Texas School Triples Recess Time, Solving Attention Deficit Disorder (1 Viewer)

[Laron]

By Vic Bishop via The Waking Times (28th of Feb. 2017)​

"Public education is more stressful than ever for our children, as standardized testing requirements increase and programs like art, music and physical education are being phased out. The result of this type of environment is predictable, and the medical establishment and big pharma are making a killing by drugging active children with ADHD medications and other psychotropic drugs in order to ensure conformity.

There are better solutions. Meditation in schools is highly effective at reducing school violence and increasing concentration for learning. Higher quality nutritious and organic foods, rather than processed snack foods and fast foods, when served in school cafeterias are another part of creating an environment more conducive to the needs of children.

Simple ideas like this have been proven to work well in places like Finland, where students’ test scores improved along with increased play time, a case which serves as the inspiration for a program in Texas schools which have quadrupled the amount of outdoor recreational time, seeing amazing results in terms of overall increase in focus and decreases in distraction and behavioral interruptions.

“According to Today, the Eagle Mountain Elementary in Fort Worth, Texas, has been giving kindergarten and first-grade students two 15-minute recess breaks every morning and two 15-minute breaks every afternoon to go play outside. At first teachers were worried about losing the classroom time and being able to cover all the material they needed with what was left, but now that the experiment has been going on for about five months, teachers say the kids are actually learning more because they’re better able to focus in class and pay attention without fidgeting.” [Source]

The key to the success of the program is ‘unstructured play’ four times a day to break up the physical and mental monotony of the classroom, allowing developing minds and bodies to constructively use their energies, so that their may be more effectively applied in learning.

While administrators in schools trying the program initially thought it would negatively affect testing results, the results have proven that the opposite is in fact true, which is in line with how the American Academy of Pediatrics sees playtime.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees, calling recess “a crucial and necessary component of a child’s development.” Studies show it offers important cognitive, social, emotional, and physical benefits, yet many schools are cutting down on breaks to squeeze in more lessons, which may be counterproductive, it warns.” [Source]

Medicating restless children for them to better fit in to a dumbed down education system is a grave mistake, criminal even. Programs like these desperately need to be implemented nation wide.

“You start putting 15 minutes of what I call ‘reboot’ into these kids every so often and… it gives the platform for them to be able to function at their best level.” ~ Dr. Debbie Rhea, creator and director of the Liink Program" (there is a video included at the bottom of the article)

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[Lila]

Some teacher friends I know are onto this. One recalls sending one particular boy out to do a couple of rounds of running about the yard before attempting any writing with him. He'd be a basket-case beforehand and a perfectly capable student after the run around

Also, there is a book called Spark, the Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey that outlines lots of examples of mental health issues (including what is described above) that benefit from exercise. The author is a self-described 'adult ADHD' person who prescribes himself a scheduled break during his work day for intense exercise (he particularly likes the game of squash) and says he was one of the first people diagnosed with the adult version of ADHD.
Another school related issue he covers extensively in the book is that of making school start times an hour later, particularly for teens. He describes a whole slew of social issues (fights, etc) improving dramatically and I think the test scores did too The earlier school times have historically often been come by as an attempt to increase efficiency of things like school bus routes or help out desperate parents who have long commute and long work days It's a great read, I thought

 

[Pucksterguy]

I put my kids into sports Like soccer(football) hockey (ice and ball) etc for a similar reason since they were 5. It burned off excess energy, taught quick thinking under pressure and team play. All are still into some physical activity. Including me, I'm playing ice hockey on my 60th birthday soon. Gonna fit blades to my walker lol It all helps keep the mind sharper.

 

[Laron]

I think it's really important to do regular exercise for so many reasons!

It all helps keep the mind sharper.