The results will probably not shock anyone…but take a look at this interesting study from the Alliance for Childhood that indicates that our kindergarteners spend more and more time being prepped for tests–and less and less time playing!

“The studies were conducted by researchers from U.C.L.A., Long Island University, and Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Their findings are documented in Crisis in the Kindergarten: Why Children Need to Play in School (at www.allianceforchildhood.org).”

The press release also quotes noted child psychologist David Elkind (author of The Hurried Child and The Power of Play):

He “calls the new research findings ‘heartbreaking.’ In a foreword, he writes, ‘We have had a politically and commercially driven effort to make kindergarten a one-size-smaller first grade. Why in the world are we trying to teach the elementary curriculum at the early childhood level?'”

My  mother has written on this topic for years–if we don’t give kids an opportunity to spin their own stories and fuel their own imaginations–we may be smothering the creativity of a new generation of artists, writers, inventors…