How much recess do 5 year olds get at your child's school?

[SarahBear]

We call the year in school different things in different countries, but where you are, how much recess do 5-6 year olds get?

I am considering sending my daughter to public school next year and I found an old schedule for kindergarten on their school website (nothing really seems to be updated on there). It's an all day kinder from 8:15 to 2:50. First recess is only 10 minutes and then they get a half hour for lunch and recess combined. I remember getting 15 minutes at first recess in elementary school. Lunch and recess were separate and there was at least a half hour just to play. It seems that we're teaching kids bad habits with eating and not giving them enough time to play. Does this schedule seem unreasonable to you?

 

[Zephram]

My son’s primary school in NZ is years 1-8, so ages 5 to 13ish. They start at 8:55am and finish at 3pm. They have morning tea from 10:30-10:50, then ‘brain break’ from 11:50-12pm, then lunch from 1pm-1:55pm.

Brain break is not something every school here does, the reason they start at 8:55 and not 9 is so they can have this little extra break for a snack and quick play. It’s awesome as it means they’re never going more than 1.5 hours without a break. Lunch is later in the day which works great since research shows kids work better in the mornings.

Are you saying kids there only have 40 minutes break all day?!!

 

[SarahBear]

That's what the schedule shows... Now it could possibly be misleading. As an autism consultant for the schools around here, I have observed the first grade and they start their day in the gym which doesn't show on the schedule. Perhaps there are additional breaks worked into the day that are not reflected in the schedule. However, it still seems like hardly anything... And only a half hour to eat and play just isn't enough, especially if we're trying to encourage healthy habits.

 

[LoraLoo]

Ours do 8.55am to 3.30pm.

They have 15 mins playtime at 10.45am.

Lunch time is an hour long. They usually spend about 15 mins eating and 45 mins playing.

Afternoon playtime is 2.15pm for 15 mins.

Playtime is always outside unless raining heavily.

 

[Zephram]

That doesn’t seem like very long for lunch. As an adult I had a couple of jobs where I only had 30 mins for lunch and I found it hard to fit in eating, peeing and socialising, so I can imagine it wouldn’t seem long enough for an active kid.

Our kids lunch/breaks here are always outside unless raining heavily too. Kids here have to take a packed lunch so they eat outside too and aren’t sitting in a cafeteria or anything for that time.

 

[ClairAye]

My son's school day is 9am-3pm and they get 20 minutes break in the morning, I'm unsure how long lunch is but I remember it being around 30-45 minutes.

 

[pompeyvix]

My Daughter is in Reception which is believe is the same as Kindergarten in the US. She starts at 8.45am and finish at 3.15pm. They have morning playtime from 10.15-10.30, an hour for lunch from 12-1 and then afternoon playtime from 2.15-2.30. On top of that , they have morning and afternoon snack time which lasts around 10 mins. I think that is reasonable for a child my Daughter's age and I think that is pretty similar to other schools in the UK. I know in KS2 (age 7/8 onwards) they drop the afternoon play time.

I wouldn't be happy at all for half an hour lunch including time to play. The poor kids will get indigestion from eating so quick!

 

[SarahBear]

I meet with the principal and kinder teacher next week... I'll have to ask about the schedule.

 

[noon_child]

NHS guidelines:
Guidelines for 5- to 18-year-olds
To maintain a basic level of health, children and young people aged 5 to 18 need to do:
at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day – this should range from moderate activity, such as cycling and playground activities, to vigorous activity, such as running and tennis
on three days a week, these activities should involve exercises for strong muscles, such as push-ups, and exercises for strong bones, such as jumping and running.
I rely on my child's playtime (recess) to give the majority of this exercise!

 

[LoraLoo]

That's another point. You have to think your child will be doing things like P.E, maybe drama etc to break up the day too.
I can only speak for our school but they are most definitely not just sat at a desk all day.

 

[Natsku]

Maria is at school from 9-13 and they are outside playing for the first 20/30 minutes, then out again part way through the day for the same amount, then lunch which is just eating time, and then outside for the last 20/30 minutes of the day. There's some inside playtime too. So between an hour and an hour and a half out of the four hour day.

 

[CaptainMummy]

school is 9-3 here. 15 minute playtime at 10.15, lunch is at 12.30 and lasts 45 minutes (to eat and play)
I'm pretty sure the little ones get outside in the afternoon too. They all get PE twice a week (45 mins/an hour) and they definitely don't sit at a desk all the time, even my daughter who is in p3 doesn't just sit all day. They do lots of practical things

 

[SarahBear]

Maria is at school from 9-13 and they are outside playing for the first 20/30 minutes, then out again part way through the day for the same amount, then lunch which is just eating time, and then outside for the last 20/30 minutes of the day. There's some inside playtime too. So between an hour and an hour and a half out of the four hour day.

Yeah... I've heard good things about Finland. Just did a quick google search to make sure I was thinking of the right country. Formal education starts at 7 and lots of free time, right? And also highly successful in educating children, right? Here, things are being pushed sooner and sooner. Formal education starts at 5 and we've moved from a half day play based model to a whole day formal instruction model with pressure to push more sooner and clearly cutting back recess too much. I don't think it will be long before an academic based Pre-K is standard. There is a free preschool system already available here for low income families and it's more academic and structured than what kindergarten (5-6 year olds) used to be. I have no issue with teaching academics to young kids, but it should be child-driven. Provide them with the tools and give them plenty of exposure and encouragement, but then let them take it from there! They will become interested and learn as they are ready. I also wonder if the local school will let me do a partial enrollment... homeschool half day and public school half day. That way the lunch and recess thing isn't an issue, but she still gets the benefit of the social aspect and learning away from home aspect of public schooling without some of the negatives of having an overly structured whole day with no free time. Honestly, she's doing well academically, and could use more social time with her peers. She's the oldest in her preschool and as a result it's been a bit of a dud year for her.

 

[Natsku]

Maria is at school from 9-13 and they are outside playing for the first 20/30 minutes, then out again part way through the day for the same amount, then lunch which is just eating time, and then outside for the last 20/30 minutes of the day. There's some inside playtime too. So between an hour and an hour and a half out of the four hour day.

Yeah... I've heard good things about Finland. Just did a quick google search to make sure I was thinking of the right country. Formal education starts at 7 and lots of free time, right? And also highly successful in educating children, right? Here, things are being pushed sooner and sooner. Formal education starts at 5 and we've moved from a half day play based model to a whole day formal instruction model with pressure to push more sooner and clearly cutting back recess too much. I don't think it will be long before an academic based Pre-K is standard. There is a free preschool system already available here for low income families and it's more academic and structured than what kindergarten (5-6 year olds) used to be. I have no issue with teaching academics to young kids, but it should be child-driven. Provide them with the tools and give them plenty of exposure and encouragement, but then let them take it from there! They will become interested and learn as they are ready. I also wonder if the local school will let me do a partial enrollment... homeschool half day and public school half day. That way the lunch and recess thing isn't an issue, but she still gets the benefit of the social aspect and learning away from home aspect of public schooling without some of the negatives of having an overly structured whole day with no free time. Honestly, she's doing well academically, and could use more social time with her peers. She's the oldest in her preschool and as a result it's been a bit of a dud year for her.

First grade starts the year they turn 7 but kindergarten recently became compulsory and that starts the year they turn 6 so some are still 5 when they start school but it's a very slow laid back start, highly focused on play. Can definitely understand your doubts about kindergarten if it's very academic and full-on - I would not like that at all! Children this age learn so much just through playing, there's no need for academics yet. But the social aspect is very important, and making friends from the start if they're going to be in the same school together for years - bit more difficult if you start a year later when friendship groups have already been established.

 

[SarahBear]

Haha, speaking of academics, my 3 year old recently picked up the math book that my oldest has been interested in. So even my 3 year old is getting "formal instruction" in math . OK, maybe not quite. We read the background info and the easiest story problem and then I do it on my fingers and he counts my fingers. He's starting to be able to actually understand how to count fingers instead of just pointing randomly.

 

[Natsku]

Ah that's great!

 

[Bevziibubble]

My DD's school is 8.55am to 3pm. She gets 15 minutes break time outside and one hour for lunch which is partly eating and partly playing outside. They do PE twice a week too.

 

[minties]

I don't know how long their breaks are, but they start school about 8:45, finish at 3 and have 3 scheduled breaks. Fruit break, lunch and brain break.

New entrants, of which Sophie is, have a classroom more like a preschool which is full of toys. There are no desks until the third year of school, just some round tables. Both of the kids have couches in their classrooms and Thomas's room has a smaller room off the side for kids to go and have some personal space as needed. It has a window seat and books and stuff.

The new entrants also get to go outside and play near the end of the day.

They also go swimming every day in summer, go to the library once a week etc.

 

[SarahBear]

So I met with the kindergarten teacher and principal today. They actually get a 15 minute recess in the morning and lunch and second recess combined is 40 minutes. However, the kinder teacher does do time in the gym or a movement break in class around 9:00. They have PE every day as well in the afternoon. And instruction is broken up into developmentally appropriate chunks with movement activities mixed in. We will give it a try.

 

[Natsku]

Sounds good, definitely worth a try and see how she gets on.

Love that they go swimming every day in the summer Minties! Wish they could do that at Maria's school, they just do one week of swimming.