Desk bikes, wobble chairs, yoga balls. Walk into many classrooms across America and you will find a drastically different classroom than that of your childhood. I read an article the other day that addressed this shift. Basically the idea is that these sorts of innovative classrooms will help children release pent-up energy while they learn because it allows them to fidget in order to improve focus and to reduce stress and anxiety. Their little bodies move and learning is facilitated. Everyone wins, right? WRONG!
They are a Band-Aid solution to a bigger and deeper problem. We face a dearth of free, outdoor play time. Recesses are being cut back as teachers struggle to squeeze in ever-more teaching time for the sake of standardized tests, despite the fact that kids (especially boys) are oversaturated, exhausted, and unable to focus because they’re not provided the breaks they need.
Isn’t the solution simple? Wouldn’t increases in recess time be a cheaper, much more simple and more effective solution? I mean, kids are receiving less outdoor time than prison inmates for goodness sakes. Wouldn’t simply extending recess times or giving them more frequent play periods do far more than what those wobble chairs do? I think so and it seems many experts agree.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think kids should play more and have less structured learning? Do you think wobble chairs are the answer? Do you think our kids are better off than we were when we had more time and freedom to just play? Weigh in below. I’m curious to hear your thoughts!
Play on,
~Mavis
Mable says
We had a very energetic boy that teachers wanted to medicate. We started having him run around the outside of the house twice every morning, before the bus came. The neighbors reported us to child services for cruelty! Anyway, on days when he could not run he did much poorer in school, unable to sit still. His teacher noticed the difference so she started having him run around the perimeter of the playground twice at lunch time, too, and it helped him perform better after lunch. I think there are a lot of kids who have excess energy that end up getting them in trouble and medicated, when what they really need is to bleed off that energy with exercise. (Not denying that there are kids with a medical condition that may need medication to control but too many kids are automatically pathologized and medicalized as the first response.)
Marie says
If you live in a metro area and send your child to a public school:
Its about funding Mavi$, just like everything else. IF the schools increase recess time (personally, I’m in favor of)
then they will need to hire and offer benefits to the people that already are way too stretched-playground aides.
Then, the districts will need to fund the additional time for teachers to extend their day via new union contracts, custodial staff to maintain longer days, bus drivers, breakfast/lunch and even a light dinner for free and reduced kid programs, playground equipment upgrades, time to teach organized sports for those who do not participate outside of school times as they exist today. Extended nurse schedules to tend to playground bumps and lumps. More discipline support for playground disagreements (or principal time due to inappropriate behavior)…..shall I go on?
This extended day, recess, lunch time idea has been debated for years in our area as a result of all of the cuts in a child’s day at school. We tried twice as much PE time divided over the week – PE teacher made out like a bandit on the school’s budget but that budget had to be cut somewhere else.
Organized sports via PTA after school – too many bus riders that could not stay and play.
Volunteers (of all ages) on playgrounds to help minimize fights and teach additional games – hum,,,fights?
Skip lunchroom time altogether and “snack” in classroom – milk soaked rugs with ground in peanut butter – not popular with teacher and/or custodians.
“Indoor runs”-up and down the hallways and stairs – yeah we tried and it was not a success.
Today it’s chess, board games, gossip, hand held gaming devices and blank stares into space. Come on?! Truly helping a child to grow physically? Washington State is still battling with full funding for basics in the classroom. My guess is that until that monkey on their backs is solved, we either (1) home school (2) enroll in many after school sports or (3) set the kids loose on the streets to find their own “entertainment”. Still waiting.
(PS – sorry for the rant but you can understand how I feel as I took the bull by the horns for our kids and, well, still waiting to spread equity for all)
Brianna says
My son went 3 years to an elementary school and Georgia and my daughter had 1 year at that school. They arrived at the school in the morning and went straight to their class to sit in their seats and do quiet activities before the bell, they only had 1 recess either right before or after lunch, PE was only once a week also. The kindergarten teacher they had hated going outside with the class and would constantly find an excuse to not let the kids have their only recess. I could always tell what day she would withhold recess for both my son and daughter as they would have a terrible amount of energy after school and they would usually get a ‘naughty’ mark from the teacher in the afternoon. Homework would be hours of crying and tears most nights.
This year we moved to Montana and they wait outside on the playground in the morning until the bell rings (my son calls it the 4th recess), they have a mid-morning recess, recess after lunch, and another recess towards the end of the school day. 3 guaranteed recesses unless the weather is subzero! They were both very behind with academics when we started and my son is almost caught up, my daughter is working hard and is able to stay on task and focus on catching up throughout the school day. We tutor her at least an extra hour each night on the areas she is behind. Homework at night isn’t painful and they both are excited and focused to complete it.
So, I am a firm believer that the fresh air helps, the unstructured play, and having multiple breaks or recesses during the school day help. Sometimes even just going outside for a few minutes can help the brain refocus and feel refreshed. Kids all learn differently, but their brains are pushed with so much more information nowadays and I think those figit spinners are terrible. Kids need to have the chance to stop and smell the roses and be a kid.
My husband teaches and he says the generation he teaches (late teens and early 20’s) have a hard time focusing and paying attention in his class and he isn’t a boring instructor! He is really good about making them take ‘mental’ breaks that involve stepping outside to the fresh air and leaving their cell phones and digital gadgets in the class. If they take their phones or headphones on a mental break the student comes back still unable to focus, he can always tell.
Katie says
I grew up in Montana and am trying to move back. My kids are ecstatic about the possibility of 3 recesses. We currently live in Virginia, where they get one 20 minute recess per day, and if it is below freezing,they don’t go outside. Until recently, withholding recess could also be used as a punishment. I find the lack of access to outdoor and free play infuriating, so I keep my kids in the playground for at least an hour every day after school. However, that is a luxury many families don’t have. Even prisoners get an hour a day of outdoor time, why don’t our kids?
Lauren says
As a classroom teacher in public schools for 35 years, I watched the testing schedule increase as the time for play decreased. This is mostly a legislative issue. Teachers for the most part were frustrated to see childhood time being eroded. So, the wobble chairs and standing desks and any other method we have to allow them to move may be a band-aid but it’s the best we can do. People should vote this way when electing their state and federal representatives but it seems that they pay very little attention to it. It seems that legislators are trying to get the public schools grades to be lower so that more money can be diverted to charter and private schools. That means that there’s even less money for the public schools where the children will have to do without needed support! I’m just hopeful that more people will start paying attention to this issue, even if they don’t have school age children! We’re getting close to a crisis!
Vanessa Strawder says
Exactly the reason that I homeschooled my 5 children up to 4th grade!
Julia says
Play is very important for learning and being outside is healthy on so many levels. So glad we homeschool.
Maritza says
Our public schools are pretty much the same. Their recess is only 30 minutes, they get 20 min of lunch including waiting in line for food for those who don’t pack. The schools only goal is to pass standardized testing and most education is geared with only that goal in mimd. The child merely parrots what they are taught and are not required to comprehend just pass the test. I despise the public schools. My children are homeschooled now but I did the public school thing for years before I just had enough. Now we follow Finland’s educational system as our “standard”. I find my children comprehend things better and learn more and can think outside the box better than some adults. It is unfortunate it seems nowadays everything is political, like keep the politics with the politics and let the education of our children be to learn.
Randi says
On the movement in schools topic. This blurb has started showing up in my child’s school newsletter. I see them walking a large group of kids and parents to school each week now. It’s ‘the place to be’!
ATTENTION COLUMBIA STUDENTS
Come celebrate NATIONAL WALK TO SCHOOL MONTH!
Please join Mrs. XXX, Mrs. XXX and Ms. XX on Walktober
Wednesdays. This is a great way to start your day off with some exercise.
We will have a special guest each week. Come out and see who it is.
All students must be accompanied by a parent/guardian to Columbia.
Meet us at the Mukilteo Library at 8:25 am every Wednesday in October
(4, 11, 18 and 25) and walk to school. We will leave promptly at 8:35.
I really hope you will take advantage of this opportunity and start your day with me getting some
exercise. I am looking forward to seeing you on Walktober Wednesdays. Mrs. XXX
Lisa says
I believe that many children who teachers want to label as hyperactive and give them medication are actually play deprived. They don’t get recess or PE at school and then when at home are playing on video games. All their pent up energy has to come out sometime.
Julia says
I like the term “Play Deprived” it pretty much sums it up.
Linda says
Another thing that would help is earlier bedtimes. A child of 7 should not be up until 9 or 10 pm on school nights.
Kids who don’t get enough sleep don’t learn well, have behavior problems and may have health problems due to sleep deprivation
margery says
My son is in school from 8am to 3:40 they have two recesses outside unless raining or bitter cold. They are both 30 min, plus he and alot of the kids walk or bike to school. Teachers supervise recess, and gym is 50 min twice every Six days. At the high school just getting from class a to class b in 5 min is a quick walk and usually a couple flights of stairs, seven times a day. Our old school in NY the day for grade school went from 9 to 3:20 one recess, and gym or swim everyother day. Most kids were also bussed.
Timm Leighton says
Yes! Check out how they educate their kids in Finland! They rank number one in the world. The kids are happy and learning!
~ not a Girl Scout! I’m a Boy Scout who loves Mavis!
Pam Kaufman says
I was so frustrated with public school with my oldest that we decided to homeschool our youngest. Public school is all about testing. They don’t really care if they learn anything beyond passing the test. My daughter isn’t a morning person & would have struggled getting up at 6 a.m. We work around that by starting later and she is happier and ready to learn. Right now we are in Florida (from Michigan) enjoying a great field trip studying the great american alligator!!!
Erin says
During our parent orientation meeting with my son’s new teacher this year, I was appalled when one of the other parents questioned how much time the teacher had allotted for recess. Granted, these are 6th graders, not kindergarteners, but still! The father indicated the recess time would cut into valuable “worktime” for his son. I had to stop myself from speaking my mind. Children are in school to learn, not “work”, and recess is necessary to keep their minds primed. It’s bad enough when teachers are pressured into reducing recess in order to “teach to the test” for the district crap, but then to have to justify their decision to give the kids a needed break to the parents! Thankfully, the teacher stood her ground with respect and shared the fact that research has shown that kids do better in school with regular breaks to get outside and be active.
Amy says
Another perspective…
I have a daughter with sensory processing disorder – something it seems more and more children are being diagnosed with. Even for children who are allowed lots of outdoor play time, many still have fidget issues that are distracting to other students, even some who are distracting (some to the point of physically harming themselves). Because of these issues and others, not only the simple need for outdoor play/ physical exercise, some solutions include wiggle chairs, exercise balls, compression vests, lap pads/ weighted pads, etc help to provide needed sensory feedback that helps our children focus (despite the fact that they have already had outside play time, PE, and more! in their daily routines.
My children are home-schooled, so we don’t deal with many of the class-room dynamics, but I have also worked in public schools for years and have seen first hand children who struggle with focus – some because of a need for physical exertion (recess should never be with-held as a punishment, in my opinion – that just sets a child up for more failure and frustration – but that’s another issue…)
Wiggle pads, weighted lap pads, compression vests (basically a weighted vest or a snug fitting shirt for kids with sensory issues where more sensory feedback than normal is needed and extremely helpful to a child who struggles with these issues – there are many options to help kids self-calm using these simple “tools”.
There is a lot of research done on this, and more being done.
That said, I also believe diet and exercise are huge factors as well – kids pumped full of sugar, artificial sweeteners, artificial food dyes and flavorings, etc are GOING to have a much harder time focusing and behaving – kids with hyperactive tendencies are all the more impacted by these things. Keeping kids on a mostly healthy diet (a treat now and again isn’t the end of the world… but for some kids, red 40 or blue 1 is all it takes to make it feel like the end is coming to those around them!! oh my…) and giving opportunities for regular exercise… frequent seat breaks (get up and put something away, get up and get something from across the room – simple things that allow a child freedom to move about rather than being stuck in a chair for 6 or 7 hours a day – behavior I will add many adults have difficulty with! Healthy foods, daily exercise, freedom of movement within appropriate boundaries are all exceptional and helpful – but some kids do need more to succeed.
So, long answer to your question – I do think in many instances these things are actually helpful – outside/ play time is imperative to a child’s well being – but it’s not the only solution/ answer. 🙂
Jennifer says
Our school only teach toward the test. Everything they do is for some test or another…regular classes teach for the standardized tests, advanced classes teach for the college prep tests. I have one ADHD daughter who kept getting in trouble and missing recess. I had to intervene and ask that she be made to walk laps if she had been naughty…shockingly (not), the behavior was better when she had more excercise. She simply has no ability to focus if she hasn’t been fed and exercised (that isn’t a complete cure, but it does help a good bit with the behavior). My kids all do better when exercising, and I can always tell when they have been inside too long…grumpy little jerks that fight. I send them outside for chores or play, whatever I can think of, and it helps so much. It helps me to be outside, too…
It isn’t the teachers’ fault. It isn’t even the administrators’ fault…it’s the ridiculous amount of testing that the legislators feel needs to be done. My kids get less of an actual education than they should, and most of it is because they are being taught tricks and methods to solving tests correctly. My kids are not taught how to write a good paper, they are taught how to write a paper that will get a high score on a standardized test. I wish I was still homeschooling. They have to band-aid the problem…the teachers know, they just can’t act. It’s sad.
katie says
As someone with ADHD, I had gym class and recess, and extracurricular, and wobble chairs would have still been amazing. They really help you focus and get out that need to move in a easy and non-disruptive way. I could use one now at work.
And by giving them to everyone, it helps lessen the stigma of needing one. Kids should still have time to play of course, but the wobble seats aren’t just a bandaid for that — it’s for little distractable energy, not play energy.
Stacey says
My husband was a teacher until the Common Core requirements stifled his ability to do what he knew his students needed. He got out before he was mandated to change the curriculum he had developed in his all-inclusive classroom over a period of 13 years. He taught multiple grades, some years 7th and 8th, some years 6th – 8th, all subjects. The testing requirements were taking up more and more of the teaching time. For the last few years, he was required to teach sections on taking tests. Yes, he had to take time out of the real learning time to teach his students how to answer certain types of questions on tests. Many factors go into the education problem in our country, including thinking that spending more will increase test scores, a national curriculum will increase test scores, and teachers are to be rewarded on the basis of their students’ test scores. See the theme? Education has become about the schools instead of about the students. Education should be about expanding the mind, not about limiting to learning only certain things to make the school look good on paper.
KC says
Um, both? Enough work-off-the-energy time outside for the average kid, plus work-off-the-distraction tools inside, so all the kids can learn more effectively? For some students, the outside time will be enough for them to be able to sit still, but from the Olden Days of Probably Enough Recess, some kids are still going to have a hard time focusing without the extra help of wobble chairs, etc.
Then of course there’s getting enough good food to all the students so they’re not trying to learn while hungry or in a sugar crash, plus students having a stable home life, plus enough sleep, plus medication for those who actually need medication rather than just something to keep their hands busy so their brain can listen – it’s not a single-fix thing.
Jenny Young says
The world has gone crazy!
Snowma says
Thank you Mavis,
This speaks right to my heart. I am an instructional aide and recess monitor for a k/1 classroom. I also used to run a summer camp in my 20’s and studied child development in college. This is a gut wrenching issue for me on a daily basis
As our society confronts the notion that our kids are not performing academically where we want them to (not sure I agree) our only solution time after time has been “more”. More instructional minutes. More structured activities during play time. More academically focused after school programs. More tests. More assessments. More homework. And yes, more ridiculous gadgets and smart devices that one day we will look back on and shake our heads at. Too boot, its unclear (read we havent found evidence) its even working.
I counted up the number of free play outdoor minutes my school kids get. I work with 4.5 (T-K) to 6 year olds and I counted a whopping 30 minutes total between a snack and lunch time recess. I should point out that this is the total unstructured “free time” these kids get in a 7.5 hour day. Yes folks, this is Kindergarten. if you are reading this from your office, you will get more break time today than they will.
I was sure I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was small. I am a product of conventional public schools and proud of it but sadly I no longer aspire to work as an educator in conventional schools because we ignore so arrogantly what humans have known since the dawn of time. A tired, exercised child is a happy, focused one. Soon I will be looking for work in a Waldorf inspired school or in something different all together for this very reason.
Oh, and were once again giving our wonderful hardworking teachers the middle finger by not only paying them dismally but making their work day longer and tasking them with figuring out how the heck to get 25 squirrely students focused and productive. You can imagine the fun for all involved.
Whats a solution? Voice support for more and longer recesses. Parents have so much power and you would be surprised how much districts choose to go above and beyond mandated instructional minutes. That’s right, your district has a ton of flexibility when it comes to how long the school day is!