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Are schools in a recess recession?
Is the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 leading to a recession in school recess?
National School Board Association leaders say the threat is real. One local administrator said reaching the national average of about one-half hour of recess time is impossible without lengthening the school day.
Unstructured physical activity has a direct positive effect on students’ focus and attentiveness in class, Brenda Green, the association’s director of school health programs, said in a national teleconference Thursday with media and education experts.
Some educators’ decisions to reduce and completely strip recess in place of more instruction time will not get the results they’re seeking, she said.
Do you feel that a recess for children is a necessity?
Comments
By Dan
September 6, 2008 8:13 AM | Link to this
No Child Left Behind doesn’t have a thing to do with privatized sports. It was brought into play in order to stop the educational system from passing children to the next grade level without them being able to meet a standard. If you want to make sure your child is not left behind make your child take responsibility for their education. Get involved, make contact with their teachers, join the PTO. Stop complaining and do something to ensure that your child is meeting the basic expectations.
By MAllen@gmail.com
September 5, 2008 6:09 PM | Link to this
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, HEADSTART, someone is losing ground here.
Privatize sports, band, and extracuricular activites. School is for learning.
Children and teenagers move here from China, Europe, or any country overseas and make straight A’s.
Math teachers at Kilgore College can tell exactly what high school students came from.
Hold the parents accountable.
By Always an Excuse
September 5, 2008 10:47 AM | Link to this
How is it that in countries like Japan, which spend less on education and have very little of what is known as ‘recess’, their educational system is far outpacing ours?
Maybe we should get our focus back on core, fundamental education and worry about play time once we fix that.
If teachers feel that ‘recess’ helps the learning process, they should incorporate physical activities into their lesson plans. I remember when I was a kid, in math class, the teacher had various activities to keep our attention that involved marching around the classroom. Choir and music classes stand and sing, bands march, science classes go out and explore nature, art classes visit museums. Physical activity has always been part of the learning process.
This is just another excuse to attack our educational system as being ‘too tough on our kids’. Children rise to our expectations.
By Bill
September 5, 2008 9:36 AM | Link to this
yes