Wichita elementary schools and teachers have done a mixed job of giving all kids recess time. Guidelines call for at least 20 minutes every day, but some teachers keep in their students from recess to cram in more instruction time or punish them.
Is it any wonder that kids get antsy and out of control? They need to run and play and burn off excess energy.
The same holds for middle school kids. So it’s encouraging that some Wichita middle school principals are bringing back recess.
“Even prisoners get yard time,” said Truesdell principal Jennifer Sinclair. She is reinstating lunchtime recess at the middle school this fall in the form of 20-minute breaks in which students walk laps or do other activities.
OK, it does sounds a lot like a prison recess, but at least kids are getting some fresh air and exercise. They need it to perform at their best.
6 Comments
It’s a good idea. When the concept changed from grades 7,8,9 (Junior High) to 6,7,8 (Middle School) this included a younger set of students.
Letting the youngsters get their energy out during periods of recess is a good idea.
I think it would be a great idea to have recess for WeBloggers.
Race ya to the swings, Linda!
I agree with Regular, good idea. Especially with the raising number of overweight/inactive children in the country… A little extra “run around” time couldn’t hurt.
When I was a kid, we had 3 recesses a day all the way to high school…kids need to run off that energy instead of taking drugs to calm it down. The only thing we ever had to drink in school was water and milk…there were no snack or pop machines. And we wonder how our kids got so fat! I tell you, we need to get the kids physically active again…the health of our nation’s future citizens is really at risk.
I truly liked your blog post…