The Case of the Duelling Playgroups

Each day as I play with my son, I keep my eyes open for possible topics for this website. There are so many possibilities -- child development is a complex and fascinating field. But yesterday it occurred to me that there is a deeper, more philosophical question that parents should address.

Malcolm and I attend two different playgroups, a community playgroup and a national, franchised playgroup. Both playgroups have taught me good songs and good ways to play with Malcolm; we have met really nice moms and kids. But these two playgroups have duelling philosophies that strike the heart of a parenting question--can developmentally-targeted play enhance your child's skills and abilities?

The community playgroup is held in the basement of our local community centre. Most of it is relaxed and unstructured--there are several areas where the kids can play with different types of toys. Some moms play with their kids, some let the kids run around while they enjoy a cup of coffee and the company of adults. At song-time, the group leader leads the group in several well-known kids' songs. They aren't fancy, but the children love them. The group provides a setting for children to play and mommies to meet other mommies. And in this community of mommies and kids, the toddlers are playing, growing, and learning.

The franchised, structured playgroup is another story. The instructor has taken classes in child development, and puts a lot of stress on themed activities that will develop cognitive and motor skills. The class is strictly scheduled and the instructor pushes the children to play on the special apparatus in the way she has specified. The theory is sound--children who are at a 'just walking' level tend to be challenged by a certain set of activities.

So which is better: setting or structure?

I am not a child development expert, just a mother with an insatiable curiosity about my child. And I believe that setting is not only better, but that structure can actually be a negative influence on your child. If we push our children to improve their cognitive and motor skills, we run the very real risk of ignoring other equally important developmental aspects. For instance, pushing a child to do an activity can be stressful to a toddler who needs the feeling of security right at that moment. Do you sacrifice emotional development for questionable improvement of spatial coordination?

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