Children who use
worksheets, workbooks, or coloring books "may learn to
follow directions, blindly obey authority, to turn off
their thinking, and to do only what they're told,"
according to Carol Seefeldt, a renowned early childhood
educator.
Most of us agree that we
want children to learn with enthusiasm, control
themselves, make good decisions, communicate with
others, and be able to predict what will happen if…?
Children who think for themselves enjoy new challenges.
These children have a strong foundation for becoming
productive and happy adults.
"Asking children to
complete worksheets may be a form of stealing" according
to Carol Seefeldt. "Every time children are asked to
fill in a worksheet they are being robbed of
opportunities to think and learn by doing; experience
individualization of instruction; learn to cooperate."
What activities are
better?
Whatever your budget and
no matter how limited your time, you can find an
abundance of items and activities for both free and
planned play that will be better learning investments
for children…unit blocks, large sheets of plain paper,
growing animals or plants, puzzles, sand, fingerplays,
water, picture books, trees to climb, games, songs,
healthy foods to cook and eat, woodworking, puppets,
dress-up clothes…
Children sitting quietly
with pencils or crayons in their hands and a worksheet
on the table before them are probably NOT learning
anything they don't already know. Worksheets, workbooks,
and coloring books are a waste of time, money and
energy-yours and the children's!! |
