The Washington Post – Julia Steiny
“A recess that is consistently short and very restrictive allows few opportunities for healthy sensory development – leading to potential difficulties with attention, learning, and behavior…What if we took a totally different approach to recess instead? A therapeutic approach that values the needs of the whole child and views recess as a form of prevention instead of simply time to get “energy out.” What if we let children fully move their bodies during recess time, let them get dirty, and even test out new theories? What would recess look like then? The closest I found to doing just that was the Swanson School in Auckland, New Zealand…I decided to meet Swanson’s principal, Bruce McLachlan, in person…His recess has gotten international attention, because he did something radical: he got rid of the rules. And guess what? When the rules left, so did their “behavior issues.” He saw more independence, improved creativity, healthy risk-taking, less falling, better coordination, and improved attention in the classroom. There were four main ways he changed his recess in order to see these improvements…They are:”(more)