Importance of Recess, the 4th R - Page 2

[williamsmommy2002]

My ds is in public school in first grade. He gets two regular recesses and a lunch recess. I'm pretty sure they are 20 minutes. Funny enough he goes to one of the highest performing schools in our city. On top of that fridays are mostly a fun day. They do music, art, PE, and in the afternoon are given a choice between certain things as long as their homework has been completed and they have had no behavioral problems. One of the choices is to play outside.

[EFmom]

My kids also hate recess. They normally have 25 minutes of recess a day, but if they owe work they get kept in. My kids have confessed that they sometimes deliberately don't hand stuff in because they don't want to go out to recess.

It's not a matter of bullying or anything like that. They just find recess incredibly boring. There's a play structure, swings, etc., but the older child (11) think that's for little kids. The younger says she's tired of doing it every day. Neither one is big on jump roping. Both are very fit, athletic kids.

They don't let the kids play tag, kickball, etc. because they are afraid they will get hurt. I think that's part of why they are so jaded about recess. Honestly, if they both never had recess again, they'd be happier. I'm not advocating that, but it's the way they feel.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by EFmom

My kids also hate recess. They normally have 25 minutes of recess a day, but if they owe work they get kept in. My kids have confessed that they sometimes deliberately don't hand stuff in because they don't want to go out to recess.

At my DDs school, they can opt for study hall rather than recess.

[ecoteat]

My K-8 school has recess before school starts and then a 60 minute lunch/recess. We have a play structure, swings, basketball hoops, foursquare, tetherball, a play house, a big field with soccer nets and a baseball diamond, and this time of year we also have sledding, snowshoeing, and huge snow piles to climb on and build with. And some kids STILL complain that they don't have anything fun to do. On the infrequent days that it is decided to stay in, kids can play in the gym or play board games in the library. Middle school kids can opt to stay in the classroom and do schoolwork if they want, but we don't force anyone to.

As a teacher, even though I know perfectly well that recess is as important as academics, I have had to keep kids in to finish work or as punishment. I hate doing it, but when the reality is that the kids and I are held accountable for grades and academic achievement, sometimes you can't figure out any other time to get things done. Staying after school is not an option for a lot of kids. And as far as punishment goes, that is a last resort, but I have found myself saying things like "since your behavior has taken away 5 minutes of your learning time, you can use 5 minutes of your play time to balance it out."

I loved the NYT article. I hope lots of teachers and school administrators read it and take it to heart.