I just read this article from the New York Times and wanted to share the link with you.

Tools of the Mind was a required text when I taught Foundations of Education at SUNY Brockport. The article talks about the vital difference between free play and guided play in the development of self-regulation in young children. A truly playful environment allows children to practice or rehearse many valuable social skills, including the delay of self-gratification and regulation, which, “is a remarkably strong indicator of both short-term and long-term success, academic and otherwise. In some studies, self-regulation skills have been shown to predict academic achievement more reliably than I.Q. tests. The problem is that just as we’re coming to understand the importance of self-regulation skills, those skills appear to be in short supply among young American children.”

To read the entire article, go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/magazine/27tools-t.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Happy Reading,

Rebecca Wolf