The CTV News – Sheryl Ubelacker
“Don’t call it a comeback: Blocks have been here for more than 100 years. In 1913, progressive educator Caroline Pratt designed “unit blocks” as a central part of the curriculum at the school she founded in New York City, which still uses blocks. Pratt wrote of blocks: “I wanted something so adaptable, children could use it without guidance or control, I wanted to see them build a world … to re-create on their own level the life about them … ” Pratt’s vision and ideas greatly influenced the founders of Bing, which is a laboratory school. That means Stanford’s psychology department conducts research on child development there, and students assist the professional staff of preschool teachers. “Pratt observed that the real learning was occurring when they [kids] had unscheduled, free play time,” says Winters. “Children still need those hands-on, tactile materials to make sense of the world.” Several early childhood studies have shown that children who play with blocks have better language and cognition skills than control groups. Others have looked at the power of blocks to help teach math, as well as the relationship between unstructured play materials and learning. Research has shown that math skills are the biggest predictor of later academic success.”(more)