With Blocks, Educators Go Back to Basics...Seriously?

You have got to be kidding!

In case you missed the November 27 article in the New York Times about the use of blocks in early elementary classrooms, here’s the original article: With Blocks, Educators Go Back to Basics.

What have some schools discovered?  Kids can learn with blocks.  Wow, what will they think of next?  Not to put too fine a point on it, but since when did the development of a child’s gross and fine motor skills become a new discovery taking us “back to basics” as the subtitle of the article would have it.

And just in case you missed out on blocks yourself, the article points out that some schools are holding block workshops for parents!  Yes, parents!  Apparently this is so that over-achievers will be able to show their kids how to “play” with blocks.  This is exactly wrong.  This is the problem with too much of what goes on in American schooling.  We are so obsessed with kids getting the “right” answers and doing things the “right” way that we are prepared to squash every scintilla of creativity out of them.

Here is the proper way to use blocks with children: Have blocks.  Add children.  Leave alone to discover and play and learn (yes, they are learning without adult intervention!)

I am proud that Sewickley Academy does not have to “go back to basics” to create an environment in which children can explore and learn with blocks and many other manipulatives.  This is simply what our outstanding teachers do, each and every day.  Just don’t tell the kids who are having so much fun that they are learning; that might take the fun out of it.

About The Author: Kolia O'Connor is the Head of School at Sewickley Academy.