Hi Bruce:
You certainly got that right!!
When my son was in elementary school not so long ago, the (very overweight) teacher and (very overweight) aide believed that children should NOT have recess if they were struggling readers — so recess was canceled for the entire class and PE was honed down to a bare minimum of minutes, just three times a week for a very short time.
As the mother of a young son, I know how restless boys can be and sitting for that long for him was pure torture! Boys (and girls) need to run around, play, climb, yell, ride bikes, run — every single day. I told the teacher that PE and recess were just as important as anything she was doing in that room — and that’s why one of the reasons I believed my son was struggling with reading.
That and he was NOT ready to read until he was older — like around eight, which I found out runs in my family (of scientists, mathematicians and chemists).
Of course, he picked up reading by the 5th grade — after numerous tests to see “what was wrong” — done WITHOUT my knowledge or permission. Fortunately, a wonderful school psychologist tested him — said he was the highest kid she’d ever tested (he just couldn’t read!!). — the recommendation was to leave him alone and that he’d get it when he was ready, which is exactly what happened.
He spent time in a reading lab with a great teacher who was 100% phonics all the way and that’s what worked. The first book he read was Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy from our home bookshelf.
It would have been over MY DEAD BODY to prescribe him ritilin.
As a high school teacher, I’ve seen firsthand what ritilin does to kids — turns them into affectless zombies.
Bon,
That is a sad and strange story, what those overweight people wanted.
I tend to think recess and exercise should be considered necessary and nonnegotiable. As you say, those things are just as important as anything else going on in the classroom.