al., 2008; Stockard & Engelmann, 2008; Waldron-Soler et al., 2002). children in Indeed, who participated in the Didactic Instruction System for Reading and Remediation (DISTAR) curriculum outperformed children in the control and experimental groups in reading, math, and language, moving from the 20th percentile to near the 50th percentile (Education Commission of the States, 1999; Ellis & Fouts, 1993). However, when specifically considering academic outcomes, many findings support the claim that preschoolers who engage in playful learning either match or outperform those who learn through direct instruction (for review, see Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, Berk, & Singer, 2009). By way of example, Han, Moore, Vukelich and Buell (2010) found that playful learning enhances vocabulary development in low-income preschoolers relative to more didactic practices. Alfieri, Brooks, Aldrich, and Tenenbaum (2010) reviewed 164 studies comparing discovery-based versus direct instruction approaches to learning and found that assisted discovery approaches trump the kind of learning that emerges from more unassisted pedagogies. Research from our own laboratory suggests that children are better at learning of the criterial properties of geometric shapes like squares and triangles and retaining this knowledge when they participate in activities that are playful (Fisher, Hirsh-Pasek, Newcombe, & Golinkoff, in press). In general, the evidence suggests that playful, child-centered approaches that incorporate some degree of adult scaffolding are more effective teaching strategies for achieving academic outcomes with preschoolers than those involving either direct instruction (Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, & Milburn, 1995) or free play in the absence of active adult guidance (Chien et al., 2010; Honomichl & Chen, in press; Lillard et al., in press; Lillard & Else-Quest, 2006).
al., 2008; Stockard & Engelmann, 2008; Waldron-Soler et al., 2002). Indeed, children in who participated in the Didactic Instruction System for Reading and Remediation (DISTAR) curriculum outperformed children in the control and experimental groups in reading, math, and language, moving from the 20th percentile to near the 50th percentile (Education Commission of the States, 1999; Ellis & Fouts, 1993). However, when specifically considering academic outcomes, many findings support the claim that preschoolers who engage in playful learning either match or outperform those who learn through direct instruction (for review, see Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, Berk, & Singer, 2009). By way of example, Han, Moore, Vukelich and Buell (2010) found that playful learning enhances vocabulary development in low-income preschoolers relative to more didactic practices. Alfieri, Brooks, Aldrich, and Tenenbaum (2010) reviewed 164 studies comparing discovery-based versus direct instruction approaches to learning and found that assisted discovery approaches trump the kind of learning that emerges from more unassisted pedagogies. Research from our own laboratory suggests that children are better at learning of the criterial properties of geometric shapes like squares and triangles and retaining this knowledge when they participate in activities that are playful (Fisher, Hirsh-Pasek, Newcombe, & Golinkoff, in press). In general, the evidence suggests that playful, child-centered approaches that incorporate some degree of adult scaffolding are more effective teaching strategies for achieving academic outcomes with preschoolers than those involving either direct instruction (Stipek, Feiler, Daniels, & Milburn, 1995) or free play in the absence of active adult guidance (Chien et al., 2010; Honomichl & Chen, in press; Lillard et al., in press; Lillard & Else-Quest, 2006).
Weisberg_2014_MBE_final_Guided_play.docx