Children and Play

School hours are like a monster (however excellent that school may be), gobbling up the child’s treasure of time.  Careful now!  We only get to be a child once.  For some children, there are more calls on time:  gymnastics, music, swimming, extra spelling, French tutoring.  And what about the church?  However worthwhile each separate activity is, it is important to keep a check on how much of the child’s time is being "organized," and make a wise and balanced choice of priorities.  Children’s overall needs should be thoughtfully considered.

Children are being "fitted into" a streamlined schedule designed for the parents so they can cope with their pressures.

There should be space, and lots of free time.  Children need to be outdoors (for hours).  They need to make noise, mess, and to have access to raw materials.

Charlotte Mason so believed in this principle of giving children time to play that she organized the lessons so that the child could finish them about halfway through the day. …she knew that if attention was to be given fully, the child should have it contained in a length of time appropriate for them.

Taken from For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, pages 22-24

Copyright 2008 Treasuring the Moments