The Importance of Free Play

One of the reasons I like the idea of homeschooling so much is because children typically complete their lessons much faster and have more time for free play. Free play is an incredibly important aspect of development any many times overlooked in traditional school. The current statistics are that 40% of schools have now cut recess from their day. How is this best for children?

The social, physical, and cognitive benefits of free play have been proven time and again. In fact, Peter Gray, a psychologist at Boston College, suggests that play "helped early humans to overcome the innate tendencies toward aggression and dominance which would have made a cooperate society impossible." He goes on to say, "play and humor were not just means of adding fun to their lives. They were means of maintaining the band's existence - means of promoting actively the egalitarian attitude, intense sharing, and relative peacefulness for which hunter-gatherers are justly famous and upon which they depend for survival." 


Play also, "allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength," according to an AAP report. It allows children to explore the world, practice adult roles, and gain confidence. And it improves children's social skills as well, by helping them to learn how to work in groups, to share, to negotiate, to resolve conflicts, and to learn self-advocacy skills. 
According to Medical News Today, many parents are overloading their children with so many activities that childhood stress is at an all time high. While parents are trying to do good things and get their children involved, they can cause more harm than good. I'm not trying to compare myself to other parents or tell other parents what to do. I am also not telling parents that they should not have their child involved in activities. I am simply saying that I intend to give my kids plenty of time to free play in addition to everything else we do and there are many studies that have proven this to be a good idea. 
Bottom line: Homeschooling allows my kids to be kids. It allows them to have downtime, time to be themselves, time to play, laugh, and grow. Time to play outside, get dirty, chase butterflies, explore, and do all the things kids are supposed to do, while at the same time having a rigorous academic life. The balance between the two makes me one happy Momma. 

“The most effective education is to play amongst lovely things.” -Plato

Sources:
http://www.bc.edu/offices/pubaf/journalist/Gray_Play.html
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182.full
http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/discussion/school-starting-age-the-evidence
http://www.parents.com/fun/sports/exercise/the-importance-of-play/
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/53699.php
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/activitiesforkids/a/1006_free_play.htm
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/all-work-and-no-play-why-your-kids-are-more-anxious-depressed/246422/
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/


There are also about a bajillion more (okay, maybe a million). Just google the topic, you can spend hours reading research.