Anyone who has spent much time on a homeschooling forum has seen people ask about early education. Or perhaps they have asked the question themselves. And inevitably some portion of the responses are "Just let her play!".
But what does this mean? A common translation of play-based early learning is to do no instructional time. Others translate it as no formal instruction or no curriculum use.
I offer another version, and that is that "play" can be defined as "any activity the child enjoys". If a child enjoys learning to read, that can be a form of play - even with formal lessons. If a child enjoys numbers and math, there is no reason not to teach place value and mathematical operations. If a young child is enjoying reading and math, but doesn't want to do them today, don't do them today. This is really a pretty simple concept - and parents of young children should be further trusted with these decisions rather than continually being told only to "let them play".
Thats something you often see in montessori online debates. People often consider montessori very rigid and education heavy AND other people consider montessori very loose, no discipline and too little education. But montessori (in the words of maria montessori) is a "follow the kid" education. So, instead of doubting between too much or too less, everyone should *follow* the kids and see what they want and need
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