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Elementary School Recess

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Children in elementary schools all over the United States long for the moment that they are released to go to recess. It is a time for them to let loose, relax, and simply refresh their minds to get ready for the rest of the day. However, school boards as well as teachers around the country have begun to cut back on recess time or, in some cases, eliminate it completely in order to “maximize educational intake”. The obvious benefit of the use of recess is physical enrichment, however there are many other crucial outcomes involved with recess. Recess is a pivotal piece in the development of a child’s focus, ability to retain informations, and social skills, which are several reasons as to why recess should be implemented in elementary schools …show more content…

With the implication of unstructured play, students are able to free their minds from the tasks of the day, then focus back in afterwards. The constant cognitive switch from activity to education and vice versa allows students to hone their focusing skills. Studies have been conducted to test this idea and one of them found that a “teacher’s rating of classroom behavior scores were better for children with some recess than for those with none/minimal break” (Pellegrini). Providing children time to take a break from learning allows them to heighten their ability to focus when back in the classroom. This is because they are able to release all of their pent up energy in their allotted recess period. Recess allows children to enhance their ability to focus in the classroom in order to maximize their intake of knowledge for the …show more content…

According to an article from AAP News & Journals, “after recess, for children or after a corresponding break time for adolescents, students are more attentive and better able to perform cognitively” (Murray). This shows that students who are given a recess can soak up the given information better than those who are not. In turn, this allows students to be more successful in the classroom due to information being easily retained. This demonstrated in places such as Finland and China who have very successful education systems. These places have some of the most highly ranked schools in the world. As stated in an article by Alia Wong, “Finnish kids get more than an hour of recess every day” and “East Asian countries like China—the land of nine-hour school days and weekend cram classes—most schools give kids a 10- or even 20-minute break after each class, or about every hour.” As previously stated above, these parts of the world have the most renowned school systems, but they also allow kids a lot of time for breaks. Student success in the classroom is largely impacted by the use of recess in

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