Today was a lot of fun. Your adopted grandparents were in town, and we had a good time, but nothing replaces small thrills. You couldn't get enough of the helium balloon they gave you at the restaurant, though you weren't so excited when I tied it to your shoe. I thought you could hit it over and over again, but you were more interested in throwing it, and letting it float up to the ceiling.
I love you very much.
Love Daddy
2.24.2008
2.21.2008
Old Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills
I just listened to one of the most interesting news stories I have ever heard. (no kidding) Old Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills
The gist is this: The more children use their imagination as children, the more they develop Self-regulation. This Self-regulation is very important latter in life.
Over the last 40 years, increasingly sophisticated toys have taken away the need for imagination, and parents concerned about safety have enrolled their kids in safer more structured activities, which automatically lessons the amount of time spent in imaginative activities.
The results are clear: "Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago," Bodrova explains. "So the results were very sad."
I know in my own childhood I engaged in a great deal of imaginative activities. My parents wouldn't buy me any toy guns. Not a bad idea, and though it was ineffective in preventing me from playing make-believe "war", this lack of plastic guns had another effect. I used sticks instead, and that increased my imagination, and thereby, my Self-regulation, at least in theory. : )
Here are some excerpts. You can read the entire story here.
Mickey Mouse Club debuted on television. As we all now know, the show quickly became a cultural icon, one of those phenomena that helped define an era.
During the second half of the 20th century, Chudacoff argues, play changed radically. Instead of spending their time in autonomous shifting make-believe, children were supplied with ever more specific toys for play and predetermined scripts. Essentially, instead of playing pirate with a tree branch they played Star Wars with a toy light saber. Chudacoff calls this the commercialization and co-optation of child's play — a trend which begins to shrink the size of children's imaginative space.
The gist is this: The more children use their imagination as children, the more they develop Self-regulation. This Self-regulation is very important latter in life.
Over the last 40 years, increasingly sophisticated toys have taken away the need for imagination, and parents concerned about safety have enrolled their kids in safer more structured activities, which automatically lessons the amount of time spent in imaginative activities.
The results are clear: "Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago," Bodrova explains. "So the results were very sad."
I know in my own childhood I engaged in a great deal of imaginative activities. My parents wouldn't buy me any toy guns. Not a bad idea, and though it was ineffective in preventing me from playing make-believe "war", this lack of plastic guns had another effect. I used sticks instead, and that increased my imagination, and thereby, my Self-regulation, at least in theory. : )
Here are some excerpts. You can read the entire story here.
Mickey Mouse Club debuted on television. As we all now know, the show quickly became a cultural icon, one of those phenomena that helped define an era.
What is less remembered but equally, if not more, important, is that another transformative cultural event happened that day: The Mattel toy company began advertising a gun called the "Thunder Burp."...
During the second half of the 20th century, Chudacoff argues, play changed radically. Instead of spending their time in autonomous shifting make-believe, children were supplied with ever more specific toys for play and predetermined scripts. Essentially, instead of playing pirate with a tree branch they played Star Wars with a toy light saber. Chudacoff calls this the commercialization and co-optation of child's play — a trend which begins to shrink the size of children's imaginative space.
We know that children's capacity for self-regulation has diminished. A recent study replicated a study of self-regulation first done in the late 1940s, in which psychological researchers asked kids ages 3, 5 and 7 to do a number of exercises. One of those exercises included standing perfectly still without moving. The 3-year-olds couldn't stand still at all, the 5-year-olds could do it for about three minutes, and the 7-year-olds could stand pretty much as long as the researchers asked. In 2001, researchers repeated this experiment. But, psychologist Elena Bodrova at the National Institute for Early Education Research says, the results were very different.
"Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago," Bodrova explains. "So the results were very sad."
Unfortunately, the more structured the play, the more children's private speech declines. Essentially, because children's play is so focused on lessons and leagues, and because kids' toys increasingly inhibit imaginative play, kids aren't getting a chance to practice policing themselves. When they have that opportunity, says Berk, the results are clear: Self-regulation improves.2.18.2008
Why This
I keep a blog here which chronicles my spiritual journey. This one will chronicle my time as a stay-at-home father and husband.
About two months ago I quit my full time job and began spending my days with my beautiful son, Nicholas. By night, weekend, and nap time; I'm a pastor, primarily working from home, coffee shop, and all points in between.
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