Some schools in Texas are going against the grain when it comes to recess. Instead of cutting it out like many districts do in order to spend more time on core subjects, they鈥檙e adding additional recess periods.
Six elementary schools in the state are participating in the , a research study on the effects of kids having multiple recess periods a day.
鈥淚 tell parents all the time that kids are not hardwired to sit still all day,鈥� said Bryan McLain, the principal of . His school implemented the program this academic year for students in kindergarten and 1st grade. Second graders are set to participate during the 2016-2017 school year. 69传媒 in the program have four 15-minute recess periods a day.
That鈥檚 certainly not the norm in schools across the country. The National Center on Education Statistics reports that in 2005 the majority of public elementary schools had recess with 55 to 66 percent of them offering it once a day. But many experts believe those numbers may be lower now as the emphasis on high-stakes testing has increased.
In Florida, pushed the legislature to mandate it by law. Their effort failed. The measure passed in the state house but never got a hearing in the state senate.
The group was asking for a total of 20 minutes of recess a day.
said that鈥檚 not enough. She holds a PhD in education from the University of Houston and works at Texas Christian University where she鈥檚 a professor in kinesiology and the associate dean for research and health sciences. She also runs the LiiNK Project.
Sedentary Kids
鈥淲e are sitting our students in the seats way too many hours of the day, so we鈥檙e creating very sedentary kids,鈥� said Rhea.
She said that has negative implications for physical fitness and socialization.
The agrees, calling recess a 鈥渘ecessary break鈥� from academic work that offers 鈥渃ognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits.鈥�
Rhea said her work so far with LiiNK has proven that. 69传媒 participating in the program offer students four 15-minute recess periods per day, two before lunch and two after. This is only implemented after teachers and administrators have been trained extensively in the program, which is modeled on the way elementary schools operate in Finland. Right now, the program is in place in four public elementary schools and two private elementary schools in Texas. But there are plans to expand it to schools in Oklahoma and across the country. Ten more schools are expected to start the program in the fall. The program also includes a character education curriculum, which the teachers lead three times a week for 15-20 minutes each time.
69传媒 that participate in the LiiNK Project offer recess that is unstructured, outdoors, and kid-centered.
鈥淢eaning that the teacher doesn鈥檛 set up the rules for the kids, and they don鈥檛 set up games for the kids鈥� said Rhea. 鈥淲hat recess does is it gives them that time to socialize. It stimulates brain function. It builds their bodies. Emotionally, they鈥檙e less stressed and less anxious as a result.鈥�
And, she said, those benefits carry over once students leave the playground.
Classroom Benefits
鈥淲hen they come back to the classroom, they鈥檙e much more focused, much more on point and ready to take in material,鈥� said Rhea. 鈥淭hey do better on tests. They do better on everything when they have that.鈥�
McLain said office referrals are down at his school, and parents and teachers like the program, despite some initial concerns about the loss of class time.
鈥淲hat we have found is that our instructional time has actually increased,鈥� said McLain. 鈥淭he time that might have been focused on redirecting students or reteaching because of misbehavior now we don鈥檛 have to do that because the kids are more focused.鈥�
The program is only three years old, and Rhea is still collecting data. But, she said, so far she鈥檚 seen positive results across the board.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter about race, doesn鈥檛 matter about economics, doesn鈥檛 matter where they live,鈥� said Rhea. 鈥淎ll of them are improving. It鈥檚 changing their focus dramatically.鈥�
(Photo: Kids at Eagle Mountain Elementary in Fort Worth, Tex., play on the monkey bars during recess.) (Courtesy Bryan McLain)