Time to play?

Do children have enough time to play these days?

I’m going to suggest no!

As someone who hated homework as a child and teenager and from then marking books as a (former Primary and Secondary) teacher I think some home works are unnecessary and completely boring! Can’t students do a verbal summary the next day as a group task of what they can remember from their Maths lesson instead of yet another page of long multiplication sums from a textbook?

These days, I really appreciate listening to stories from my students’ perspectives of how their day at school was, as they sit down at the Drum kit or Piano. BUT every week there will be more than a handful of students who genuinely had not much time to play their instrument. When hearing the list of subjects they had to complete for homework the night/week before I am angered by the realisation that 2 or more hours of homework per night does not leave much time for play, exercise, rest, eating and time with family before bed!

Not even just Secondary schools with 11 or so subjects in junior classes a week! Primary Schools are often sending home spellings, reading, tables, written Maths/English homework and then a long-term project which needs working on as well. I don’t know who to pity the most… the children, their parents or the teachers who must assess these things!

Did we learn nothing from pandemic times? Children, teenagers (and their teachers) need time to unwind and be! (Hey… leave these kids alone!) What’s with the constant academic demands after school when they are in the building for about 6 hours a day?

Oh if I could make changes with the power of a Principal!

However, I am very fortunate in my role as a music tutor, a vocation I love and the opportunity to facilitate musicians of all ages as they explore and embrace their sound. To be able to give space for children, teenagers, adults to breathe at the end of a busy day. Providing a space to relax, play music, listen to music, improve music making and learn something without a page of written work required for submission to evidence the facts.