Too Much Play?

At the grocery store the other day, I heard a mom tell her young daughter “You play too much!” That really got me thinking…what is too much play?

Chloe’s homeschooling has been a huge challenge for me the past few months. I started her on the same curricula that Camille had used for first grade and met with deaf ears. She just had no interest in doing that kind of work. She loves her math, but the history, science and grammar was just not resonating with her. She loves to spend her days playing. Playing with blocks, playing with Legos, playing with dolls, playing with stuffed animals. I sometimes fear that she isn’t learning enough. I bought yet another curriculum, more to convince me that she is learning than anything else, I think. We’ve had a little success with it, but unless I devote my full attention to her, she’ll try to get by each day with only doing her beloved math and reading a chapter of an easy reader.

I’m sure that she’s learning plenty, but what makes me nervous is the future. Will she ever buckle down and study? I think about sending her to school, just so she gets used to studying and learning, but I fear that forcing her into a school environment will take away any chance of her ever wanting to start studying.

The other day, an unschooling friend posted an article about how kids these days don’t get enough time to play. U.S. school children need less work, more play: study. What would school do to Chloe?