"Now we are six" - a powerful video backing the need for a long, playful kindergarten, as the basis for healthy, imaginative, resilient humans

How early do you begin, in establishing the conditions for a new politics, an active citizenship, a human agency commensurate to our various crises (climatic and technological)? Maybe you should begin at the earliest moment - the bringing-up and forming of children. Or more precisely, self-forming - which is what the advocates of play-based early kindergarten say is the outcome of their model.

None of this is news to Finns, Estonians, Swiss - nations whose children rank high in the International PISA education performance charts, but who don’t do early testing on infants, leaving their playful pre-education up to the age of 6 or 7.

At the top of this blog is a video from School Films (who seem to be associated with the Steiner Association) which covers a range of voices from Scottish education, academics and teachers. They are pressing the Scottish Parliament to consider starting formal school between six and seven, and establishing a 3-6/7 play-based kindergarten education before then. Both the Greens and the Liberal Democrat parties in Scotland are pushing the SNP government to consider this.

This pushback - which bases itself on science that claims play makes for stronger, more confident, less reactive adults in later life - isn’t just Scottish (though there are long traditions of play-based alternative Scottish education). The Guardian reported earlier this year a European reassessment of early years education. And there has been much advocacy, amidst the pandemic, that a “summer of play” should be granted to school kids, as a restorative act for the privations of lockdown.

However, it’s a beautiful and nurturing video at the top of this blog - and explains much about the power and benefit of a playful early-years experience.