By: Abbie
Why is recess so important?
I have
spent the past two semesters of student interning and teaching, in a public
school setting. Immediately, I noticed the students did not have recess or they
were only allowed 10 minutes. It was very obvious recess was not important to
the school or teachers. I do not understand why schools are slowly taking
recess out or allowing little time for it. Students need time to get some fresh
air and let some of their energy out, which is why I feel recess is important.
This issue
is something that needs to be addressed. Teachers are constantly reminding
students to “be quiet” or “be still” and complain of students’ behavior
problems. Maybe if teachers gave their students time to exert some of their
energy they would have less behavior problems. Some teachers go as far as
taking recess completely away because the students are “misbehaving”. Children
cannot stay still for a long period of time so it is wrong to keep them from
doing what is natural. When children are
not given the time to play freely their critical thinking skills and problem
solving skills are suffering (Recess Makes Kids Smarter, n.d).
Will
allowing students more recess time really help them grow? According to
Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Education, preschoolers
should spend a fair amount of time doing things physical (Copple
&Bredekamp, 2012). Allowing students at least 15 minutes a day for
unstructured learning time can improve behavior problems and allow the students
to grow in multiple domains. Recess is a time for children to play with their
friends and not have to worry about being quiet and focus on instruction. This
is a time they can use their imagination and exercise their social skills among
many other skills.
Teachers
and parents need to fight for more recess/unstructured playtime. If teacher and
parents work together in making others aware of the importance of recess things
could change. Teachers can find alternative ways to punish students instead of
taking their recess away. They can give their students more unstructured free
playtime. This allows students time to play with anyone they want and use their
imagination. There are so many resources and developmental appropriate ways to
handle classroom discipline. Teachers need to just become aware of these
resources.
If you are not allowed to have
recess or the weather is not permitting than look up things to do in the
classroom for 15 minutes. Here is a website that has different ideas!
References
Copple, C., & Bredekamp,
S. (Eds.) (2009). Developmentally appropriate practice in early
childhood programs: Serving children
from birth through age 8. Washington, DC:
NAEYC.
Pappas, B. (2011,
August 14). As Schools Cut Recess, Kids' Learning Will Suffer, Experts Say.
Retrieved November 4, 2015.
Recess Makes Kids Smarter. Scholastic.com. (n.d.). Retrieved
November 4, 2015
15 fun indoor recess
games and activities. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2015.
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