Is it true that children can play all day at Kinma?
Play IS highly valued at Kinma. But don’t worry – the good news is that your child can play and learn at the same time! Traditionally there has been a separation between play and learning in our schools. Learning happened in the classroom. Play happened in the playground, after lunch. This separation of play and learning goes against all the theoretical principles of child development and learning. If you study education or child development today you learn that play is essential to learning. For example, it is through play that children construct knowledge; refine their learning; develop creativity and imagination and gain control and confidence. If we have this knowledge it makes sense for a school to embrace play as part of it’s curriculum. Unfortunately, implementing theory into practice takes time. When Kinma led the way over 30 years ago, mainstream schools were still not giving children much opportunity for structured or unstructured play. Today, most schools recognise the impor
