Article: Decline of play-Sensory issues

[Marmee]

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/09/01/the-decline-of-play-in-preschoolers-and-the-rise-in-sensory-issues/

Thought I'd share. My DD3 had sensory issues but they started in infancy. I know preschool behavior (& what is normal) comes up here so I thought I'd share.

[Deleted]

Interesting! It seems that more unstructured play is the answer for a lot of things for kids.

Is it wrong that I totally want to send this to my SIL who started her 2 year olds in Kumon tutoring to give them an edge and they never ever play with friends at home even now at 4 and 6?

[Deleted]

This is fascinating.

If children were given ample opportunities to play outdoors every day with peers, there would be no need for specialized exercises or meditation techniques for the youngest of our society. They would simply develop these skills through play.

I am 1000% convinced we made the right decision moving DS from our "academically focused" daycare to an at-home who takes them out and on field trips almost daily.

[turtlegirl]

Makes me very happy that both DS1's Transitional Kindergarten (at the public elementary school) and DS1's preschool Co side themselves very play based.

At the Transitional Kindergarten orientation they stressed how it was very play based and that many parents whose kids are too old for TK are jealous because regular Kindergarten is getting much more academically focused than in the past.

[osulori]

I remember discussing this (not the exact article but the idea behind it) in a CE class I took last fall on play based therapy, and I absolutely agree with what they're saying. I think we as a society have become so focused on academics and other structured activities that "we" don't realize how many necessary skills kids don't develop when they don't have enough opportunities for unstructured play.

[matildasun]

I think play is really important. I do think that we stress academics too early. I have been known to announce with frustration "Darn it, this is why they need to play more in kindergarten" when a group of eighth graders can't work as a team.

However, I also think though that things like sensory issues were just not diagnosed as frequently before even though children may have had them.
When my friend first read The Out of Sync Child she called me immediately and yelled, "I figured out your diagnosis!" It was an eye opening read for me. I fit much of the criteria for SPD and I struggled with school because of it.

[jinkies]

I like this article because it validates my natural instincts with my kids.

I had a lot of angst this summer about not sending my kids to the "best" camps in the area, instead sending my son to the very unstructured (and cheap!) township-run camp at a park. As I heard details about the "better" camps though, it just didn't seem like it would have been a great fit. Those camps had not a minute of free time; adults lead the kids through a series of scheduled activities all day, changing activities every 27 minutes. In the end, my son loved the township camp, even if (or maybe because?) he could choose to sit under a tree and talk to a new friend for two hours, or go paddleboating while everyone else was doing arts and crafts, and they played a lot of informal games like Capture the Flag. I honestly see real value in that.

But I do agree with matildasun that some of the uptick in diagnosis is that sensory issues just weren't diagnosed 20-30 years ago.

[auntie]

It seems a little simplistic.

I wonder if part of the difference in the number of sensory disordered and socially struggling children is, in part, related to the uptick in ASD and other behavioral health dxs in children vs 40 years ago.

It's interesting that she puts 7 out there as an age appropriate start for academics; do you suppose she supports red-shirting?

[WillabyWallabyWu]

I' would agree with this completely. Play is vitally important to children, and way too many early childhood experiences are academically driven lately. Even in my play-supporting school, we are told to push the academics more than play. It's sad.

[imojoebunny]

Sept 3, 2015 13:55:25 GMT -5 @republicrat said:

If children were given ample opportunities to play outdoors every day with peers, there would be no need for specialized exercises or meditation techniques for the youngest of our society. They would simply develop these skills through play.

I am not buying that this is the only thing that causes sensory issues to be on the rise and we could get rid of them by just letting kids play, it is certainly is a component, but I also think they are being diagnosed more often and earlier because behavior expectations have changed, perfect handwriting in first grade for example (You should see the crap DS's 1st grade teacher circles as being "wrong", letter formation we didn't master until 4th grade).  

I do think that free play is a necessity for kids in developing regulation of body, mind, and soul, but a lot of kids with sensory issues, especially more severe ones are going to be left out of the games other kids play in free play, so it is a chicken and egg thing to me.  

My DD has a sensory processing disorder, and she has had oodles more outdoor free play than most kids.  It is not a cure all.  

[auntie]

Sept 3, 2015 18:08:28 GMT -5 imojoebunny said:

Sept 3, 2015 13:55:25 GMT -5 @republicrat said:

If children were given ample opportunities to play outdoors every day with peers, there would be no need for specialized exercises or meditation techniques for the youngest of our society. They would simply develop these skills through play.

I am not buying that this is the only thing that causes sensory issues to be on the rise and we could get rid of them by just letting kids play, it is certainly is a component, but I also think they are being diagnosed more often and earlier because behavior expectations have changed, perfect handwriting in first grade for example (You should see the crap DS's 1st grade teacher circles as being "wrong", letter formation we didn't master until 4th grade).  

I do think that free play is a necessity for kids in developing regulation of body, mind, and soul, but a lot of kids with sensory issues, especially more severe ones are going to be left out of the games other kids play in free play, so it is a chicken and egg thing to me.  

My DD has a sensory processing disorder, and she has had oodles more outdoor free play than most kids.  It is not a cure all.  

So true.

I'm kind of side-eyeing play as a cure-all.

My kid attended a traditional play-based nursery school. I gave him an extra year of preschool and then found a private kindie with 2 recesses before lunch and free play after and he still had issues. I would attribute his out-of-seat behavior more to ADHD and ASD than "sensory". His team would agree. The author of this blog piece is an OT so she would likely disagree with me; but when you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.