Pasek

While some might give up and stick to their knitting, so to speak, these roadblocks only seem to energize Kathy Hirsh-Pasek of Temple University.

Ellen Galinsky: The Birth of a Playful Movement (VIDEO) Ellen Galinsky 2010

Kathy Hirsh-Pasek has conducted research for decades on the development of language and literacy with her long-time collaborator and friend, Roberta Golinkoff of the University of Delaware.

Ellen Galinsky: The Birth of a Playful Movement (VIDEO) Ellen Galinsky 2010

Hirsh-Pasek was a member of the small group of researchers conducting the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's study on the long-term impact of child care.

Ellen Galinsky: The Birth of a Playful Movement (VIDEO) Ellen Galinsky 2010

Admitting that her ideas can be too big, Hirsh-Pasek called a few of her academic friends, the Children's Museum of Manhattan, some nonprofits, media and some corporations and they convened a meeting.

Ellen Galinsky: The Birth of a Playful Movement (VIDEO) Ellen Galinsky 2010

One Saturday morning, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek was asking herself when "play had became a four letter word," when a playful idea hit her.

Ellen Galinsky: The Birth of a Playful Movement (VIDEO) Ellen Galinsky 2010

In frustration with the gap between what science shows and what is happening at home and in school, Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, and others convened a group of academics to write: A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool, a research-packed volume that shares the science in defense of what they call playful learning.

Ellen Galinsky: The Birth of a Playful Movement (VIDEO) Ellen Galinsky 2010

At dinner, Douglas Carter Beane (book writer for SISTER ACT which they would be seeing the next night) gave of himself and dined with the teachers, along with Benj Pasek (who wrote the lyrics of the songs in THE GIANT PEACH) and a group of about 20 others who are experts of JR. musicals.

Freddie Gershon: James and The Giant Peach Meets Josephine Baker and Bernadette Peters... Freddie Gershon 2011

At dinner, Douglas Carter Beane (book writer for SISTER ACT which they would be seeing the next night) gave of himself and dined with the teachers, along with Benj Pasek (who wrote the lyrics of the songs in THE GIANT PEACH) and a group of about 20 others who are experts of JR. musicals.

Freddie Gershon: James and The Giant Peach Meets Josephine Baker and Bernadette Peters... Freddie Gershon 2011

And Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff have also both been editors of inarguably the most influential and rigorous journal in the field, Child Development, and have had many years of reviewing the best research on children's learning.

Ellen Galinsky: The Birth of a Playful Movement (VIDEO) Ellen Galinsky 2010

This is not just a message about play, Hirsh-Pasek says.

Ellen Galinsky: The Birth of a Playful Movement (VIDEO) Ellen Galinsky 2010