Mothers very often ask me what kind of after-school activities I would recommend: English, singing, football, tennis, swimming, or even capoeira. These are mothers of children between 2 and 6 years old who attend nursery school for seven hours a day.
More and more often, the routine of such young children is marked out by various weekly activities, and their time is filled and occupied at all costs. In short, a child of barely four years old ends up with a life as organised and planned as that of a university student, complete with a calendar.
The same mothers who ask me which activities their child should do are also the mothers who ask me why their child no longer wants to come to school, and whether I have any ideas for convincing him to go to his swimming lesson, because he throws terrible tantrums every Tuesday.
Starting from the premise that many activities already take place at school, always respecting the child's own timing and pace, if we also fill our child's late afternoon, it is as if an adult, after a day's work, came home and was “forced” to keep working, instead of being able to choose to do what they enjoy most (drinks with friends, a yoga class, or lying on the sofa watching television...).
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the child should decide what to do and whether to go swimming or not, but it is important to bear in mind that when they leave school they are often tired from the day just spent. I am not talking only about physical and mental tiredness from the workshops they have done, but also about emotional tiredness, since they have been away from their key attachment figures and from their safe place, home.
What I try to make people understand is that CHILDREN DO NOT NEED ALL THESE ACTIVITIES. We live in a highly competitive society in which, if you don't do English at age 3, you're nobody (already at three years old), but what does a child of this age really need? This is probably the right question mothers should ask themselves, rather than asking me. Every child is unique, and I believe the mother is the person who knows their interests and needs better than anyone else.
What I definitely recommend is not scheduling more than one activity a week for children aged 2 and 3, and no more than two activities for children aged 5 and 6, perhaps trying to vary the field, for example one sporting activity and one artistic one. I believe, in fact, that it is far more important for a child's development to play freely at home, in the park, with friends or alone, independently, setting their own rules and beginning to learn how to organise their own time.
What we teachers call “free play” is indeed a very important, if not essential, moment for growth: it is precisely through free play that the child discovers and encounters the reality around them. Free play is the kind of play that springs from children's imagination and is guided by their desire to learn, as well as by the materials and toys available to them.
Play allows children to develop autonomy and self-confidence, to begin organising themselves, and to form relationships with others when it involves group play, starting to explore the concepts of collaboration and sharing. This type of play also helps children manage their body in space and control their emotions. Lastly, it is certainly an excellent way to make discoveries and try things out that broaden the child's knowledge. In short, limiting this activity, which is basically the most natural thing for a child, means taking away a fundamental tool for their development, one that cannot be replaced by any extracurricular activity, but should rather be complemented by it.
Dr Alice Duse, nursery school teacher, graduate in Primary Education Sciences