Thanksgiving hand-turkeys, styrofoam ball snowmen, paper-towel tube dachsunds -- are these formative educational exercises or a waste of time (and Elmers glue)?

This article reviews the process versus product debate now going on in some educational circles. Is the objective to allow children to play, learn, and be creative, or to produce a recognizable product to show the parents what they did at school that day?

Why does it matter? The pressures for measurable academic achievement have now reached all the way down to kindergarten, and there is an active debate about where and how five year-olds should be spending their time.