Support for LAist comes from
Become a sponsor
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Donate
Stay Connected

LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network.

Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen
Donate
Podcasts Take Two
Experts say important learning lost when letter drills push out playtime
solid orange rectangular banner
()
Take Two Logo
Oct 31, 2013
Listen • 4:26
Experts say important learning lost when letter drills push out playtime
Increased learning standards mean less play - even for the littlest kids. And some are worried about what children are losing in the process.
Students line up to sing a song before their parents arrive for a graduation ceremony in a class of mixed kindergarten and transitional students at Stanley Mosk Elementary School in Winnetka.
Students line up to sing a song before their parents arrive for a graduation ceremony in a class of mixed kindergarten and transitional students at Stanley Mosk Elementary School in Winnetka.
(
Grant Slater/KPCC
)

Increased learning standards mean less play - even for the littlest kids. And some are worried about what children are losing in the process.

You probably remember kindergarten as a time of finger painting, dress up, and story time. But when UCLA researchers asked today's kindergarten teachers how much play time they allow, almost 80-percent said fewer than 30 minutes a day.

Some even said there was no time at all. KPCC's Deepa Fernandes reports an emphasis on academics in kindergarten - and even preschool - is pushing out play.