EDUC 653 Reading Summary: Kindergarten Education Article Review

This report summarizes several articles related to kindergarten education, focusing on the importance of play, support for underprivileged children through education, teacher qualifications, and the role of games in enhancing education. The first article emphasizes the lack of playtime for kindergarten children and its negative impact on their development, advocating for a balance between studies and recreation, drawing parallels with the Christian concept of the Sabbath. The second article discusses the Head Start initiative, aimed at empowering underprivileged children through education, aligning with the biblical principle of helping the deprived. The third article addresses the issue of underqualified teachers in pre-kindergarten programs, highlighting the need for specialized training to cater to the academic and emotional well-being of students, emphasizing the importance of educated educators. The fourth article underscores the significance of play in enhancing children's physical, mental, and emotional health, advocating for dynamism in education and practical application of values. Each article is analyzed through a biblical perspective, and connections are made to relevant organizations and initiatives supporting these educational aspects.

Running head: ARTICLE REVIEW
ARTICLE REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ARTICLE REVIEW
‘Kindergartens Get Little Time to Play. Why Does It Matter?’ by Christopher
Brown
This particular article deals with the issue of the lack of time and scope of the children
studying at the kindergarten level to play. The reason behind it has been attributed to the course
structure which does not permit children enough time to play, which indicates that the designing
of the school academic programs are unbalanced and unscientific. This particular phenomenon
has been viewed upon as a matter of concern by the scholars as the lack of time to play is not
facilitating the overall psychological and physical development of the children in the expected
way. Mental stress, physical problems and along with that a reduced ability of critical thinking
has been identified as the problems associated with lack of playtime for the kindergarten
children. From a biblical perspective, the Lord had specified a fixed time for work and also for
recreation which is observed as the Sabbath day in Christian faith. Similarly a balance between
studies and playtime is equally necessary. Relief from monotony is very much embedded in tge
principles of Christianity, and it must be implemented in the kindergarten.
According to the New America policy, they have started the initiative of Keeping Play in
the Kindergarten in response to the pressing need from all quarters to include games and playing
in the academic curriculum with the view of helping the students to have an enriched educational
experience. It is very much biblical as it has the element of balance between studies and playtime
similar to the fact that the Lord had specified a fixed time for work and also for recreation which
is observed as the Sabbath day in Christian faith ("Keeping Play in Kindergarten", 2019).

2ARTICLE REVIEW
Head Start: A Bridge from Past to Future by Blythe S.F. Hinitz
This particular article deals with the issue of helping out the students with pursuing theor
education who are under abject poverty. The article discusses about the initiative called Head
Start which has its basis in the movement in America for securing the civil liberties for the
citizens. The motive behind the initiative was to ensure that the children belonging to the
underprivileged sections of the society be redeemed of their poverty by means of empowering
them to be self sufficient through education, which was deemed as the basic requirement
redeeming the children out of their state of poverty. The parents of the underprivileged children
lacked education hence their children should not be made to face the same thing, or else they too
were likely to face the same thing as their parents. From a biblical perspective it can be said in
connection to this article that helping out the deprived ones has been dictated by Christ but he
was strictly against any attempt to broadcast the noble deeds done by the people and had even
made it clear that, noble deeds which are not done silently, loses its value.
The National Head Start Association champions the initiative of Head Start as discussed
in the above paragraph and seeks to be inclusive of all the aspects related to the student, the
families, community, et cetera for ensuring that the holistic development of the child seeking
education could be catered to in an efficient manner. The initiative of the National Head Start
Association is biblical in its orientation as it is inclusive something which Jesus had practiced
throughout his life and had also encouraged others to do the same down the generations
("National Head Start Association", 2019).

3ARTICLE REVIEW
Running a Pre-K Program Is Hard. So Why Do Some states require almost no
qualifications? By Abbie Lieberman and Laura Bornfreund
This particular article deals with the issue of candidates having less qualifications and yet
pursuing, or rather allowed to pursue a career of teaching students of the pre Kindergarten level.
As per the researchers candidates having a bachelor’s degree were pursuing a career of teaching
students of the pre Kindergarten level, which was problematic as the qualifications needed for
the teaching students of the pre Kindergarten level requires special training, which equips the
teachers to cater to the academic, cognitive and the emotional well being and development of the
students. A mere bachelor’s degree is not enough to fulfill the intricacies of teaching students of
the pre Kindergarten level, which is a complex job requiring immense amount of patience and
skill along with a sense of duty and responsibility which merely cannot be fulfilled just by
gaining the capacity of disseminating the course material to the students. From a biblical
perspective it can be said that several scholars have used the innumerable sermons delivered by
Christ as the inherent feature of support for the pursuance of education, however there are
messages which show that the disseminator of education too must be educated enough.
The preschool and childcare center directors have devoted themselves to the task of
preparing the candidates willing to pursue the job of being a teacher with all the resources so that
the ones pursuing the job of being a teacher could excel in their field and do justice to the role
they are about to enter. This is very,much biblical in its orientation and can be justified by the
sense of duty and responsibility the organization embodies and applies in its day to day work.
The organization as per the views of Christ tries to raise capable candidates who shall take the
task of teaching seriously and efficiently ("Preschool and Childcare Center Directors :
Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", 2019).

4ARTICLE REVIEW
Play is the Way by Stuart Brown and Kristen Cozad
This particular article deals with the issue of necessitating the role of games in the
academic curriculum of the children in order to enhance the experience of education of the child.
The article deals with the various benefits of playing and the ways in which enhances the
physical, mental, emotional and cognitive health of the children from a very young age. Just as
studies are important for securing the future and the long term goals of the children similarly,
playing also enhances the experience of pursuing education and also aids the purpose of
receiving education by providing a good opportunity to practically implement the good values
necessary for leading a good life and learn the benefits of it. From a biblical perspective it can be
said that the dynamism in education and the task of educating is very much respected and
encouraged. Christ had not only delivered sermons throughout his life but had provided practical
examples of applicability of the values disseminated by him by means of living a life respecting
and upholding the sanctity of those values.
The Exuberant Animal is one such organization which devotes itself to the task of
disseminating the message of the importance of playing and it effectively garners the support of
the people by means of ensuring that the people reconciles themselves to the importance of
playing. They have developed diverse methods of disseminating the importance of playing
through therapy sessions and workshops. This is an effective method of disseminating an
educative impact among the people as per the Biblical principles and must be followed by other
organizations as well in order to enrich their experience of learning. The usage of demonstrative
tools is very biblical as used by Exuberant Animal ("Exuberant Animal®", 2019).

5ARTICLE REVIEW
References
Exuberant Animal®. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.exuberantanimal.com/
Keeping Play in Kindergarten. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.newamerica.org/education-
policy/edcentral/kinderplay/
National Head Start Association. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.nhsa.org/
Preschool and Childcare Center Directors : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/preschool-and-childcare-center-directors.htm