An interesting piece on the value of unstructured play...

A homeschooling friend noted this NPR story today, and I listened.

Once the surges of reactivity and parental guilt subsided ("oh, no, I buy Harry *toys*", "we've ruined their childhoods by not moving a remote log cabin in the mountains!" Where *do* these thoughts come from? Why can't I just pat myself on the back for not loading them up with structured activities?? Sigh...) and I got to the meat of the story, I found it very intriguing that independent, imaginative play is so directly linked with self-regulation skills.