Hellobee Boards

I didn’t read every word but skimmed the FAQ and I would not be happy to see this!!! I can see the spirit of it in terms of inclusiveness but isn’t that also a totally unrealistic expectation to give kids, that it will always be like that? Doesn’t it take away from their own learning of social skills and interaction with others? And yeah I’d be super unhappy they miss imaginative play. I don’t even have time to type up all my thoughts from this - and some may be off base since it’s a gut reaction - but I definitely hear your concern.

@kiddosc: I skimmed the FAQ and I'm wondering, do you know how much your school paid to have this group come in?

Ugh. When I was teaching in inner city Chicago, the administration took recess away entirely because a 7th grader broke her arm on equipment clearly designed for K-2. We had the kids at school 7:30-4:30 and no alternative for outside time. I had to fight to get a program like this implemented at our school because the alternative was no recess at all (and teachers still had to "teach" the playground curriculum).
All of which is to say, I think this sort of thinking also comes from lawsuits and concern for safety, but agree it's misguided and I would be really unhappy.

@kiddosc: I just glanced over it and I disagree with it. Let kids go run off their energy and play however they want to. I remember going to recess and just sitting and reading a book or playing kickball. They have structure in the classroom why recess now? I would also be concerned with the people coming and running this thing during recess- have they been checked out, safety etc. I’m sorry I just don’t agree!

My son's school has Playworks as a scheduled "class" 2x a week in addition to recess. I've met with the coaches that run the class and really appreciate the messages they're trying to instill and, honestly, my son loves Playworks. It's been a really positive experience at our school and most of the schools in Boston are trying to fundraise to get Playworks to their school as well. Not sure how it's being run for your school so you might want to find out if they really are going to be structuring all of recess or if it's like the other poster where it's once a month. In any event, I feel like you might want to get more info before you decide against it - it really isn't as harsh or controlling as you're making it out to be. They do have a full inclusion policy on games but it's not like they FORCE kids to play with each other, it's about having them learn to communicate with each other through play. A lot of the games are pairing kids up, work together for a task/challenge, then switch it up to a new pair after that task for a new task so that everyone gets to learn how to work with different people with an end goal. Also they run a leadership program for the older kids (usually in 5th and 6th grade) to teach them how to coach the younger kids and really develop their confidence, communication, and leadership. Anyway...I guess this goes to say I'm pretty passionate about Playworks based on my experience...not from some FAQ

@lisa1783: First, I think the FAQ is written from the perspective of the child who has friends. I re-read the FAQ on imaginative play and it states kids will be asked to invite others into their imaginative play. It’s a noble idea that chidlren should seek out others to play with and ask someone that is not already playing to join. In fact, I teach my only child this- when he sees someone his size on a playground I encourage him to ask him/ her to play. So let’s say the loner child was engaged in imaginative solo play and he/ she asks others to join and no one wants to. Then what? Does Playworks make the other kids play an imaginative game they don’t want to play? Does Playworks make the solo child join a physical game or team building activity they didn’t want to participate in? I guess I want to know how much intervention is done by the adults when kids (loner or not) don’t just go along with the planned activities. It’s not like recess has an infinite amount of time and getting coached by an adult for any part of it eats into that time.

I love the 5th grade/ 6th grade leadership academy part.