When children play, why do parents always complain that they are not learning in school?
Some parents need to learn that the appearance of children actively engaged in play may mask the reality of their learning. Extensive research indicates that children who engage in pretend and socio-dramatic play increase their literacy skills, cognitive development, particularly problem solving; social competence and capacity to generate new connections in a creative way. Some ways to let parents know what children are learning in a class are the following: (a) save the children’s drawing and writing samples to show progress over time, (b) with photographic slides, document learning experiences that are active and show the uses of different materials and thematic props at parents’ meetings, (c) save language experience charts for display, (d) four-for-the-day: send four one- or two-line notes each day to four different parents informing them of something that their children participated, and (e) consider creating a collaborative newsletter with other teachers that records children’s c
