A child’s play is not simply a reproduction of what he has experienced, but a creative reworking of the impressions he has acquired.
— Lev Vygotsky, 2004.
My six-year-old niece started kindergarten this year. She was thrilled! But then, within the first few days, something terrible happened. She was no longer the happy child who was enthusiastic about learning. She cried at the drop of a hat and refused to go back. When asked why, she told her parents, “It’s too much work. The day is too long. I’m too tired.” She also told them that she couldn't play anymore.
Sadly, this is happening all over the world. Accountability by means of high stakes testing has mandated that playful learning be replaced by volumes of disconnected fact-based learning. Today, memorization has replaced true learning, with success being measured by test scores.
