Importance Of Recess And Play Time For Small Children

The Importance of Recess and Play Time for Small Children Recess and play time has been the hallmark of any school life since formal education was established. Teachers, parents, caregivers and psychologists have all proven how essential play time is to a child’s cognitive, emotional, social, fine motor skills and language development. The decision by the school board to eliminate recess and play time and to increase classroom learning activity for small children to meet ‘universal standards’ or compete with China is backward thinking, to say the least. â€Å"The problem arise when standards are driven by motives other than what is best for children† (Mooney, 2013, p. 92). Not only that, but the decision to eliminate recess and play time â€Å"are both unfair to individual children and unachievable by most teachers† she noted. Children learn best when they are active while learning. While we all can agree that mathematic is crucial and a structured classroom curriculum to meet the demands of a global society are important, other life skills, which are also important, are provided in an environment where the child is free to direct his/her learning, which often relies heavily on play. In her book Theories of Childhood, Mooney (2013) wrote that Erik Erikson believed â€Å"if we encourage preschool children to use their energy in an active and involved way, their confidence will grow. Their competence will increase.† This means that recess and play time are critical to development.Show MoreRelatedThe Importance of Break Time or Playtime in Primary School2243 Words   |  9 Pageson how they look at break time or playtime. Many people fail to give importance on break time or playtime in primary school. Thus, the duration given for playtime in primary school level has eventually reduced down the years. The NF (2014) states that ‘school breaktimes are getting shorter despite pupils and teachers recognizing them as an important opportunity for physical exercise and socializing’. Rochman (2012) mentioned that ‘playtime can be as important as class time for helping students performRead MoreThe Importance Of Recess And Time For Physical Activity2233 Words   |  9 Pagesbreaks or recess, children are asked to focus for a longer period of time than most adults do in a day. Everyone benefits from breaks in the day and these coffee or recess breaks allow people to return to a task more focused and with improved concentration. Removing recess and unstructured physical activity time from the school day can have a serious impact on children’s health and well-being. Recess and time for physical activity is not only important to the overall health of children, it also providesRead MoreThe Importance Of Recess And Time For Physical Activity2227 Words   |  9 Pagesbreaks or recess, children are asked to focus for a lon ger period of time than most adults do in a day. Everyone benefits from breaks in the day and these coffee or recess breaks allow people to return to a task more focused and with improved concentration. Removing recess and unstructured physical activity time from the school day can have a serious impact on children’s health and well-being. Recess and time for physical activity is not only important to the overall health of children, it also providesRead MoreTaking a Look at Childhood Obesity1842 Words   |  7 Pagespopulation. It also stands as the most prevalent medical issue in American Children. In the past thirty years, obesity has affected many different age groups of kids. 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