Parents may believe that getting ready for school means braving
"back to school" sales, but for some children, simply playing
make-believe might be better preparation.
Dorothy Singer, Ed.D., a psychology research scientist at The Yale
Child Study Center (YCSC), studied children aged 3 to 5 to determine
whether imaginative play helps them learn basic skills. Working with her
husband, Jerome Singer, Ph.D., a psychology professor at YCSC, she found
that a lack of make-believe play among children from low-income families
may explain their limitations in skills like naming colors and shapes,
counting and following directions.
Part of the problem, the Singers found, is the lack of parental
involvement in those communities, since play is most effective when
parents, teachers and caregivers learn and play together. "We find that
children in poorer households do not play imaginatively unless a parent
has introduced them to such play," Singer said.
The Singers used their findings to create a video teaching parents
and caregivers how to play make-believe games designed to strengthen the
cognitive, social and motor skills necessary for classroom learning.
After testing the video in low-income communities for only two weeks, the
researchers found that many children had expanded their vocabulary -- a
skill that, according to Jerome Singer, "is the single best indicator for
school readiness." The children also showed improvements in counting and
other cognitive skills. Dorothy Singer observed, "When we work with the
parents, these children quickly learn these things...and learn them
through play."
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