Posted on 03/25/2006 5:49:06 PM PST by ChessMan
Principals Cut Recess Time Schools Want More Time For Instruction
POSTED: 5:52 pm EST March 23, 2006 UPDATED: 11:15 pm EST March 23, 2006
FALL RIVER, Mass. -- Two elementary schools in Fall River have decided to eliminate morning recess to give kids more time to study.
NBC 10's Larry Estepa talked to parents who call that decision a mistake.
"I absolutely believe they should have recess. I'm a liaison for the school, and I'm the one who's advocating for recess," said Kathy King, a parent of a third-grader.
Fall River Superintendent Nicholas Fischer said some of his principals decided to eliminate morning recess.
"I think what the principals are trying to balance is learning time versus relaxation time," Fischer said.
Fischer said he lets his principals decide how best to use recess. He said it would vary from school to school, even grade to grade, to let students get the best out of it.
"It's up to them," he said.
So far, only two principals, including the principal at Small Elementary, trumped recess with more time in class.
Students at Small still get recess after lunch.
"Just to run around get some energy out. Then they can go back to thinking," Carrie Jarabek, a parent, said.
But with standardized test standards staring down at them, teachers want more time to develop skills.
"There are clearly increased pressures on teachers and principals to make the best use of all learning time," Fischer said.
Parents argue kids don't get enough exercise, especially after school.
"Nowadays, they go home and stay in the house, watch TV, play the video games," said Teresa Pimental, the mother of a fourth-grader.
Which adds to a problem that school recess alone can't solve.
"Recess isn't necessarily exercise for all kids," Fischer said.
Fischer said they need to get more of that at home.
"I'm a mother that's at home. I make sure she gets outside as often as possible," parent Taryn Camara said.
Recess is the one time during school hours when the kids don't get indoctrinated and may actually learn something.
Stop teaching classes in things that are the parents prerogative - ie, AIDS to 5 year olds and up.
Kids need fresh air, sun, and exercise to replentish body and brain with oxygen and to combat rising obesity rates....on and on
What happened to the kiddy obesity epidemic? Cutting out some more of exercise ought to take care of that.
Elementary age kids learn better if they get some recess time to blow off steam and get some exercise. If they need more time for learning basics, they should cut back on the nonsense that passes as instruction.
"Educators" could learn a lot by looking at a few homeschoolers to see how they spend their time. Most spend just a few hours a day on their studies and learn as much or more as the public school kids.
With the No Child Left Behind Act and state-mandated testing something has to give and it's usually recess. Very few elementary schools around where I live have recess (except at lunch).
If they want to keep recess and increase instruction time then they'll have to extend the school day (and there are schools here that have done so).
Actually, when it comes to pent-up frustrations, I have to say that the winner was the day I went to pick up my son from kindergarten. He and his cousin wanted to go to the playground out back for a few minutes. Sure, no problem. We went over there with all the other kids from his class. Let me tell you, they were franticly bouncing all over each other. I knew something was wrong. Every parent was watching the mayhem, keeping an eye on all of the kids.
Turns out that they had a substitute that day who made them sit in their seats the entire day. No real activity.
36% of all kids are obese. The other 64% were crushed to death playing leapfrog. (approximate quote from Jay Leno)
LOL....This is so funny. I homeschooled my kids. They started work every morning at 8 and were 99.9% of the time done by 11.
I find it hard to believe they need more... (well, on second thought, not really).....:)
Becky
Research in learning indicates that down-time is very important because that is when the brain assimilates the learning that has recently taken place. Having a teacher nattering in your ears all day gives students the Charlie Brown Effect, when all the children hear is "blah,blah,blah" and they tune it out. Children also learn to get along with others on the playground, something sadly lacking for many youngsters today.
Sometimes when they are too hyper I take my grandkids to Burger King. I let them run and climb while I do paperwork or read. They just have all this excess energy that they need to burn off.
My sister is same way, her kids learn more in a shorter time than kids in school did.
I dropped out myself because school was so slow it was a boring waste of time. It's pretty bad when you are in 10th grade and your teacher is asking for your help on math. I still remember one problem we had (there was no answer book that he had) that he said was bad and did not have an answer and to skip it. He was wrong and I pointed out the answer.
I was no genius or whiz, I just loved math enough to study it as a hobby plus I was learning programming and my dad said it would help (it did).
They took half a year to teach trig, I learned it better than they taught it in a month. Again, it was a desire to learn that helped me excel at those things. Then I kept seeing the pattern repeated in other courses. Goes as slow as you can and pile on homework.
I'm sorry to sound so jaded...but...the more I read about public schools the more I think the title should read:
Principals Cut Recess Time [Schools Want More Time For Indoctrination]
I took 3x 10-year-olds to Hoodwinked and then McDonald's. I left them have about 30 minutes in the playroom after sitting still for a 90 minute movie (and a 5-minute meal). The ride home from Staten Island to Brooklyn was quite pleasant after that.
Those gyms are wonderful. I have a big back yard with a swing set and trampoline but when they start fighting over stuff and getting aggressive we head to BK. I don't even feed them. I just buy them juices.
How about they leave recess and cut the homosexual rallies instead.
They could save some more by cutting out breakfast an telling them to eat before they come to school.
Yes, and they could cut the tribalism (aka multiculturalism)out of socialist studies. After they are done with cutting all the time the teachers waste in a day, they could probably give the kids an extra recess. :)
Get rid of sex ed. It's a parent's job. What are we up to now, about an extra 2 hours?
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