Play Is Serious

As I typed up the latest journal entry,  I was struck by how serious the kids were when they were playing. Looking back on memories of my kids playing, I picture them all-smiles, laughing and chatting. Of course, they did all of those things at times. But at other times, their faces were solemn, their attention was focused, their movements were deliberate.

Why should I be surprised? Look at adult gamers racking up points at Tetris or leveling up in World of Warcraft. They have that same intent, focused, serious look. Look at adults playing tennis or poker or bridge—of course they laugh and smile at times, but their faces are usually serious as they concentrate, develop strategy, and try to win.

Yeah, OF COURSE playing is serious stuff.

Not a smile in evidence on these guitar heroes!

Mindy, Lindsey and Camille were serious as they danced in the living room, and they were serious as they played school. They “knew” a book about modern animals that they'd snagged off our bookshelves wasn't “really” a school book about dinosaurs, but they were serious as they played/pretended that it was. Often their play on the computer was solemn stuff, a time for focus and attention and even (once in a while) competition.

One great thing about homeschooling is that I could take play as seriously as my kids did—as seriously as play should be taken!

A book that had a lot of impact on my when I was a young adult was TheThree Boxes of Life, by Richard N. Bolles, the What Color Is Your Parachute? guy. Bolles points out that a lot of people seem to find it reasonable to devote the first couple of decades of life to learning—kept strictly separate from “working,” and hopefully not too distracted by “playing.” The next four or so decades of life, these people seem to maintain, are of course dedicated to working. After a long, productive life, if we've made it that far, we are allowed to retire and devote whatever years or decades remaining to us to leisure. In other words, to playing.

But, Bolles argues, in reality we should be learning, working, and playing at all stages of our lives. We shouldn't even try to keep these things separate! Watch a toddler do all three things at once, as he or she plays with all sorts of objects, toys and non-toys alike, and learns through the play. This toddler is apt to have a serious, intent expression during a lot of this play/learning, and we can easily see that, for the toddler, playing around with stuff and learning from it is serious “work.” I can say the same thing about the play/learning/work as Camille danced at age five, and as Lindsey made mountains of drawings at age ten, and as Mindy created computer programs at age fourteen.

What a gift it is to get paid to learn/play/work, as many people who love their jobs or professions are! We could say that one major goal of homeschooling is the maintenance of learning, playing and working as one integrated whole.