Child Development
Shouldn’t my 3-yr-old be learning, and not just playing?
I have a 3-year-old son who attends a preschool full time, and they just let the kids play all day long. Every time I drop him off or pick him up, the whole classroom is just playing. Every child is playing with a different toy, some are playing in groups and some are playing by themselves. It doesn’t seem like the teachers are doing any actual teaching – shouldn’t my son be learning his letters and numbers and preparing for kindergarten? Should I buy him more academic toys or download reading apps with basic flashcards of colors and numbers?
The other issue is that, at home, he likes to play with these Barbie dolls (hand-me-down gift from his cousins). I personally don’t have a problem with it, but my husband doesn’t like it at all. Whenever he catches him playing with them, he takes them from him and hides them. Our son starts crying and screaming because he wants to play with them. I try to tell my husband to let him play with what he wants. He says, “I don’t want him growing up to be a sissy.”
So, my questions are, how much play is appropriate or how much is too much? Should he be playing with educational toys instead of just pretending with dolls and toy trucks, and playing with blocks? Should he be playing with toys that are more “masculine”?
