Kindergartners at some Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elementary schools are getting an hour of play and learning every day as part of a pilot program this school year.
Now, the parents who pushed for it want to expand the program from nine schools to the whole district.
More than a dozen people signed up to speak about the play-based learning initiative at Tuesday’s school board meeting. Parent Mollie Auerbach, who founded the group K Needs Play, told WFAE they plan to ask the school board to fund the program for all CMS elementary schools next year.
“But the big cost is just a one-time spend, and then this would be part of the school day for kindergarten classrooms and we think it'll really increase enrollment, increase teacher retention and just be a win-win for everyone,” Auerbach said.
Auerbach says the funding would cover new play equipment for classrooms. The only recurring cost would be to restock supplies like crayons or construction paper.
She founded the group K Needs Play, which raised more than $200,000 to launch this year’s pilot. She argued leaving it up to individual school communities to fundraise could lead to inequities.
“Our hope is that CMS would be able to manage it,” she said. “One thing that we really want to think about is the equity of this type of a program because we know that some schools can fund this with their PTA, with their parent population, but a lot of schools can't. And that's why we really think it's important that CMS makes this a priority.”
The play-based learning initiative is based on research that shows young children benefit from learning through play.
It’s not just another recess, though — advocates say it's an intentional, screen-free part of the day, where students get to choose their activity. Teachers participate, and use the play to reinforce the day’s lessons. Advocates also say it helps students develop social and behavioral skills.
Auerbach said she didn’t have data showing the program’s effect on student data, but that the initial response has been positive. She’s heard praise for the program, including from families and staff. Her own daughter participates in it and cites it as her favorite part of the day. And she volunteers in other schools where she says she sees the benefits firsthand.
“I think that our big message is that it's really important to look at the qualitative data and the stories that we're hearing around how teachers feel coming to school, what they're seeing from their students,” she said.
CMS didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday about the program’s efficacy.
