one more "meddling mom" question about 4th grade re: recess....

[Cindy B]

What grades are you talking about??

Both of my kids are in Elementary, they both have recess every day.

I don't like that DD (4th grade) only has PE three times a week, I think it should be every day.

Like others have said our children need physical activity, fresh air, and a chance to play and make friends.

Only the prek - 2 are required to have recess. After that no one gets it.

After 2nd grade, the state testing begins. That is pretty standard in the few districts I have been in.

 

[mhsjax]

How many days a week/minutes per day does your 4th grader get recess?

Up until this year, our kids got daily recess, about 30 minutes a day (few minutes on each side allotted for leaving/returning to the classroom, so maybe 25 min total outside time.)

This year, 4th grade, the kids only get recess 3 days a week, and sometimes, on the days they *do* have recess, it is only 10 minutes. If you see my post about "makeup work" below...I am a little concerned about the increase in class size this year. So, when I casually mentioned to the teacher, "Oh, so they aren't going to have recess daily?" She said, "Well, because we have so many students, we just have too much work. And on days we do get recess, sometimes is is only a few minutes because with all the students we have, some are slow to pack up for the day, so we have to wait for them."

I winced because I am already not thrilled with the class size increase (this is a small private school DD has attended since preK3) and to hear the class size as an excuse bugs me. While the class size is not ridiculous...23 with a full time, certified teacher as an aide...I feel the teacher may be overwhelmed, as she only had 11 students in her class last year.

So...just wondering what kind of recess your 4th grader has! I don't know if there is a set amount that is required or what. Thanks!

ok, well um my child is in the 4th grade and they have 22 students and they get 30 recess everyday, really the class size isn't that big, and she has an aid, ours does not. Seems to me that the teacher needs to get a grip on the kids. Aslo my son had 23 kids last year in 5th grade an they also got recess. I think it is more than the class size that is causing the problem.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

I teach Kindergarten, but my school is K-5..our kids have 30 min of recess daily
I am surprised they said class size as a reason though. All our classes in my school haev between 15-25 students and we all haev the 30 min recess. I have 23 kindergarteners by myself and have recess daily

 

[MushyMushy]

You say it's a private school? I think I'd be switching! Where I live, middle school kids get "activity period" for 15 minutes after lunch. And with class sizes that large, I sure wouldn't want to be in a private school.

 

[SDFgirl]

When I taught we were required to have 30 minutes of vigorous activity per day. In reality, they probably got about 15 or 20 minutes a day. Luckily, our principal "looked the other way" if, on nice days, we kept them outside for 45 minutes or more.

Some days, we had a lot to do so we hustled them in early. Some days it was cold so everyone was miserable. On nice days, or if they've worked especially hard at something, I liked to keep them out longer and give them a break.

 

[twinmomplus2new]

The kids here get 25 minutes a per day. 20 minutes is the actual recess, the other 5 is chewed up by lining up and switching groups. The kids come out in 25 minutes segments 5 times in a row.
This is k-6

 

[mamamary]

My 4th grader gets 15 mts. of recess four days a week. Sometimes it outside/sometimes its just in the classroom. They only have phys. ed twice a week

 

[barkley]

kids at the school mine attend get 25 minutes for recess m-th, 20 minutes on fridays (fridays are always minimum days with a noon dismissal). they get a total of 30 minutes for lunch m-th but they follow lunch with p.e. m-th which lasts 30 minutes so that would mean they have physical activity for a bare minimum of 55 minutes per day, but if the students are like the majority that tend to eat their lunches pretty quickly they end up with closer to an hour and ten minutes per day (and they manage to do this while doing at least 2 more subjects per day than their public school peers in addition to this years addition to the schedual of 30 minutes daily choral and instrumental music instruction).

 

[padams]

Our elementary school has 30 minutes a day of recess after lunch for every grade including 4th. It's the highlight of Ds' day.

 

[stm61]

the elementary school my dd's attend has recess after lunch. Not sure the exact amount of time, but it's long enough for them to find things to fight about (gotta love twins lol). They're 4th gr, younger dd is 5K. Ds's in hs get some amount of time after eating, again not sure exactly, but I think lunch is maybe 30 min and they can go out as soon as they finish eating. Elementary has PE 2x a week, hs requires 1 semester in 4 yrs to graduate. Ds's take ROTC every year so their requirements are waived.

The district I work in allows 15 min a day in elementary school. I teach self-comtained EMD, currently 2-6th, with a 1st grader expected in the next few weeks. My supervisor tried to give me 5 min travel time on the schedule, the principal took it off! She says 15 min is the max allowed, period. I think the only grade that has recess right after lunch is 6th. The rest are scheduled any time from 10-2. My group eats at 11:30 and has recess at 1:15. There is a law that they must have X amount of movement time a week, but it doesn't have to be outside or free time. We can't take away their recess, legally, or make them stand against the wall, but we can make them walk. They also have PE 2X a week.

Compare this to the district we lived in when stationed in NJ. State law required 4 yrs of PE to graduate hs. From what I saw, that was a waste because by the time they get in the locker room, get changed, get into their spots for attendance, deal with all the notes/excuses, and get started doing something, they have maybe 15 min before they have to get changed again. I understand physical activity is important, but with all the additional requirements they keep piling on the kids, academics have got to come first sometimes. They had kids who had no lunch scheduled because they had to fit in X amount of classes in 4 yrs for their program, and had no time for a lunch period. (This district scheduled lunch for the same amt of time as every other class)

 

[JennaTX]

Only the prek - 2 are required to have recess. After that no one gets it.

After 2nd grade, the state testing begins. That is pretty standard in the few districts I have been in.

We have state testing here and the kids still have recess every day.

 

[Sayla1221]

Wow...I never ever thought about this before.

My kids have outdoor recess 15 minutes each day (even in our cold Quebec winter) and our 1 hours lunch is divided..30 minutes for eating, 30 minutes on the playground. My kids are in grade 1 and 3 and they have gym 3 times a week for 45 minutes each time. Physical activity is HUGE here. All of the teachers at our school agree that this is absolutely necessary and they find the students are more focused after they have "run/played" outside.

Here in Ontario (also quite cold!) K-8 get 15 minutes in the morning, 15 in the afternoon and 40 minutes after lunch. They also have gym 3 times a week, which is 40 or so minutes. It's the same length as all classes. At least, this is how is was when I was in school (12 years ago) and for my brother (2 years ago).

I'm absolutely shocked with the lack of activity some of the kids in this thread are getting! It's shameful! Even grownups get coffee breaks!

 

[Cindy B]

We have state testing here and the kids still have recess every day.

The districts that I am in has also unfortunately, failed the state test schoolwide for five years or more.

Also, I'm in a very dangerous urban area.. the concept of drive bys is a very real threat.

 

[Cindy B]

Here in Ontario (also quite cold!) K-8 get 15 minutes in the morning, 15 in the afternoon and 40 minutes after lunch. They also have gym 3 times a week, which is 40 or so minutes. It's the same length as all classes. At least, this is how is was when I was in school (12 years ago) and for my brother (2 years ago).

I'm absolutely shocked with the lack of activity some of the kids in this thread are getting! It's shameful! Even grownups get coffee breaks!

I have never had a job where I had a coffee break or had scheduled "15 minute breaks".