Dear Superintendents and Elementary Principal, I would like to follow up with you about the need for more recess in our schools. This is an issue of physical and emotional health, as well as educational success. In a decade we have gone from three/four recesses to one. A recent poll on the Today Show stated that 99% of parents want more recess for their children. I am in this 99%, as are all the many parents Ive spoken with...we just don’t know how to help make it happen, so Im asking for your help in doing what is best for the whole child. The standard response is to increase instructional time due to the pressures on schools. When the demands on grownups become greater, the simple answer cannot be to keep taking away from the children. There are more creative options for win-win resolutions. My challenge to you is to shift from the view that the request for more recess as a dilemma of limited time and resources, to one of a supporting element that is more valuable now than ever. Recess and breaks ENHANCE classroom time instead of competing with it. In addition to all the health benefits and the social skills learned during free and unstructured play, recess provides brainpower for instructional time. Consider the visual that any conflict is a pie chart. If the whole pie represents the amount of time children are at school, then recess must be reduced to allow for a greater portion of educational time, or else the size of the pie must grow (longer days/school year). Instead, if the pie represents student success, recess/break opportunities and educational demands can both increase leading to a positive growth of the pie. Its not a competition...they go hand in hand for mutual success! Our students need at least two 20-30 minute recesses a day for optimal health. This is directly relevant to the depression and anxiety issues the representatives discussed at the Town Hall meeting. The vitamin D the sun produces in their little bodies will help the serotonin production (the natural happy drug), the fresh air will give them clarity again, and the increased exercise will make them strong (getting us ready for all those high school sports I see posted weekly on my email). And, new trending research is suggesting that kids eat healthier when they have a recess before lunch. I would beg to say, recess benefits everyone involved. Our teachers need the same things - breaks, fresh air, clarity, vitamin D, etc. More recess will bring down everyones Cortisol (stress hormone) levels and promote more effective teaching and learning. Local examples include the higher achieving schools in our area that are offering two full 20-30 minute recesses per day and are allowing for extra incentive recesses and fun Fridays. I would like to know, what are the barriers pushing against this effort, when these examples and strong research are in favor of more recess and unstructured playtime? The district built a gym for teachers and administrators to lead a healthier life--because exercise is important for the whole person and makes for more productive workers! (See more at: examiner.net/article/20120713/News/307139763.) Yet, daily walking clubs and ten minute outside stretch breaks were taken away from our children. Our schools also added a fifteen minute extension to the school day this school year. This is just what Ira Anders mentioned - “Do we need to think about extending the day?” We just did that, yet our kids still only get one twenty minute recess. Some grade levels even wait to take a recess until just before dismissal, yet brain research indicates that ideally children need many recess and free play opportunities in a day to break up cognitive tasks. I know many teachers (not all) are compensating with brain breaks.” A statement made in a Washington Post article, The Right-And Surprisingly Wrong-Ways to Get Kids to Sit Still in Class, says that “adjusting children’s seating and taking quick one-minute movement breaks will offer some support — but we will continue to see significant sensory and behavioral problems, as well as a decline in children’s overall health (i.e., rise in obesity, decrease strength, and poor body awareness) if we don’t start allowing for adequate time in which children can get up and out of their seats to move. (See more at: washingtonpost/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/07/the-right-and-surprisingly-wrong-ways-to-get-kids-to-sit-still-in-class/“) Please let me know when we can talk further on this issue. I am happy to continue this conversation in person or over the phone. I urge you to give our children an additional recess during their academic day. Thank you for your time and consideration on this issue. I wish you well, Concerned Parent Never, never be afraid to do whats right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Societys punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 02:16:18 +0000
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