Dr. Laura, I have free play time on our schedule every morning after their schoolwork, just like you recommend. But when I tell my kids to go play, they beg for screens, they whine that they don't know what to do, they don't have any good toys, they need me to play with them.
This is the only chance I have to get any work done, and I need that time. Why can't they play by themselves? Why indeed? Consider these scenarios.
Since children learn through play, interrupting our child's play to teach them also lessens the joy that our child experiences from independent play.
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