幼兒園新概念 少些學習多些玩耍

PASADENA, Md. — Mucking around with sand and water. Playing Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders. Cooking pretend meals in a child-size kitchen. Dancing on the rug, building with blocks and painting on easels.

馬裏蘭州帕薩迪納——在沙盤和水盤旁玩耍；玩《糖果大陸》(Candy Land)或《滑梯與梯子》(Chutes and Ladders)等桌上游戲；在兒童規格的廚房裏玩過家家；在地毯上跳舞；堆積木並在畫架上作畫。

Call it Kindergarten 2.0.

就把它稱作“幼兒園2.0”吧。

Concerned that kindergarten has become overly academic in recent years, this suburban school district south of Baltimore is introducing a new curriculum in the fall for 5-year-olds. Chief among its features is a most old-fashioned concept: play.

由於擔心幼兒園在近幾年過於側重於教學，巴爾的摩以南城郊的這個學區在秋季爲五歲學童引進了新課程。這個課程的特色則受到一個古老概念主導：玩耍。

“I feel like we have been driving the car in the wrong direction for a long time,” said Carolyn Pillow, who has taught kindergarten for 15 years and attended a training session here on the new curriculum last month. “We can’t forget about the basics of what these kids need, which is movement and opportunities to play and explore.”

“我覺得我們長久以來，把車開往了錯誤的方向，”在幼兒園教學長達15年的卡洛琳·皮洛(Carolyn Pillow)說。“我們不能忘記孩童所需的基礎，那就是玩樂和探索的活動和機會。”皮洛上個月參加了爲新課程開辦的培訓班。

As American classrooms have focused on raising test scores in math and reading, an outgrowth of the federal No Child Left Behind law and interpretations of the new Common Core standards, even the youngest students have been affected, with more formal lessons and less time in sandboxes. But these days, states like Vermont, Minnesota and Washington are again embracing play as a bedrock of kindergarten.

由於聯邦政府《不讓孩子掉隊》法案(No Child Left Behind)的影響，以及對“共同核心”(Common Core)標準的解讀，美國教學着重於提升數學與閱讀分數，這讓最年幼的學童也受到了影響，要上更多正式的課程，減少在沙坑玩耍的時間。但近來，佛蒙特州、明尼蘇達州與華盛頓州等地，再次接納玩耍，視其爲幼兒園的基石。

Like Anne Arundel County here, Washington and Minnesota are beginning to train teachers around the state on the importance of so-called purposeful play — when teachers subtly guide children to learning goals through games, art and general fun. Vermont is rolling out new recommendations for kindergarten through third grade that underscore the importance of play. And North Carolina is encouraging teachers to evaluate paintings, scribbles or block-building sessions, instead of giving quizzes, in assessing the reading, math and social skills of kindergartners.

如同安妮阿倫德爾縣這樣，華盛頓州和明尼蘇達州開始培訓州內的教師，讓他們瞭解所謂“目的性玩耍”的重要性：教師悉心引導學童藉由遊戲、藝術與一般的樂趣達成學習目標。佛蒙特州則推出新的教學建議，對幼兒園到三年級的學童強調了玩樂的重要性。北卡羅萊納州則鼓勵教師評比學童的畫作、塗鴉與積木作品，而不是進行小測驗，考察閱讀、數學與社交技能。

But educators in low-income districts say a balance is critical. They warn that unlike students from affluent families, poorer children may not learn the basics of reading and math at home and may fall behind if play dominates so much that academics wither.

但是低收入地區的教育人士認爲，如何平衡纔是關鍵。他們告誡說，較貧窮的學童不是富裕家庭出身，可能無法在家裏學到閱讀與數學的基礎，因此若讓玩樂主導教學，這些學生的學術能力就會萎縮。

“Middle-class parents are doing this anyway, so if we don’t do it for kids who are not getting it at home, then they are going to start at an even greater disadvantage,” said Deborah Stipek, the dean of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford.

“中產階級家長無論如何都會這樣做。因此，如果我們不讓學童獲得家裏無法得到的東西，他們在起跑線上就會更加處於劣勢，”斯坦福大學教育學院院長黛博拉·斯蒂佩克(Deborah Stipek)表示。

Across the country, many schools in recent years have curtailed physical and art education in favor of longer blocks for reading and math instruction to help improve test scores. The harder work even began in kindergarten.

近年來在美國各地，有許多學校縮短體育與藝術教育課程，並拉長閱讀和數學的教學，從而幫助提升考試分數，甚至從幼兒園就開始致力於此。

Most recently, more than 40 states have adopted the Common Core, standards for reading and math that in many cases are much more difficult than previous guidelines. In some school districts, 5-year-olds are doing what first or even second graders once did, and former kindergarten staples like dramatic play areas and water or sand tables have vanished from some classrooms, while worksheets and textbooks have appeared.

最近也有超過四十個州採納了共同核心標準，這套標準對閱讀和數學的要求，在很多情況下難度都遠超先前的準則。有些學區的五歲學童甚至開始學習一年級或二年級的課程內容。過去幼兒園裏不可或缺的表演玩耍區、沙盤或水盤已經不復存在，取而代之的是練習冊和課本。

A study comparing federal government surveys of kindergarten teachers in 1998 and 2010 by researchers at the University of Virginia found that the proportion of teachers who said their students had daily art and music dropped drastically. Those who reported teaching spelling, the writing of complete sentences and basic math equations every day jumped.

弗吉尼亞大學(University of Virginia)的研究者比較了聯邦政府在1998年與2010年對幼兒園教師的調查，發現讓學生每日進行藝術與音樂學習的教師比例大幅降低。而每日進行拼字、完整文句寫作與基本算術的比例則大幅提高。

The changes took place in classrooms with students of all demographic backgrounds, but the study found that schools with higher proportions of low-income students, as well as schools with large concentrations of nonwhite children, were even more likely to cut back on play, art and music while increasing the use of textbooks.

出現這些變化的教室裏，各種背景的學生都有。但該研究發現，低收入家庭學生比例更高的學校，以及非白人孩子大量集中的學校，更有可能在減少玩耍、美術和音樂時間的同時，增加課本的使用量。

Experts, though, never really supported the expulsion of playtime.

但專家從來沒真正支持過擠壓玩耍的時間。

Using play to develop academic knowledge — as well as social skills — in young children is the backbone of alternative educational philosophies like those of Maria Montessori or Reggio Emilia. And many veteran kindergarten teachers, as well as most academic researchers, say they have long known that children learn best when they are allowed ample time to go shopping at a pretend grocery store or figure out how to build bridges with wooden blocks. Even the Common Core standards state that play is a “valuable activity.”

用玩耍來開發幼兒的學業知識和社交技巧，一直是替代性教育理念的基礎，如瑪麗亞·蒙特梭利(Maria Montessori)和雷焦·埃米莉亞(Reggio Emilia)的理念。很多資深的幼兒園老師，以及大部分學術研究人員均表示，他們早就知道，允許孩子用大量時間去模擬的食雜店買東西，或是利用積木弄明白如何搭建橋樑時，他們的學習效果是最好的。就連共同核心標準也闡明，玩耍是一種“寶貴的活動”。

But educators point out that children are also capable of absorbing sophisticated academic concepts.

但教育工作者指出，孩子也能有吸收復雜學術概念的能力。

“People think if you do one thing you can’t do the other,” said Nell Duke, a professor of education at the University of Michigan. “It really is a false dichotomy.”

“人們以爲不能一心二用，”密歇根大學(University of Michigan)的教育學教授內爾·杜克(Nell Duke)說。“這是一種誤解。”

M. Manuela Fonseca, the early-education coordinator for Vermont, said her state was trying to emphasize the learning value of play in its new guidelines.

佛蒙特州早期教育協調員M·曼紐拉·豐塞卡(M. Manuela Fonseca)說，她所任職的州正努力在其新制定的指導方針中，強調玩耍的學習價值。

“Before we had the water table because it was fun and kids liked it,” she said. “Now we have the water table so kids can explore how water moves and actually explore scientific ideas.”

“以前我們配水盤是因爲它好玩，孩子們也喜歡，”她說。“現在我們配水盤，則是讓孩子們能夠探究水是如何流動的，實際上就是探索科學思想。”

Still, teachers like Therese Iwancio, who works at Cecil Elementary School in Baltimore’s Greenmount neighborhood, where the vast majority of children come from low-income families, say their students benefit from explicit academic instruction. She does not have a sand table, play kitchen or easel in the room.

然而，像特蕾澤·伊萬喬(Therese Iwancio)這樣的老師表示，他們的學生會從明確的學業指導中受益。她在巴爾的摩格林芒特社區的塞西爾小學(Cecil Elementary School)任教，那裏絕大部分孩子來自低收入家庭。她的教室裏沒有沙盤和玩具廚房，也沒有畫架。

“I have never had a child say to me, ‘I just want to play,’ ” said Ms. Iwancio, who has taught for two decades.

“我從來沒遇到哪個孩子對我說，‘我只想玩’，”已有20年教齡的她說。

On a recent morning, she asked children to read aloud from a simple book. On the wall hung a schedule for the day, with virtually every minute packed with goals like “I will learn sight words” or “I will learn to compose and decompose teen numbers.”

前不久的一天早上，她讓孩子們大聲朗讀一本簡單的課本。牆上貼着當天的安排，幾乎每一分鐘都填滿了諸如“我要學習常見字”或“我要學習組合和分拆十三到十九之間的數字”這樣的目標。

Jayla Stephens, 6, said she liked school because “you get to do a lot of work and you will get better.”

六歲的傑拉·斯蒂芬斯(Jayla Stephens)說她喜歡上學，因爲“你要做很多事情，而且會變得更好。”

In neighboring, more affluent Anne Arundel County, 321 kindergarten teachers last month attended training sessions on the new curriculum. Required each day: 25 minutes of recess, 20 minutes of movement, 25 minutes in play centers. The district is buying sand or water tables, blocks, play kitchens, easels and art supplies for every classroom that does not have them.

上月，在鄰近的更富裕的安妮阿倫德爾縣，321名幼兒園老師參加了針對新課程的培訓。每天的要求是：25分鐘休息時間、20分鐘運動時間以及25分鐘玩耍時間。該學區正在爲沒有配備相關用品的教室購買沙盤或水盤、積木、玩具廚房、畫架和美術用品。

Teachers were given tips on how to be more creative in academic lessons, too, like tossing a ball printed with different numbers to teach math.

對於如何在正式的教學中更有創造力，老師們也得到了指點，比如在球上印上數字，用拋球的方式來教數學。

“We don’t think that rigor negates fun and play,” said Patricia J. Saynuk, the coordinator of early-childhood education.

“我們認爲，嚴謹和樂趣、玩耍並不矛盾，”兒童早期教育協調員帕特里夏·J·塞伊努克(Patricia J. Saynuk)說。

Traci Burns, who has taught kindergarten for the last five years at Annapolis Elementary School, said she was looking forward to retrieving previously banished easels.

過去五年一直在安納波利斯小學(Annapolis Elementary School)教幼兒園的特拉奇·伯恩斯(Traci Burns)說，她盼望着拿回以前被收走的畫架。

“With the Common Core, this has been pushed and pushed and pushed that kids should be reading, sitting and listening,” she said. “Five-year-olds need to play and color. They need to go out and sing songs.”

“共同核心標準影響下，我們不斷不斷地強調孩子要看書、坐好、聽老師講，”她說。“五歲大的孩子需要玩耍和畫畫。他們需要出去唱歌。”

At Hilltop Elementary, a racially and economically diverse school in Glen Burnie, Melissa Maenner said she had found that teaching kindergartners too many straightforward academic lessons tended to flop.

在格倫伯尼的希爾託普小學(Hilltop Elementary)，族裔和經濟背景均比較多元。梅利莎·門納(Melissa Maenner)說，她發現給幼兒園裏的孩子上太多完全和學業有關的課往往會搞砸。

“They are 5,” Ms. Maenner said. “Their attention span is about five minutes.”

“他們只有五歲，”門納說。“集中注意力的時間只有大約五分鐘。”