Playing is a Serious Thing for Young Children

Childhood is a precious period which should be the right time to start learning new things. Children between 3-5 years old were mean to be in the golden age. They imitate things easily and have big curiosity through many objects they see. This would be such a waste if they don’t have more chance to explore and find their natural interest since in their very early age. Then, letting young children to spend most of their time playing instead of studying in formal school is better because of some reasons.

It is true that formal education provides facilities and activities for learning purposes. This is why some parents agree to send their young children to formal schools. They believe that letting their children stay in a place with new friends and teachers will bring good impact especially to be well-prepared on the next grade level of elementary school. However, they forget one crucial thing that should be had by every young child: more freedom. It is not wise to be too strict on their time and activities, especially when it is not based on their own will. Young children are supposed to have more free time and activities outside for playing, otherwise they would feel stressed and end up with boredom of learning. There are not few children who want to drop out of school because of this boredom. By letting them have more time playing in their early age, children will not feel lack of freedom and have high motivation to learn.

In formal schools, children will be treated equally where some students with various abilities must finish the same task properly. The monotone lessons provided by formal schools will surely hamper the children’s development. At the very early age, young children have already been able to find their own interest and develop it naturally. Unlike studying in formal school, spending most of the time in their early age playing will give children more experience to explore and find their “natural development”. This natural development will then lead them to mastery on certain subjects they develop.

Having these said, letting young children have more time playing and experiencing more activities out of the formal schools would be a good idea. Not only will they have more time exploring their own interest, but also more chance of experiencing the problem solving in the real world. Nevertheless, parents’ roles are also important here to guide them, not distract them. Thus, as good parents, people should be wise on giving their children’s educational activities by understanding their inner characters especially in their very early age.