Shrinking Recess Part 2: Cognitive & Academic Achievement |
posted by: Melissa | September 10, 2019, 05:45 PM |
Guest Post by Arthur Grant Today we present the second installment in our blog series, Shrinking Recess. In today’s installment, we list the ways that recess can affect the cognitive and academic achievement of our students. For each effect that we list, there will also be a key paper that you can read if you wish to learn more. As always, you can read the entire series at Muddy Smiles. Read on below to see four effects that Recess has on cognitive and academic achievement. Recess Improves Attentiveness Kids get the most value out of their school time when they’re paying attention in class, and that can be hard for them to do when they’re trapped in the classroom for long periods of time without a break. Recess gives kids a break from focusing on their schoolwork so that when they return to class, they’re really ready to learn. A group of field experiments were conducted on elementary school children in order to determine the effect of recess timing on kids’ classroom behavior. In the first experiment, kindergartners, second and fourth graders had their recess time pushed back by 30 minutes. The second experiment used the same concept on another group of second and fourth graders in the same school. In both experiments, the longer kids were deprived of an opportunity to play, the more their attentiveness declined. After the kids were allowed to take recess, their attentiveness improved. (Source) Key study/paper: Pellegrini A. et al. (1995). “The effects of recess timing on children’s playground and classroom behaviours”. American Educational Research Journal, 32(4) Recess Leads to Positive Classroom Behavior Valuable learning time gets lost when kids misbehave in the classroom, and boredom and restlessness are two major culprits in provoking impish antics in kids. Scheduling some time for them to goof off and be kids doesn’t just make them happy, it also calms them down and prepares them to focus during their lessons. Key study/paper: Ramona M Barros, Ellen J Silver, Ruth Ek Stein. (2009). “School recess and group classroom behaviour”. Pediatrics, 123(2),431. Recess Increases Cognitive Performance Starting at a young age, time for social and physical free play at school can play a major role in how much kids thrive in the classroom. We want their time in school to be meaningful, and when they’re drudging through tasks and out of energy for focusing, they need some time to chill out and interact with friends. Key study/paper: Pellegrini D et al. (2006). “The effects of different recess timing regimen on preschoolers classroom attention”. Early Child Development and Care 17(6):735-748. Recess Boosts Academic Achievement When kids stay physically active, they reap numerous benefits. Not only are they less likely to struggle with obesity, they’re also forming meaningful habits that will have a positive effect on their long term health and learning to enjoy staying fit. There’s also evidence that the kind of moderate to intense physical activity that recess provides can reduce social and emotional issues, thus improving academic performance. Key study/paper: Yunting Zhang, Donglan Zhang, Frederick Ho, et.al. (2019). “Social-emotional functioning explains the effects of physical activity on academic performance among chinese primary school students: A mediation analysis”. The Journal of Pediatrics 208:74-80. This is a multipart series and we'll be releasing a new section every week. Part one can be read here. Part three can be read here. Arthur is a writer, researcher, and father with a keen interest in the science behind play. As chief editor for Muddy Smiles, he advocates for (loads) more unstructured play within education and at home.
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