Boy, I've been gone a long time, haven't I? I know, I know. Sorry. My brain blanked out there for awhile. It's been such a year, the poor thing needed a vacation.

I ran across a great little article called Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills recently on the Unschooling List. It really struck a chord with me because I've long grumbled about parents who feel it's a good idea to over-schedule their kids' time. From toddlerhood on -- heck, babyhood in some cases, Junior's daily life pretty much requires its own Blackberry. Things start out simply enough, with a few play dates and play groups, maybe some 'enrichment' classes (I never got this; aren't all classes enriching?), but then good intentions go awry and suddenly its somehow necessary to outdo the Jones' with this blur of soccer practice, dance recitals, after-school programs, piano lessons, tennis lessons, fencing meets, karate competitions, summer camp, bible camp, scouts, Sunday School, planetarium visits, museum excursions, ad nauseum. Holy Time Crunch, Batman. When does the kid get time to just be a kid?

Turns out, hours of unstructured play is like chicken soup: it's natural, it's good for you and it just works. "It seems that in the rush to give children every advantage — to protect them, to stimulate them, to enrich them — our culture has unwittingly compromised one of the activities that helped children most. All that wasted time was not such a waste after all."

Oh, and while you're at it, here's a song, Where Do The Children Play? by Cat Stevens -- a blast from my high school past, no less -- to listen to while you read. Even more apropos today than when it was released. One smart dude, that guy.

Tea for the Tillerman
Cat's classic CD. Worth every penny.

Radio Free School Blog
Tantrum space for unschoolers by, for, and about
people who eschew factory learning.

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