Michael yfdrediyab Hynes is the superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford School District on Long Island. As he confesses in this short and inspiring video, he loved school as a kid but gradually grew to hate it, and it’s only thanks to his love of tennis that he didn’t drop out. In fact, he hated school so […]
Tag Archives | recess
How Over-involved Can Adults Get at Recess?
Justin zsryfktere Murphy at The Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY reports that: Children at Pittsford’s Jefferson Road Elementary School who come up with a fun new game for the playground will need to do a few things before recruiting their classmates to play along. First, they should write out the name of the game, the rules of […]
Meet Superintendent / Thought Leader / Former Terrible Student Michael Hynes
It’s time for us all to become familiar with the work of Michael akhyzafbdn Hynes,  superintendent of  the Patchogue-Medford School District on Long Island and passionate promoter of PEAS: the physical, emotional, academic and social growth of kids, not just their test scores. Hynes put his district where his mouth is, doubling recess. Kids at […]
19 Is the New 60, When It Comes to Activity Levels
A recent Johns ysrnfnnehz Hopkins study found that today’s kids are so inactive that by the time they reach 19 they have the activity level of 60-year-olds. I have a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, “19 is the New 60,” looking at childhood sluggishness and making one blindingly simple suggestion. But first off: Why are kids […]
We Are Turning Our Children into Middle-Aged Slugs
Per usual, Angela Hanscom, author of “Balanced szzbzznree and Barefootâ€and founder of the outdoor program TinderNook, has penned another painfully insightful piece in the Washington Post about the way we keep kids safe. Too safe. So safe that we’re hurting them. This time, she interviewed some kids about what recess is like and got these […]
UPDATE: School Bans Blowing Whistle to End Recess — Too Loud and Scary For Kids
. Readers, the weekend has gotten away from me, so let me simply post this dhzysitdby article from The Independent, reporting that a school has stopped teachers from blowing whistles at the end of recess because the “aggressive” noise could scare some children: St Monica’s Catholic Primary School in Milton Keynes has said instead of […]
Rhode Island Out to Criminalize Latchkey Kids, Recess When It’s Cold, and More
. Congratulations, zttsfiifiz Rhode Island! Looks like you are about to become the proud parents of every child in the state, pushing aside those stupid “real” parents, because you know so much more about how to raise their kids than they do! Â According to this AP article by Matt O’Brien: Â State lawmakers are […]
How Can We Expect Kids to Suddenly Love the Outdoors?
. Susan Solomon is an architectural ykndtayars historian who studies the science of play, the architecture of playgrounds (among other things), and what it takes to get kids doing their thing outside. The first step, of course, is just that: Getting them out the door. In this post on her Science of Play blog, she offers a […]
Rhode Island Stops Tormenting Parents & Kids, Proposes Wonderful Bill — TODAY!
. Rhode ihrfyeibkd Island, you may recall, has proposed some of the most anti-Free-Range laws in America: *The law proposed by four legislators in 2014 that would have made it illegal to let any child under 7th grade get off the school bus without an adult waiting there to escort him or her home.That bill […]
Schools Try 4 Recesses a Day — Kids THRIVE
. Reading rszzkshntt this Today.com piece about four Texas schools that upped the number of recesses for their kids — with fantastic results — made my stomach clench. I thought back to my sons’ grammar school, which had only 20 minutes a day of recess, and took even that away when the kids were “acting […]