Jan
15
2016
Recess Duty
Posted in Daily Living 4 Comments
When I was in elementary school recess was something you longed for each day.
There were swings and a big metal slide, that probably burned our legs in the sun.
There was a lot of running around playing tag, and games that we made up along the way.
We played four square and we were constantly on the move.
We were able to run off all the energy that was pent up from sitting in our desks all morning.
We did not have a cafeteria at our school so lunch was eaten at our desk.
We each had to bring a little dish towel so we could cover our desk.
Everyone ate as fast as they could in order to go outside and play.
No one liked rainy days because that meant indoor recess.
Not having a gym, indoor recess meant talking with your friends.
It meant playing hangman, the word game you drew on paper or an appropriate board game.
No one liked to stay inside since it made for such long days.
Today, schools have minimal recess if they have recess at all.
The powers that be think that a child’s day should be filled with academics.
Over the last few decades, schools have cut recess time to make room for tests and test prep.
However, one school in Fort Worth, Texas is changing all of that.
Eagle Mountain Elementary School in Fort Worth, Texas has recess four times a day.
Kindergartners and first-graders have four recesses that are fifteen minutes each.
That is much more time on the playground than most public school students get.
Eagle Mountain Elementary School is part of a project modeled after the Finnish school system.
The project’s designer is Texas Christian University kinesiologist, Debbie Rhea.
Rhea went over to Finland to observe.
“I went over there to find out where they’ve come in the last 20 to 25 years.
Yes, their test scores are good, but they are also healthy in many regards,” she says.
She noticed that the Finnish children get more recess than American students.
“I came back with the idea to bring recess back to the schools.
Not just one recess, but multiple recesses,” she explained.
Rhea is working with other schools in Texas, and schools in California and Oklahoma.
This year Eagle Mountain Elementary School began to triple their recess time.
Their recesses now go from 20 minutes to an hour each day.
The program also focuses on character development: empathy and positive behavior.
Teachers at Eagle Mountain say they’ve seen a huge transformation in their students.
The children are less distracted.
They make more eye contact.
They tattle less.
And then there are the pencils.
“You know why I was sharpening them? Because they were grinding on them, they were breaking them, they were chewing on them. They’re not doing that now. They’re actually using their pencils for the way that they were designed — to write things!” says first grade teacher, Cathy Wells. Wells and her fellow first grade teacher, Donna McBride, have six decades of teaching between them and say this year feels different. They were nervous about fitting in all the extra recess and covering the basics, but Wells says that halfway through the school year, her kids are way ahead of schedule. (taken from: More Playtime! How Kids Succeed with Recess Four Times a Day at School)
A pediatrician had this to say:
“If you want a child to be attentive and stay on task, and also if you want them to encode the information you’re giving them in their memory, you’ve got to give them regular breaks,” says Ohio State University pediatrician, Bob Murray. He’s compiled research that backs up what teachers at Eagle Mountain are seeing in class. Murray says brain imaging has shown that kids learn better after a break for physical activity and unstructured play. He and his colleagues wrote up a policy statement for the American Academy of Pediatrics suggesting that kids with regular recess behave better, are physically healthier, and exhibit stronger social and emotional development. That’s as school districts nationwide have been taking recess out of the school day. “They want more academic time, they want more time to do the core subjects,” Murray says. “They have pretty much carved away anything that got in the way of those minutes for teaching.”
Research is now showing what mothers knew all along.
Children need to be outside, they need to run, play, imagine, and be a child.
We wrongly expect children to sit in a desk all day and perform like adults.
Children need to be children since they are only a child for a short time.
We stunt the growth of our children when we take away their free play.
That is when the child figures out the world.
As he lays on the grass and looks at the shapes in the clouds, he may begin to paint what he sees.
As she pretends to be a mother and take care of her baby doll, she is practicing for the real thing.
Play is a child’s work.
Through play a child learns to work well with others, share, take turns, compete, win, and lose.
Through play a child can be anything he or she wants to be.
Through play a child can tap into the creative part that is most like our Creator God.
We must remember that each of us are made up of three parts: body, soul, and spirit.
Each part has to be addressed in order for us to be our best.
The American education system has forgotten that as it focuses merely on academics.
We need to nourish all aspects of a child if we want that child to succeed.
James Montgomery Boice explained it best in his commentary on John’s Gospel.
Man is created in God’s image. God is the Trinity: Father, Son, Spirit. Man has three parts: body, soul, spirit. Man’s body is the part of man that we see. Man’s soul is that part of man that gives him his identity; with the soul the man thinks, feels, reacts, aspires. Man’s spirit is that part of man that has consciousness of God.
We fail a child when we fail to address all parts of him.
We need to make sure that his body is nourished, that he gets exercise, and enough sleep.
We need to make sure that his soul is understood as we listen to his heart.
We need to make sure that his spirit is taught about the One who made Him.
We fail a child when we neglect any of these three parts.
A child is not a robot into which we feed endless information.
A child is a trifold person made in the image of a Triune God.
From the moment of conception, all aspects of that boy or girl are in place as designed by God.
Let us make man in our image, in our likeness. (Genesis 1:26)
We fail our children if we forget even one aspect of them as as person made in the image of God.
Let us celebrate childhood.
Let us feed their body, soul, and spirit the way God intended.
Let us fill the yards with the sound of laughter as our children are allowed to be children.
You said it so well Gina. I completely agree! When I ask my six year old neighbor about her school day her answers are surely different than what we would have said. Let’s hope that the school pendulum swings (fast!)
Sherie,
It is very sad that children today cannot experience an unfettered childhood without unnatural restrictions being put on them. The whole child must be nurtured and that seems to have been forgotten. Yes the pendulum must swing back, quickly. Perhaps parents should begin to say, NO, and let their voice be heard.
Gina
Great thoughts and info, Gina! I certainly agree! Everything is too programed for children these days. I can remember having not only recess but plenty of time to play outside when I was a child. I wish kids could live as we did in the “good old days”—I think they would be much better off.
Sue,
Parents will have to be intentional about outside play for their children. We are shortchanging our children when we expect them to sit for hours on end. It is a child’s natural tendency to run, and move, and play, and imagine. Play is a child’s most important work.
Gina