Nothing To Do

npr:

“A new report on why children in day care are sedentary suggests that it’s not the care providers, but the parents, who are mostly to blame.”

—

Parents are the biggest obstacle to letting kids play, says study in Pediatrics - On Parenting - The Washington Post

I thought this was very interesting. It rings true in my class of 3-year-olds. We are accredited, and required by that accreditation to have the kids outside for upwards of 2 hours a day (we are open 11.5 hours) as long as weather permits. Parents have complained that their children come home too dirty and asked us to have them stay out of (or exclusively in) certain areas of our playground. One parent eventually took a child out of our program because of concerns about the child getting hurt outside (the child went home with small scrapes about 4 times after falling while running around on the playground… remember, he’s 3). In our classroom, we try to keep the kids active, especially on days when we can’t go outside. We have had dance parties on some days, and once even set up an obstacle course across the whole room using furniture. That being said, in a small-ish classroom with 20 kids, it is hard to have high energy activities in the building without the whole class descending into chaos.

I do not think that 2-3 hours out of a total 11.5 is necessarily enough time to be outside/playing vigorously, but one must remember that our day consists of about 4 hours of imaginative/creative play time, 2 hours of nap time, and 2 hours of eating time, with only the remaining 1.5-2 hours left for structured academic activities. Unfortunately, part of our job in the preschool/day care setting is to prepare our kids for school in the future. Most of the schools in my area have only 30 minutes to an hour of recess a day. It’s a challenging balance between letting kids learn and grow in what might be considered the “natural” way and preparing them for the strict, structured realities of 21st century US schools. How do you expect a child to transition from 2 hours of outside free play and 2 hours of nap per day to 8+ hours in a classroom with maybe 1 hour outside, and no nap? What is best for kids, or adults for that matter, and their learning anyway? Should we continue having recess until middle school? High school? College? Should we do away with desks and drills and tests altogether? The person who figures that out will make millions.