What is a play school
What is the concept of a play school? A play school is a place where around 10 to 20 children spend 2 hours each day under the supervision of a couple of teachers. "The supervisor-child ratio should ideally be around 1:10" says Dr. Sushi Mehrotra, an experienced child psychologist.
She believes that play schools have a lot to offer, and that the play schools should not be aimed at developing academic skills like reading and writing. She also says there should be no set goals or any stress on performance; the focus should be on the sensory-motor development and the social development of the child. She is very much an advocate of play schools, since they develop age-appropriate behavior at the right time.
How do play schools operate
How do play schools go about achieving this goal? Dr. Mehrotra spoke of a play school in Pune that even helped mothers toilet-train their children. She said, "Every child brought its potty to school and was trained by the supervisors to use it. At this stage, children learn best by observation. At home, this kind of learning is not at an optimum level. In a play school, the supervisors focus on teaching children the age-appropriate behaviors through observation and imitation."
Benefits of play school: Free Play
Gupta enrolled her 1 year and ten-month-old daughter in a play school for about six months. She described the school as an open room full of toys and with two supervisors. Initially, the mothers were allowed to sit inside, but we were advised that if we had a good maid, it would be good enough if she waited outside. The children are not forced to do anything. They can play with any of the toys as they wish. For instance, if they are playing with a train, the teachers will sing a song about a train with actions. "When asked if she felt that her daughter had benefited from the experience, she said, I think play school definitely helped my daughter. She became used to the idea of being away from home for a couple of hours a day. She became more talkative and started interacting much more. Initially, when I used to play nursery rhymes for her, she would ask me to switch it off. She preferred Hindi film music. Now, she enjoys listening to cassettes of nursery rhymes because they are familiar to her."
Benefits of play school: Reduces Separation Anxiety
Play schools prepare children for their entry into formal school. The first day of school can be quite traumatic for a child. Suddenly, he is thrust into a strange world from the warm cocoon that is home. At the age of three or four, when the child goes to school for the first time, a lot is expected of him. Bawling children, clinging to their parents on the first day of school, is a common sight. In Dr. Mehrotra's opinion, play school helps minimize separation anxiety. She feels that play schools prepare children to face the world, as they are more self-confident and independent, they have improved interpersonal skills and better vocabulary
Benefits of play school: Meeting other Parents
Children are not the only ones who benefit from play schools. They provide parents with an external support system in terms of enhancing the child's developmental skills. In addition, parents get an opportunity to interact with other parents and keep in touch with different approaches to parenting. Parents also have a chance to observe other children and thus have a point of reference for judging their own child's behavior. Parents can approach the trained supervisors for advice if they are facing any problems with their child at home. In other words, play schools widen parenting horizons
Are play schools a necessity?
Many parents feel that all these skills will develop in their children any way, maybe not as quickly as with play school experience, but then what's the hurry? Son Vania did not feel the need to put either of her daughters into a play school. She says, I think play schools are just money-making schemes that are convenient places for working mothers to keep their children for a few hours a day. I feel that children are under so much pressure today that there is no need to channelize even their free time. She feels that they should be allowed to enjoy their time the way that they like. In her opinion, if a mother is a housewife and spends enough time with her children, there is no need for a play school. What about separation anxiety? Mrs. Vania feels that this can easily be overcome if mothers were permitted to sit in the classrooms for the first few days of nursery school just to ease their children into the school routine
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