I've written a number of posts in this thread in which I champion the value of free play in child development, in every domain, including cognitive. But do we have to turn it into yet another false dichotomy? Can't children have academics AND play?
As bad as it was for my DD to pretend not to know how to write an "M" in K when she was 5, could you imagine how torturous it would be when she's 7, and consuming chapter books in her free time?
I can understand why the study would have showed benefits for underprivileged children, because that's a group that often lives in understimulating environments, and whose parents often have neither the luxury of time nor the energy to play with their children.
