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Fifty percent reduction in daily recess time rankles some Spotsylvania parents Date published: 9/26/2009
By PAMELA GOULD Dawn Hadlock started meeting her third-grade son for lunch at Courtland Elementary two or three times a week this school year after learning that daily recess had been cut to 15 minutes. "We have a picnic outside and kick a soccer ball," she said. "We do our own little parent recess." Hadlock learned through a back-to-school letter from Principal Sherri L. Steele that daily recess was being shortened by half this year for third- through fifth-graders in Spotsylvania County schools. "To provide more instructional time, adjustments have been made to 'recess' time (formerly referred to as 'teacher P.E.'). Students in grades K-2 will receive 30 minutes of recess daily and grade 3-5 will receive 15 minutes per day," the letter states. In addition, elementary students also get 45 minutes per week with the school's physical education teacher. The school division started an "intervention and enrichment block" for 45 minutes per day this year to give teachers time to work with students who are falling behind or to allow those who are doing well to get opportunities to expand their mastery of a subject, Steele explains in the letter. Hadlock isn't the only parent displeased with the recess reduction. Five parents spoke at the last school board meeting--all in opposition to the change--and more are expected at the next meeting on Monday. One parent brought the School Board a copy of an article on the value of unstructured play time. Another questioned the emphasis on designing the school day to meet test results. A third noted the irony from a health perspective of cutting recess time but rewarding kids for good behavior with "pizza with the principal." This parent asked the board to have principals track absenteeism and discipline problems, expecting both to increase. The fourth said her fourth-grader got his short recess eliminated as punishment for talking. And parent Janine Wilson said recess provided her son the chance to develop social skills he couldn't learn sitting inside a classroom. Although he is academically gifted, he suffered from severe social anxiety as a third-grader, she said. With counseling and support from teachers, he was learning to interact with his peers on the playground the next year.
Read more stories about Spotsylvania Date published: 9/26/2009
A students special may start at 9:45 but how do they get from their classroom to say, the library when the prior block ends exactly at 9:45 but library starts at 9:45? there is no wiggle room. there is no time for Teachers to actually teach nor students to learn. It is always "hurry up, hurry up, hurry up" There is no time for a rich learning experience, it is always by the book no deviation nor stopping for pivitoal learning moments. It is disgusting.
The day is supposed to start at 9:00 a.m. but with late buses, kids eating breakfast, and general activities in the morning it never does. Teachers planning periods are cut short and down to 3 actual planning periods per week due to 2 mandatory meetings per week. the kids have no time between blocks. A block ends exactly at 12:00 and lunch begins at 12:00. What about classes at the end of the building. it can take 5 minutes to get there and back which cuts 10 minutes out of lunch.
If their recess time is supposed to be 15 minutes of actual time not including time it takes to get to and from how do they get from point A to B and back to A with a schedule that is Lunch ends at 12:45 and recess begins at 12;45 ending at 1:00 with next session starting at 1:00 also? There is no time in there to transport the children. Should they teleport? How does he figure the day? He got paid $2,000 a day to make a chart in MS Word. I have seen it. He laughed all the way to the bank on this one.
recess isn't the real issue..just something else to complain about. even if the minutes were pushed back to 30 again, the overweight kids would sit on they tails during recess just like they do during the 15 min. of recess now. i know some of the schools have a pe/library initiative where the students get x2 pe a week and flex library. this is in my sons school and it works out really well, that way, the overweight kids have to participate with their pe teacher. lets look at that for all the schools.
elementry kids in top 4 asian countries: japan, china, korea(both N and S), as well as the norway, netherlands, and sweden have academically higher math and science levels than most kids in the US. and they have the same amount of recess time or less. so yea, lets give more recess time and teaching time so other countries can be further ahead academically. lets keep dumbing america and lower the standards for all usa kids. *yay* for idiocracy !
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