Play is LIFE

"They're not learning anything, they're just playing around!" Have you ever heard this phrase before? Maybe a skeptical parent or curmudgeonly old timer muttering it under his breath? Maybe you even heard it as a voice in your own head! With so many "early learning tools" available to parents these days, the pressure to help your kids "keep up" academically at an early age can be enormous! And with all these options available, it's easy to think that there must be wisdom in the idea of teaching kids advanced skills at ever-earlier ages. With this, tragically, also comes a diminished sense of the importance of play. Since kids naturally want to play, it's easy to equate play with "goofing around" or to think that it serves no purpose other than occupying the time in-between flash card sessions.