More Free Play, Less Pressure, and Fewer Screens

Cosmologist Brian Swimme's latest book Journey of the Universe explains about young people, that “what often occupies their consciousness is play. They leap and twist; they explore the world with their eyes; they taste the world with their mouths; they enter into many kinds of relationships out of sheer curiosity. With their play, they are discovering the exuberance of being alive.” (p. 85) This observation resounded with me during parent-teacher conferences, when several parents said that their children experienced a positive change when their lives were less managed and they were allowed more free time to play.

Parents often express concern over such issues as their child's academic progress, time management, motivation, and social behavior. There is a fine line between adult guidance of a child and imposition of will upon him/her. Maria Montessori identified a teacher’s purpose: "to aid life, leaving it free, however, to unfold itself." Some parents ask what they should do at home to reinforce expectations at school, whether they should withhold extracurricular activities such as swimming or at-home play until their child performs the desired behavior. My consistent suggestion is to support the child wherever s/he is in his/her development and to avoid adding any pressure in the manner of rewards and punishments. It is relieving to hear so many parents validate how this approach of loving support benefits children's confidence, independence, and internal motivation. (PLAY Brown's TED talk on the subject below!)

In my daily interactions with students over the past decade, I have observed that children respond to respect, guidance, honesty, and flexibility. Montessori famously said, "The prize and punishments are incentives toward unnatural or forced effort, and therefore we certainly cannot speak of the natural development of the child in connection with them." Parents experiment with approaches, and some try to externally motivate their child with points, purchases, even food – soon discovering that their child no longer cares as much about what they are learning as with the carrot at the end of the parental stick. External motivation nearly always backfires, engendering resentment in the heart of the child, who understands very quickly that s/he isn’t trusted with his/her own education.

The crucial impact of play on the emotional, social, and cognitive development of children is described in the 2009 book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown. A medical doctor, psychiatrist, and clinical researcher, Brown discusses how experts “from every point of the scientific compass now know that play is a profound biological process… It shapes the brain and makes animals smarter and more adaptable… it fosters empathy and makes possible complex social groups. For us, play lies at the core of creativity and innovation.” (p. 4-5) Despite this fact, children in many families learn -- from example -- that play is valued less than work and that work life blurs into private time without consideration for our emotional and spiritual needs.

Brown explains, “At some point, as we get older… we are made to feel guilty for playing. We are told that it is unproductive, a waste of time… The play that remains is, like league sports, mostly very organized, rigid, and competitive… The beneficial effects of… true play can spread through our lives, actually making us more productive and happier in everything we do.” (p. 6-7) Brown identifies seven properties of play: 

• “apparently purposeless (done for its own sake),
• voluntary,
• inherent attraction,
• freedom from time, 
• diminished consciousness of self, 
• improvisational potential, 
• and continuation desire… 

We are fully in the moment, in the zone. We are experiencing what the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly calls ‘flow’.” (p. 17) It is this flow that parents hope their children will experience when they send them to Montessori school, yet this same priority must also be consistently maintained at home. (PLAY Csikszentmihaly's TED talk below!)

Brown cites renowned Washington State University play researcher Jaak Panksepp, who has found that “active play selectively stimulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor (which stimulates nerve growth) in the amygdala (where emotions get processed) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (where executive decisions are processed).” (p. 33) Just as author Richard Louv coined the phrase “nature deficit” in children lacking contract with the outdoors, Brown notes a “ play deficit much like the well-documented sleep deficit”. (p. 43) He warns that "the threat to play is even greater than it was a generation or more ago… Kids today are spending too much of their time on video games… and the parentally organized, high expectation trip to the soccer field at age six… Schools have evolved into assembly lines for high test scores, where skills are drilled… Something is lost – perhaps unfettered imagination and freedom.” (p. 79) Free play is nearly extinct, except in half-hour allotments of recess.

Brown asserts that “movement structures our knowledge of the world, space, time, and our relationship to others… Movement play lights up the brain and fosters learning, innovation, flexibility, adaptability, and resilience... which are required for the emergence of fluent human language.” Especially relevant to Montessori classrooms, Brown describes how “object play with the hands creates a brain that is better suited for understanding and solving problems of all sorts.” Imaginative play “remains the key to emotional resilience and creativity… developing empathy, understanding, and trust of others, as well as personal coping skills.” (p. 84-87) For many students, their school day begins at seven in the morning and ends at six in the evening with after-school care. Many have multiple evening and weekend "enrichment" activities, with very little free play time for themselves. As I have seen on many occasions that children seem afraid of nature and don't know how to enter it nor enjoy its wonder.

“We may think we are helping to prepare our kids for the future when we organize all their time, when we continually ferry them from one adult-organized, adult-regulated activity to another," Brown suggests. "In fact, we may be taking from them the time they need to discover for themselves their most vital talents and knowledge… access to an inner motivation for an activity that will later blossom into a motive force of life.” Not long ago, Brown reminds us, “self-organized play was all kids did” and warns that if children are deprived of free play, “they will find their own new ways of asserting their own community, socialization patterns, and individuality… creating their own private play zone where they … socialize freely.” (p. 105-108). Brown points to the advent of texting, juvenile cell phone use, and online communities as examples of the new locations of children's privacy, in the absence of a back wood. Children are often left to their own devices, literally: an iPad, Wii, or YouTube. 

Screen play concerns Brown because it can “isolate people from real-world, human interactions that are an essential part of psychological health… The storyline is set by the box, and the kids are now merely along for the ride, motionless and mute… In the real world, the kind of emotional arousal that these screens and games produce is discharged through physical activity” without which “kids can become antsy and unfocused”. Screen play neglects “a deep human need to interact with the material world: to feel the tug of gravity, to physically move through the dimensions of space and time, to feel the physical resistance of solid objects.” Applicable to Montessori classrooms, Brown notes that “the use of the hands to manipulate three-dimensional objects is an essential part of brain development.” (p. 183-185) From a century ago, Montessori echoes Brown: "Movement, or physical activity, is thus an essential factor in intellectual growth, which depends upon the impressions received from outside. Through movement we come in contact with external reality, and it is through these contacts that we eventually acquire abstract ideas."

Montessori's observation -- that “work normalizes the child” – is also Brown’s advice: “The quality that work and play have in common is creativity. In both we are building our world, creating new relationships… Play is called recreation because it makes us new again.” It is “nature’s greatest tool for creating new neural networks and for reconciling cognitive difficulties.” (p. 127-128) So many Montessori materials appear to children as learning games: the stamp game, the checkerboard, the test tubes. Montessori students view education as play, because materials are ordered, thoughtful, beautiful, tactile, and fun!

Still, parents worry that their child may somehow fall behind others. Many parents show interest in test scores and would like to know where their child places amongst his/her peers. Quantitative, competitive measures are incompatible with the Montessori philosophy that each child grows at his/her own rate, learns by using  concrete materials, and values emotional and spiritual development as much as intellectual or social behavior. The latter two are easily determined, while the former involve understanding of and compassion for a child's uniqueness. Montessori believed that "when dealing with children, there is greater need for observing than of probing." 

No child will be left behind when each child is respected. Brown reminds us that “people reach the highest levels of a discipline because they are driven by love, by fun, by play.” (p. 143) Chore charts and stars have no place in a respectful relationship between child and adult. Brown adds, “The acquisition of good grades or a big bonus, if not connected to the heart of life, is dispiriting, even if accolades accrue.” (p. 145) Seeking parental approval is on par with fear of parent disappointment. I am so proud to work at a school that provides open, proactive communication with parents, as well as vivid, qualitative narratives to describe a child better than any number or letter. 

Brown's advice to parents is succinct: more free play, less pressure, fewer screens. “Nature, with all its novelties and the play emotions stirred by its wonders, gets through to kids if the immersion can be tailored to fit their temperament and natural curiosity.” (p. 204) Parents are amazed to see their child's temperament, interests, self-esteem, and joy after an hour of free time in an open field. Children have the rest of their lives to live like adults; they only have one childhood. Let them go outside!

Mindfulness & Montessori

Recently, I watched a TED MED talk that sparked my interest, featuring Dr. Daniel Siegel and actress Goldie Hawn -- whose Hawn Foundation has studied the effects of mindfulness practices on students in the United States, the UK, and Canada. At first, I was struck by the intentionality and vast amount of science behind the Hawn Foundation’s research. Later, I realized that its MindUP program aligned closely with Maria Montessori’s philosophy as well as lessons in peace education and practical life in the Montessori lower elementary classroom. Recently, I read and would like to share highlights from Hawn’s book 10 Mindful Minutes: Giving Our Children – and Ourselves – the Social and Emotional Skills to Reduce Stress and Anxiety for Healthier, Happier Lives. (PLAY their TED MED video below!)

The MindUp program is based on scientific research into mindfulness practices that develop social and emotional intelligence. It accomplishes this through training attention, strengthening the mind, creating empathy and compassion, and engaging the senses to develop the 3 Rs beyond writing, reading, and ‘rithmetic: reflection, relationships, and resilience. Dr. Siegel refers to the term “mindsight” as “the process by which we can learn how to focus our attention on the internal world of the mind in a way that will literally change the wiring and architecture of the brain” (xiv). This kind of “heart-mind education” informs students about the parts and functions of the brain – such as the Wise Old Owl of the prefrontal cortex and the barking dog of the amygdala (p. 59) – as well as demonstrating effects on the brain of practices such as breathing breaks, generosity (what we call in my classroom “helping works”), use of the senses, and positive cognition and communication.

A University of British Columbia scientist found results of mindfulness that include better reading scores, reduced aggression, increased concentration and attention, a higher degree of listening skills, and improved management of stress (xxvi). Peers often rate students engaged in mindfulness practices as kind, trustworthy, and helpful. Scientists also note that higher levels of cortisol (a hormone released during distress) interfere with memory recall. Working memory is also impaired by “mental restlessness” and “relentless stimuli” (p. 21), visual input composing about 80% of what children take in through their senses in the modern world. 10 Mindful Minutes offers many amazing suggestions for teachers and parents to engage children with their senses through mindfulness “games”. Many activities suggested in the book mirror long-standing lessons in the Montessori 6-9 classroom, such as a mystery bag and Who Am I? games (for mindful listening or seeing), the use of scented oils (introduced at the 3-6 level) for mindful smelling, and classification of tastes and flavors very similar to those used in living/non-living biology lessons.

The practice of mindfulness is as central to the Montessori method as are the materials and lessons which materialize the abstract. Those new to Montessori often ask about its regard for the whole child – considering physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs as well as intellectual. Montessori respected the life of the child so much that she flipped conventional thinking around educational practices, classroom power dynamics, a prepared environment honoring beauty and order, appreciation for varied paces of learning, and the need to do for oneself and participate in community with others. The National Academy of Sciences reports that three minutes of mindfulness practice per day (p. 67) produces positive change in focus, observation, and relaxation as well as decreased stress, reactive emotions, and illness. The amount of time is less important than the frequency and repetition of such calming activities, which build new neural pathways (p. 37) and create new social and emotional habits. 

This fall, I introduced to my students during our movement class an exercise called Yin Yoga, which involves deepening certain stretches for three or more minutes. The benefits of such practice are physical, emotional, and spiritual: ligaments learn to stretch through endurance  and breathing, feelings come and go as the mind counts upwards to 180 (the number of seconds in three minutes), and peace and relaxation set in as one lets go of a desire for control. I explained to my students that one meaning of the word yin is “acceptance,” while its counter yang can mean “action”. Yin practices – such as yoga, sensory perception, compassion, and mindfulness – strengthen the body, mind, and spirit. 


I noticed a link between the book’s study of “mindful movement” to the Montessori philosophy, which advocates honoring the child through “purposeful movement” (p. 97). Current brain research shows that dopamine, the hormone released during physical exercise, improves memory, optimism, problem-solving, and cognition. It also reduces discomfort, grows new brain cells, and is present not only in exercise but also (as shown through neuro-imaging in MRIs) through positive thinking (pp. 95, 106). The positive effects of dopamine are doubled when a person reflects on a memory of physical movement, use of one’s senses, or a time s/he felt happy (p. 118). I see this also when we use our outdoor fabric labyrinth, a place where children take their time, become centered, and experience peace.  

The relationship between the scientific findings in 10 Mindful Minutes and curriculum planned by Maria Montessori over a century ago speaks also to the value of altruism. Maria Montessori observed the child, watching his/her behaviors for insights into the best practices for the child’s self-education. Montessori observed that the child learns best with his/her hands touching and manipulating beautiful, natural, ordered materials. Montessori observed that the child learns best in concert with others of a mixed-age range -- by learning from others’ actions, practicing and training the body’s movements and the brain’s comprehension, then modeling skills to others. Montessori observed that the child learns best when all of his/her senses are engaged, when s/he is encouraged to work at a personal rate in an environment that encourages self-sufficiency. A Cornell University study reports that helping others increases energy, self-esteem, and a sense of mastery in one’s life (p. 179). Helping also “activates personal initiative, stimulates curiosity, encourages exploration… and increases happiness” (p.183) – characteristics which are present daily in the life of children in our Montessori 6-9 classrooms.