Anyone Up For Four-Square?

It's official: kids need recess.

"A study published this month in the journal Pediatrics studied the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children age 8 and 9. Those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. Although disadvantaged children were more likely to be denied recess, the association between better behavior and recess time held up even after researchers controlled for a number of variables, including sex, ethnicity, public or private school and class size."

I'm just surprised that kids are being denied recess. I know the idea is probably to get as much work in the day as possible, but honestly, if I were a teacher I could not handle that either. Everyone--no matter their age--needs to take a break at some point in an eight hour day. A couple of breaks, preferably. Your brain just can't handle that much attention.

It's also a good time for kids to get active and learn how to socialize. Kids may not remember the state nicknames, but they will take those basic social skills into adulthood.

Plus, I would love a good game of four-square again.