A comment about playschools...

I once saw a little television special about two ladies who started a playschool.

They turned their home and yard kid-friendly, surrounded by a high fence, with a fine 'program', within.


The part that so fascinated me was their remark that children, if left to their own devices, would work out any differences of preference, or conflict, between them.

In fact, this principle was the foundation of their tiny 'organization'.


The whole property was designed to be 'kid-safe', and the children were always carefully watched, but there was less intervention by adults than in similar establishments.

The ladies had the idea to wait and see if the children could work out their own play, and disagreements.

Not only did this policy make their own work lighter, but the children were happier for it...they learned to relate to others, and themselves, much, much better.

The children also helped each other, automatically. When they came indoors, off would come a coat, and be hung up, and the kids would follow suit...without any 'telling' necessary...it was just what came next.


What is that called? ...Playground dynamics? Something.


I've since wondered if families and communities couldn't work better on a similar principle.


Surrounded by safety, and with only the basics in equipment/constructions/management/standards, work out their own well-being.


Another example was shown in the tale of two or three families who shared a summer vacation compound, annually, for years.

The many children, of assorted ages, always had someone to play with, and alternatives, if the first didn't work out immediately.

Parental supervision was minimal.

Lunch, for example, was prepared by one child dealing out slices of bread along a long counter; another child scooping out filling; and a third coming behind, closing.


My husband's children loved the bowlful of fruit salad he often made for their breakfast.

When their mother died prematurely, he wanted to hire a housekeeper for them, as he was 'on the road' all week, but always home on Fridays, for the weekend.

However, the kids, 14 and 16, asked if they could try it themselves for a while. They did beautifully...even in the days when drugs raised an ugly head.

Dh's children just were never tempted...knew how to keep good company...and themselves reasonably tidy.


One day the smallish 14 year-old boy came home, with a tear in his eye, to tell dad that a bully was bothering him.

So dad told him that the next time he saw that kid to wade right in and give him a punch in the nose, first.


When his son next saw dad after school, the lad was all smiles.

"Did you give the bully a punch in the nose?" asked dad.

"No, Sis did," replied his son.


Playground dynamics, I think.

:D


Oh yes, in that summer vacation compound...they found that the youngest child, wherever they set his feet on the ground, would head straight for the water.

So, someone put a playpen in, just deep enough that the little one could stomp a splash.

Nearby, ones and twos and groups of parents enjoyed a real vacation. Tweet