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A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play

Name: A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play
Author: Vivian Gussin Paley
ISBN: 9780226644899

by Vivian Gussin Paley

Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Pages: 111
Paperback
ISBN: 9780226644899

Available to Buy

Overview of A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play

A Child's Work goes inside classrooms around the globe to explore the stunningly original language of children in their role-playing and storytelling. Drawing from their own words, Paley examines how this natural mode of learning allows children to construct meaning in their worlds, meaning that carries through into their adult lives. Proof that play is the work of children, this compelling and enchanting book will inspire and instruct teachers and parents as well as point to a fundamental misdirection in today's educational programs and strategies.

Synopsis of A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play

The buzz word in education today is accountability. But the federal mandate of "no child left behind" has come to mean curriculums driven by preparation for standardized tests and quantifiable learning results. Even for very young children, unstructured creative time in the classroom is waning as teachers and administrators are under growing pressures to measure school readiness through rote learning and increased homework. In her new book, Vivian Gussin Paley decries this rapid disappearance of creative time and makes the case for the critical role of fantasy play in the psychological, intellectual, and social development of young children.

A Child's Work goes inside classrooms around the globe to explore the stunningly original language of children in their role-playing and storytelling. Drawing from their own words, Paley examines how this natural mode of learning allows children to construct meaning in their worlds, meaning that carries through into their adult lives. Proof that play is the work of children, this compelling and enchanting book will inspire and instruct teachers and parents as well as point to a fundamental misdirection in today's educational programs and strategies.

San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"[A] richly detailed reminder of the enormously important role of imaginary play . . . Paley does children a great service by reminding us of the enormous value of fantasy play."

— Elizabeth Corcoran

About the Author, Vivian Gussin Paley

Vivian Gussin Paley, a kindergarten teacher for thirty-seven years, primarily at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, has received numerous awards and accolades, including a MacArthur Award and, most recently, the John Dewey Society's Outstanding Achievement Award. She is the author of eleven other books, three of which are published by the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews of A Child's Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play

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Editorials

San Francisco Chronicle Book Review - Elizabeth Corcoran

"[A] richly detailed reminder of the enormously important role of imaginary play . . . Paley does children a great service by reminding us of the enormous value of fantasy play."

Times Educational Supplement (UK) - Mary Jane Drummond

"This irresistible book is Vivian Gussin Paley at her very best. . . . The mixture in this book, of times and spaces old and new, is nothing strange; what's different is the cold, critical eye she casts on the shape and purposes of early education today. . . . Her present insistence on the necessary relation between a rich variety of fantasy play and intellectual growth is represented as a hard-earned, precious insight, on which she will not negotiate."

San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

[A] richly detailed reminder of the enormously important role of imaginary play . . . Paley does children a great service by reminding us of the enormous value of fantasy play.

Elizabeth Corcoran

Times Educational Supplement (UK)

This irresistible book is Vivian Gussin Paley at her very best. . . . The mixture in this book, of times and spaces old and new, is nothing strange; what's different is the cold, critical eye she casts on the shape and purposes of early education today. . . . Her present insistence on the necessary relation between a rich variety of fantasy play and intellectual growth is represented as a hard-earned, precious insight, on which she will not negotiate.

Mary Jane Drummond