As teachers we are responsible to help the children grow. I feel that this doesn't stop with academics, we should contribute to helping with lifeskills too. The undertanding would be that this is a collaborative effort between schools and home. The parents have this same responsibility with the home life. Sometimes one end doesn't hold up their responsibility. But if both ends gives in then the kids have no support. As teachers we do our best to hold up our end and encourage parents to do the same. One way in with this happens is by helping the kids to learn to make good choices in relation to their health. By creating ways for the kids to build their own responsible habits we can help them to take care of themselves for life.
I was reading over our articles and the one that keeps jumping out at me is in regards to children and play, "Children's Lack of Playtime". I have been working with kindergarteners and preschoolers this year and the concept of time to play is always in the back of my mind. I think this free exploration time is so important to the development of the young. It can get overlooked at school due to the importance of standards and amount of time spent on classroom management in the young grades. It can get overlooked at home by parents overbooking their schedule with organized events or not helping to create the avenues for their free exploration. Academics and organized events are important for building skills, but they are still kids, right? This article discussed the importance of recess during the day and stated that "children tend to be even more active when they are initiating their own play." Creating their own fun and imaginative ways to be active will build these assets as interests that keep them moving.
Preparing children to make their own responsible choices will create values that stick with them for life. The article, Federal Bill Targets Junk Food in Schools, talks about take junk food completely out of schools. Is this really the way to be responsible teachers? I don't know that completely removing junk food is the best way to approach this issue. Then the students go home and can eat twice the amount they otherwise would have consumed. Or, like someone stated in class, they can bring in pop from home. Yes, what they do at home is the responsibility of parents. But while they are at school teachers can use this as a teachable moment. The article states that the typical school lunches are balanced, but kids replace the healthy items with sugar. Assuming this is correct, and the lunches are balanced, by teaching them to make good health choices they will instill life long values. Hopefully these values will help in the areas of obesity and other health concerns. (Attention: This is all assuming that the lunches are balanced, as the article states. Celeste pointed out in the class that this isn't always the case, which I agree with, but that is a different issue.)
Overall, I know it is so hard to fit all we need to do into the 6 hours the children are in school. But, by utilizing teachable moments, encouraging active lifestyles, and supporting good choices we can hopfully assist the students in creating healthy habits to stick with them for life. This is our way to contribute to their well-being, and lets hope that the homes will do the same. :)
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That "play time" article really stuck with me, too, Steff. Even beyond the lack of "scheduled" free time (like recess)where kids can choose their activities is the fact that they have almost no time to actually choose when to play. (I noticed this when my son was temporarily in day care; they had time to play--but only when it was "play time." If he wanted to read or fnish whatever he was "working on"--oh, well, it was time to go outside. I'm not sure, but I always wondered about this generation growing up with everything scheduled out for them from their earliest days....
ReplyDeleteI think this quote of yours really sheds some light on the "whose job is it?" question: "Yes, what they do at home is the responsibility of parents. But while they are at school teachers can use this as a teachable moment."
It's true Steff--so many teachable moments at school--makes what they know and learn our responsibility. I'll accept that responsibility and I sure hope that the parents accept their responsibilities too! Maybe we need to follow through on teachable moments for parents too.:)
ReplyDeleteRecess is indeed an important time of the day. If we as adults need a break in our day, if the courts can take a "recess" from their duties, if others in the job scene require a "break" before they can return to their duties, how much more should our youngsters have such a time, to refresh and re-energize their bodies and minds so that they may concentrate on the academics. I have heard of some congressmen wanting to discontinue the practice of recess. I have also heard that there are some school districts that have already removed recess in an effort to gain more time to teach academics. In the article "The Disappearance of Recess" by L. Marie Wise (posted on www.K12academics.com), it was stated that "40% of the nation's 1600 school districts have either eliminated recess altogether or severely reduced the time spent on what is considered an activity with little to no educational value". It also supported the idea that recess contributes to a child's cognitive and intellectual needs. An article entitled "Value of School Recess and Outdoor Play" from the National Association for the Education of Young Children listed 6 benefits of outdoor play: 1. Play is an active form of learning that unites the mind, body, and spirit. Until at least the age of nine, children's learning occurs best when the whole self is involved. 2. Play reduces the tension that often comes with having to achieve or needing to learn. In play, adults do not interfere and children relax. 3. Children express and work out emotional aspects of everyday experiences through unstructured play. 4. Children permitted to play freely with peers develop skills for seeing things through another person's point of view - cooperating, helping, sharing, and solving problems. 5. The development of children's perceptual abilities may suffer when so much of their experience is through television, computers, books, worksheets, and media that the sense of smell, touch, and taste,, and the sense of motion through space are powerful modes of learning. 6. Children who are less restricted in their access to the outdoors gain competence in moving through the larger world. It is frustrating to see that recess is not valued in our school day. My children, as well as those in the district in which I teach, are given very little time to play. Teachers are frustrated with trying to accomplish all they need to do and they see the value of the students taking a break, yet recess is the first thing to be lost for behavior or in an effort to make up work. On the other hand, what I have witnessed on the playground (as I have had 4th/5th grade duty these past two weeks), shows me that students don't know how to play with each other. There are too many fights and accidents and it is frustrating to see the kids "waste" their free time being disciplined. I wonder if this lack of "play ability" is something that comes from our culture of technological advances where now kids sit in front of tv or play Nintendo rather than going out a playing a game of ball until dusk. Just a thought.~~~
ReplyDeleteSteff- I agree with a lot of your points, especially when you talk about it being the responsibility of both the school and home regarding these lifeskill issues. It's easy to see that the "art" of just "playing" for fun is something that kids struggle with these days, which to me is really sad. You have some kids who spend so much time being sedentary with tv, computers and video games to play; and on the opposite end of the spectrum are kids who are involved in sports, music lessons, and so many other activities they don't have time to just relax and use their imaginations. That is one reason why I believe that recess is SO important for young children, especially when they are able to go outside.
ReplyDeleteSteff I agree with you. Teachers and the schools need to work together with the parents as I have said in my presentation on obesity. Our role as a teacher is so important because the schools are the key settings for health strategies to prevent/decrease the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Also as mentioned before children spend a large portion of their time at school and this is where lifestyle and behavior choices associated with obesity begins. Teachers definately have a huge impact on these issues mentioned. Also, the schools alone cannot instill the importance of a healthy diet or responsible decisions without the help of parents/guardians. I feel that teachers and parents need to work together to educate students on healthy and responsible decisions. According to the school health alert newspaper "while our attention is on preventing overweight among youth, we need clear messages to adults (parents and school personnel) who are role models and whose actions influence the effectiveness of our interventions with kids". Although we cannot fix these issues we certainly can create the awareness needed to prevent even more devastating statistics in our schools.
ReplyDeleteNancy, your observation that kids don't know how to play with each other-"too many fights and accidents"--is both illustrative and confounding. It seems kids can't do the very thing we are saying they need to do...because they are not getting the opportunity to do it...?Or is it something else?....
ReplyDeleteSteff-
ReplyDeletePlay and recess is so important. Especially with the lack of physical education time in schools. Unfortunately children today don't always get the play and recess that they need. You will always have those teachers who punish students for whatever reason by taking away their recess time. With as little time as kids get for gym, teachers should not be permitted to take recess away. I know from working at a child care center that even my 12-18 month olds need to get and run around or just sit in the buggy and go for a ride outside. Kids don't want to be cooped up in the classroom all day, nor do teachers want them in the room all day too. Let them have that time. We need to do everything possible to help our children live a long and healthy life.