How does playing all day promote learning?

1. How does playing all day promote learning? One of the most common questions parents ask about democratic free schools is, “What if they just play all day? How will they learn anything?” This is a very normal concern, and a question every parent of a democratically schooled child should know the answer to. I‟m going to use some real life examples of learning opportunities during play that I have observed and participated in at Makarios. I‟ll talk about “the three R‟s,” science, and interpersonal skills. Primarily, the state of Texas is concerned with “the three R‟s”: reading, writing, and arithmetic. A lot of parents of younger students wonder how their students will learn to read without direct instruction. Ask any unschooled or their parents, and they‟ll tell you not to worry. Children learn to read when they are ready to and when they see the need for it. The American idea that children should be able to read by first grade is just that- an idea. Peter Grey, Ph.D. in psychology, states, “As long as kids grow up in a literate society, surrounded by people who read, they will learn to read.” Some children learn very early, and some children learn later, but studies have shown that there is no benefit to learning to read earlier and that reading skills even out around the preteen years, regardless of when reading began. So, how do students at Makarios learn to read? In my observations, a lot of these kids learn by using the internet. Everyone uses the computers, even the five-year-olds with no reading skills what so ever, and they learn which buttons to press and what to do when the instructions for a new game show up. An age-mixed environment also helps, as older students help the younger students by spelling things for them and playing games that require literacy, among other things. “I know how to read some things, like „yes,‟ „no,‟ „tap,‟ and „play,‟” Evelyn, a five-year-old student at Makarios told me. “I can type games too, like „Mine craft‟ and „Animal Jam.‟” Evelyn was seriously underestimating her skills, however, because as she told me this she was playing Animal Jam and read me a couple things like “kangaroos,” “tap to watch,” and “transfer gems,” as well as “username” and “password.” Evelyn has learned a lot of reading skills and word recognition from playing video games at five, but other children, like five-year-old Zaden, just aren‟t interested yet. “Do you want to learn to read?” I asked Zaden. “No. My mom and dad tell me the stories,” he replied, and returned to his Lego activity. Frances, a seven-year- old, was also not actively trying to learn to read. Am I worried that Evelyn can read at five and Zaden and Frances aren‟t interested? Not at all. Zaden and Frances‟ interests have not brought them to the desire to read

2. yet, as they mostly enjoy hands-on activities like Legos, climbing trees, building circuits, watching animal videos, and playing imaginary games with friends. When they feel the need, they will start reading. Margaret, who is eleven, can‟t remember when or how she started reading. She just picked it up without even thinking about. Zane, who is thirteen, asked his mom to help him read. “I was like five-ish, and I wanted to learn to read, so I asked my mom to read to me and help me, and I started reading.” Chloe, a fifteen-year-old student at Makarios, says she learned to read some words at about five and full books by eight or nine. “[I learned] mostly from video games, mad libs, and my phone.” What about writing? While certainly related to reading, a lot more students at Makarios can write before they can than read. With a generation so deeply connected to the internet, shouts of “CAN YOU HELP ME WRITE THIS?” are frequent from younger students. More students type than write, which is actually a useful skill in today‟s society. I hand wrote plenty in my school years, but once I got into college and joined the workforce, any and all writing I do is on my laptop. Through age-mixing, younger students learn to type and spell words that they need for games or videos, and the older students who help them get to practice spelling and learn patience and nurturing. Other games involve writing, as well. I recall a couple of five- year-olds playing a game where they wrote out their new ninja names on a white board; then one would erase the other‟s ninja name, and they‟d have to think of a new name to write. Neither of these students could read, but they were having a great time writing and erasing their ninja names. Another game that involves a lot of writing is Dungeons and Dragons. At Makarios, about a third of our student population engages in this game which requires that students write down their character‟s name, abilities, and health/food points, as well as keeping track of items and people they encounter along the journey. Another game students often play is Mine craft, which requires that players type messages to each other to communicate in survival mode. Scrabble and Boggle are also great examples of engaging games in which players learn writing, spelling, and vocabulary skills without even realizing it. Apples to Apples are another popular game at Makarios in which players don‟t write, but they do learn grammar and contextual skills in order to win more cards. Lastly, while not a game, one of our younger students who can‟t read was very proud when she learned to write her name, a skill which she mastered in order to be able to sign up for field trips.

3. The last of “the three R‟s” is arithmetic. How can students who come to school and play all day possibly learn math skills, when students in traditional school who are required to learn it avoid it like the plague? The answer is simple: they aren‟t forced to learn math and learn it only for their own benefit, often without realizing that what they are doing is math. The most obvious example of this at Makarios is definitely Pokémon. There are only a handful of students who don‟t play or observe, and those who do have lightning fast subtraction and multiplication skills. Pokémon battles require that players use their cards each turn to attack their opponent‟s card with a certain amount of damage, which must then be subtracted from total health point until the Pokémon faints. Certain conditions or energy cards are required to be able to use these attacks and to multiply the damage done to a player. Another game in which math skills are used is mancala, where players move marbles around a board and deposit one in their “pocket” each time they pass it. Players must use math skills to determine, based on the number of marbles in a pocket, which pocket would be the best choice because it would lead to another pocket with the perfect number, and another, and another. Settlers of Catan use math skills by way of resource allocation. You must have a certain number of resources to build a settlement, road, city, and so on. Players must strategize which resources to use for building something based on how many of that resource they have, and they must strategize what the best use of that resource is if it is limited. If the number 7 is ever rolled, players must count their cards, divide that number by half, and get rid of half their resource cards. Math is also used in the game of Scrabble. Whenever a player makes a word, they add up the values that each letter is worth and multiply by any special “double word,” “triple word,” “double letter”or“triple letter” spaces. Then, they must add the total number of points to their overall score. Sports like football and basketball also require that players add and multiply points. In addition (see what I did there?) to the math involved in these games, our students also use math all the time in their imaginative play, when they split themselves into even teams, count the number of balloons they have in their water balloon fights, and buy things at the store and have to add up quarters and pennies to just the right amount. On top of the “three R‟s,” a lot of science is constantly being absorbed by students at Makarios. Our circuit boards are a huge source of joy and excitement with younger students who love creating working fans, lighting systems, and working speakers. Another favorite is capturing all kinds of creatures in our yard- from spiders to geckos to toads and fish- and then looking up their prey and habitats to transform our enclosures into proper short-term living spaces for them. Students who want a new class pet, like our nine- year-old student Nadeerah, can spend hours looking up different kinds of pets and what we would need to care for and create a habitat for them. They bring this information to school meeting where we vote upon whether or not to spend our cash allowance each month on it. Other students, like Zaden whom I mentioned earlier, simply enjoy playing as if they were snakes and alligators and will suddenly say, “I want to learn about alligators.” Then I‟ll read him a few alligator books; watch some alligator videos, and anything else that will fulfill his alligator interest until he‟s done with it. Students also learn science through shared knowledge,

4. playing around and conversing with “I‟m a Brazilian wandering spider, the world‟s deadliest spider!” Then other students chime in with what deadly animals they know about and continue their play without realizing that they‟ve come upon new scientific knowledge. The “three R‟s” and science aren‟t the only important things students in a democratic free school learn, however. Our students learn a lot of important interpersonal skills through being a member of our school as well. Students learn that all skills are valuable, from math to the arts to public speaking and sword fighting. People know who to ask when they need a certain skill, and seeing them come together and work as a team using their different talents is amazing. Teamwork is another invaluable lesson that democratic free school students learn without any “teaching.” At our school, this skill comes naturally. Another important interpersonal skill that democratic free school students learn is respect. Because students here make the rules, they understand the reasons for them and in turn; they feel more respect for them than adult-dictated rules. In their play, students will constantly remind each other- “We can‟t sword fight here, let‟s go to the other room,” “This is the quiet side of the building,” “No chasing in the eatery!” Students also learn mutual respect to adults and don‟t fear looking adults in the eye or speaking their mind, because they know that here, their voice is heard and their opinions are important. They have no qualms in challenging a mentor to a sword fight or telling them they aren‟t interested in something. Responsibility is another lesson students learn in their play here, as they are responsible for returning and toys, games, or other materials that they use and they know that everybody‟s chores will be easier if they clean up after themselves. I could go on and on about the invaluable interpersonal skills democratically schooled children learn, but my final point will be compromise. Students learn quickly through play that they can‟t get everything their way, or else everyone else will quit playing their game. They learn how to compromise the things they want with the things their friends want and come to an agreement in order to maximize their play group and the amount of fun they can have. Without adequate time to play and come to these agreements, it is very hard to learn this skill as a child. Democratic free school students are lucky to have these opportunities and to grow up with the skills they need to interact with people in the real world. They get to love learning; they get to learn what they are interested in with as much breadth and depth as they desire, and they get to learn what is relevant to their actual lives in the real world. Many, Joyce. "The Effects of Stance and Age Level on Children's Literary Responses."Journal of Literacy Research 23.1 (1991): 61-85. Web. Original source: Makarios Community School