I just heard today that the Superintendent and Principles of our district have decided to take away one recess a day. So that leaves only two breaks for the kids in K through 2nd grade. Which means that 5, 6, 7, and 8 year olds will have to sit in class from 8 till 11:00 or so until lunch time. Or from after lunch till 3:10 with no recess. It depends which one gets taken away. Morning or afternoon. They do get out of their classroom for going to P.E. and music ( 3 days a week )and alternate with computer lab and Library. So some of the time they are doing other things. But those other classes are structured and they are not allowed to talk to each other much. I thought socialization was a part of eduction too. And what about that all important FRESH AIR that they say is soooo needed. That is why they claim that the kids need to go out for recess even if the temperature is bitterly cold. But that appearantly only applies to the younger kids. Starting with 3rd grade they only get one recess here. Guess the bigger ones don't need fresh air and excersize. hummm.
So I am confussed about why they are doing this and who's bright idea this was to begin with.
They want kids to like school? These are little kids! What about the kids with ADHD and they just plain hyper or energetic ones. My son is going into 1st grade and it is hard enough of a transition for them to go from Kindergarten to first grade and they still want to go to Centers.
My girl loves to read and do paper work but still had a hard time getting used to doing first grade work. She would rather stay in on cold days and read or draw at her desk rather than freeze outside but when it is nice little kids do want to play outside. I just can not imagine any kids being stuck sitting for that long without a break. Just about the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. When I was in 3rd and 4th grade we had 5 recesses a day. Why are kids being pushed so hard? I also did a post on poor freezing kids on here too if you have not read that one please check it out too.
So my question is.......how many recesses a day is best for the kids? This school will only have one 20 minute lunch recess and one 15 minute.
