Taking a little break from breastfeeding for a moment to discuss a school issue.
My son will start kindergarten in the fall, and my husband and I have been checking out our local public schools. In general we're pretty happy with what we're finding (and we're both former teachers, so we're a little picky). But one thing is really bugging me: recess is almost gone.
The public schools in our district all offer full-day kindergarten. This means that 5 year olds are in school from roughly 9:00 to 3:00. There is one recess break after lunch, for about 30 minutes. That's it. When I taught, ten years ago, there was both a morning and afternoon recess.
When I asked about it, the answer I got was 'we have a lot to cover' or 'we make the afternoon pretty low key academically.' I could tell by the way the teachers answered that they were sympathetic to the concern, but aren't in charge of the policy.
What I didn't ask then, but will certainly do next year, is "Don't you think they'd learn more if they had the chance to run around a little bit?" And while it's not tested on a state exam, aren't they actually learning something pretty important while they're outside shaking their sillies out? Like how to be with other people? Not to mention physical fitness in the age of childhood obesity.
I get where this comes from. The public wants high standards, accountability, and good test scores, and this has translated into a lot of assessment and a lot of pressure on teachers. But I just can't believe that kids as young as five learn more when they are inside all day. I've also been reading about the death of outdoor play in general, so it's even more disturbing to see outdoor play even at school go away.
Is this the way it works in your community?
Want to get email updates from the Motherwear Blog? Subscribe here. Want an RSS feed? Click here.
