The forgotten art of Play

I wonder sometimes how it is that children, given the freedom, have the ability to create a game out of almost anything? It is certainly a lost art to adults. When we approach a task, we set forth with completing it from beginning to end, maintaining a motivation that is based upon what the task will achieve. For the child, it is the task itself that creates a sort of treasure. Children are trying to create themselves; their task is to become. It gives them great enjoyment to do so. This is play. Granted, it makes some sense that adults would be sitting around talking about play as though it were the most serious activity; adults tend to be rather serious at times. For the child, play, is just fun, not development. And it is an amazing blessing that in the midst of that fun, somewhat unconsciously, they are problem solving, building executive function skills, and often challenging their physical coordination to better control their body. But this begs the question: can adults play?

You think this is a game?

There are a lot of things that I enjoy doing. I love taking walks in the woods. Granted, I live in New York city, so I mostly imagine that I'm in the woods when I am in the park. I like to write, as you probably already know. Though my relationship with writing is tumultuous. And lately, I've been practicing a lot of chess. I've lost over 60 games since the shelter-in-place has begun. Now with each of these activities, I experience momentary happiness. While performing the activities, I think about the benefits of the activity. Taking a walk will calm me down and keep me in shape. Writing this article will allow me the opportunity to exercise the various talents I've been given. Losing at chess will increase my humility...and perhaps I'll get better. Now is this play? Not in the same way as the child. But perhaps that's okay. I do believe that adults, like children, can become so engrossed in an activity, that the enjoyment is in the doing and completing for its own sake. The consciousness of adults may prevent that "flow" state from time to time, but it is certainly not impossible. In general, I play is certainly a discipline where old fogies like myself ought to sit at the feat of children and learn. For while it is not synonymous with enjoyment, play does not exist where one does not pursue the activity primarily for the sake of fun.

And when was the last time you had fun?

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A return

It's been a long while since I've used writing as an outlet for thinking about Montessori pedagogy. But I have been using my voice in other ways. When I was growing up, I was slow to speak and would more likely be found writing in a journal rather than talking to others. There are some tendencies (not in the Montessori sense) that stick with you, even into adulthood. But lately, even in shyness, I've been speaking more rather than writing; sometimes to my colleagues regarding the lessons I've learned about the classroom; sometimes to parents to remind them that they are doing the most difficult of jobs, and that I know they're child well. But what I'd forgotten is how the written word has a magic to it that cannot--or perhaps ought not--be forsaken. It is in the written word that the ideas of one person can be conveyed, at least in part, to a completely different person. And in that transfer, hearts can be shared as well as minds. It's how I learned about...

When a square is more than a square

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Something I want my students to know...

I've had the privilege of teaching young children for about ten years. From the first fearful step into the 3rd grade classroom of P.S. 154 as a City Year Corps member, to looking up at my ninth and tenth graders during my teacher fellow year at the Collegiate Institute of Math and Science, I've been humbled to be in the presence of these young people. And now, in a primary Montessori classroom, with children who will remember me as one of their first teachers--if not the first teacher they've ever had--the stakes feel higher, even as I have to bend lower to look at my students in their eyes. I sometimes wonder if the message I want to get across to each child comes through in the way I'm teaching. If not, here's what I'd want them to know: Everyday I think about how I can be a better guide to you, and everyday I feel more inadequate to do so. I want you to know that you have far greater ability than you think, particularly the ability to do good in the world....

Grace and Courtesy

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