This week we're reading Chapter Two from Free to Learn by Peter Gray, "The Play-Filled Lives of Hunter-Gatherer Children." In this chapter, Peter Gray describes the play-filled lives of hunter gatherer children, using the story of Kwi, an eleven-year-old Ju/’hoansi boy from the Kalahari, to illustrate his points. In these societies, children grow up without formal schooling and instead learn through self-directed play, exploration, and imitation of adult activities. They spend their days engaged in games and creative projects that mirror hunting, tool-making, building, music, and dance, naturally developing the skills they will need in adulthood. Mixed-age play groups help them learn cooperation, empathy, negotiation, and self-control, while the culture as a whole values autonomy, sharing, and equality. Gray suggests that modern education could take inspiration from this model by creating more opportunities for children to learn through play and personal choice rather than through rigid, adult-led instruction.

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