Kids need time to explore their environment and take time for imaginitive play.
Shane D. Shirley-Smith - Orlando, Florida
If you are like me, you may wonder what the heck is going on in our schools these days. When I was a kid, I spent so much time outside because it seemed like I had all the time in the world. I went to school, maybe did a little homework and then blasted outdoors to build castles out of leaves, flip around endlessly on my swing set bars and okay maybe once set the woods on fire behind my house; but most of my exploration was harmless.
Harmless, but so important to my development.
Think about it. These days with the No Child Left Behind Act, kids are spending more time after school doing homework and less time outside. This is work which used to be done in school which is now pushed into after school hours to make room for test prep, pre-tests and testing. Furthermore, time in school is less about hands-on, outdoor learning and more about learning how to take and pass "THE TEST".
My family is very lucky in our area to have excellent teachers who still find the time to take kids outside to learn; but is every kid so lucky? Recess at some schools has even been dropped on days the kids have PE. When do kids learn about their environment?
Please take a moment and visit http://shaneshirleysmith.blogspot.com/
Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to read this message. Now let's go and get those kids outside!
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
