Lower School Students Learn to Play and Play to Learn

Due to recent educational reforms, elementary-aged students are in a more stressful and competitive school environment than ever before. Testing and instruction have increased, and play time and recess activities have decreased. As many schools focus strictly on academic performance, children lose the opportunity to play. Kew-Forest is an exception to this rule, encouraging children to play—and to learn through their playtime activities.
 
“Through play, children learn to engage with the world around them,” says Ms. Eva Brooks, ECD teacher. “Socially, cognitively, physically and emotionally they begin to gain a greater awareness of who they are. They attain autonomy and purpose. They get to do the ‘do over,’ to try again. Play is an essential foundation for healthy and purposeful development of children.”
 
Not only does play allow children to be creative with their games, but it also encourages them to develop their literacy, imagination, motor skills, social abilities, and emotional regulation. Through play, children learn about the world around them, as well as how to interact and engage with that world. Children can safely experiment with different scenarios, like parenting or playing family, or constructing their own environments with blocks or Legos. Children learn through repetition as they play, and change their behaviors or their creations so that they improve with each new attempt. By using socio-dramatic play, students are able to use the language they hear from adults, which helps them build the literacy skills they need to become successful readers.
 
Ms. Brooks says, “Children love to sing, to express themselves artistically and creatively. Through play, children learn how to be curious, engaged and inquisitive learners who seek our knowledge rather than waiting for it to be given to them.”
 
Kew-Forest’s early childhood program is structured to provide children with meaningful and relevant choice time experiences, says Ms. Brooks. “The schedule allows ample time for nature or neighborhood walks or a class project of collecting boxes to make an ice-cream shop. It allows for creativity and imagination and the space for children to be amongst in each in kindness, respect, and joy." 
 
One of the most important aspects of play is socio-emotional development. Of course, there are times when students will experience conflict. While teachers are there to provide support to become problem solvers and resolve the situation on their own, ultimately, students learn how to find peaceful solutions themselves. While learning about social navigation is an essential skill, it also contributes to a feeling of safety at school, which is essential for healthy learning.
 
“Teachers in the Lower School help young children through their play experiences learn how to articulate goals and wishes and to gain greater mastery of their social emotional cognitive and physical endeavors,” says Ms. Brooks. “Ultimately, unhappy children will not and cannot academically engage. Children who feel emotionally safe among each other and their teachers will demonstrate a willingness to ready absorb concepts and ideas that span the academic expectations of a Lower School curriculum.”
 
Kew-Forest recognizes that play is learning, but that children won’t learn everything they need to know through play. “Balance is important in a play and inquiry-based learning environment,” Ms. Brooks explains. “It is our responsibility as teachers to provide opportunities for independent and collaborative play as well as independent and collaborative small group instructional time.”
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The Kew-Forest School

119-17 Union Turnpike
Forest Hills, NY 11375
(718) 268-4667
The oldest independent school in the borough of Queens, The Kew-Forest School is an independent co-educational, college preparatory school for students in Preschool through Grade 12.