Ontario plans to extend play-based learning to Grade 1 & beyond
Posted September 2, 2014 5:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The province, which dictates the curriculum in schools across Ontario, is considering extending play-based learning throughout elementary education.
Education Minister Liz Sandals said on Tuesday “one of the things we’re looking at is should we be revising the primary curriculum?”
With the full-day kindergarten program launched in 2010, children already have two years of all-day schooling under their belt as they enter Grade 1. And it’s forcing school boards to look at altering their Grade 1 curriculum to keep kids engaged and ward off boredom.
It’s something educators are taking note of. Classes are moving away from the traditional desk-based learning and replacing it with play-based learning.
“What we’re seeing is a shift in what I call the super kids that are coming out of junior kindergarten and senior kindergarten,” said Michael Barrett, president of Ontario Public School Boards Association. “Coming into Grade 1 the curriculum hasn’t been adapted to those kids that have already had two full years of school and learning.”
The new curriculum may not stop at the primary level. It could have far reaching implications right into the halls of high school. Lessons could be tailored to tell teens how to use the information in the real world.
“We don’t call it play-based learning when you get to high school. We tend to call it more experiential learning,” Sandals said.
The province says it will take some time to study the full impact of full-day kindergarten on kids, but in the meantime, primary teachers are more than welcome to implement more play-based learning if their classes call for it.
Click here to read the province’s action plan.
