My younger son started kindergarten this year, and while he’s had a great year so far, there has been one aspect that has continually bugged me. “There is so much WORK!” he tells me periodically.

When I ask him what he means, he complains of sitting at his desk, doing worksheets, and feeling bored and restless. And yeah, it breaks my heart a little when I hear him say that.....

.....After all, play is what young children are best at, right? Why not harness that into something educational?

Well, Boston Public Schools, one of the largest school systems in the country, is doing just that. In February, they announced—both in a post on their Facebook page and via an article on WBUR.org—a shift toward more play-based learning initiatives in their early childhood programs.

The district, which encompasses 56,000 students and 125 schools, is trying to strike a balance between letting their young students “just be kids,” while also preparing them for the academic expectations that lie ahead for them (i.e., standardized *groan* tests).

“What we’ve done in Boston is really think about how do you rewrite a curriculum that will support what we know about young children,” Jason Sachs, Boston Public Schools’ director of early childhood education, tells WBUR. “But also get them to a place they can be ready in third grade for the MCAS test and other learning in general”.....

.....As for these new district-wide changes making an overall impact on the students, it’s too soon to tell, but researchers from the University of Michigan, Harvard and MDRC will be studying the shifts by following a group of kindergarteners for three years to study the outcomes.....

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