Contributed by JC Boushh East Providence Elementary School, Rhode Island eliminates recess for its elementary students to make time for a more comprehensive physical education program. In laymen’s terms out with free-play and in with Marine Corp. calisthenics. National statistics on recess indicate that approximately 50% of children are not getting recess in the United States public school system. Some of the reasons given for eliminating recess…

Contributed by JC Boushh With the incredible advances in technology kids today have a very short distance to go to be entertained. The internet, texting, and satellite TV have brought children into a world of constant stimulation and entertainment. Today’s children cannot tolerate solitude or boredom, and they seem to be in a constant state of alert. In essence parents, teachers, and caregivers have become cruise directors for kids, thereby stif…

Contributed by JC Boushh A recent article on The Many Benefits of Recess in Schools cites the Council on Physical Education for Children position paper on the crucial role recess plays in school academics. Recess allows children to take a break from the pressure of academics and allows them to practice major life skills; conflict resolution, cooperation, respect for rules, taking turns, sharing, using language to communicate, and problem solving…

Contributed by JC BoushhMany teachers and school administrators feel that recess has moved from being a time of free-play and games to a time of conflicts and woes. Is the answer to restoring order during recess the addition of recess coaches?Schools around the country are adding recess coaches and structures recess to their current recess time in order to eliminate many of the problems associated with recess.Jill Vialet of Playworks based in Oa…

Contributed by JC Boushh With the school year fast approaching a new film by Paramount Pictures is ready for release on September 24. Waiting for Superman examines the current state and continuing crisis of our public education system through the stories of several students.The film’s Director Davis Guggenheim states in the film’s press release; "I made this film for and about kids and their parents, struggling to get a quality education in…

Contributed by JC BoushhResearch by Dr. Antonio Convit may link academic performance with child obesity. In a recent article in the Huffington Post he shared his findings on the possible negative effects of childhood obesity. Dr. Convit began his research studying childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes, and soon began to see a possible correlation with obesity and cognitive learning. He used several research methods to test children’s performance…

Contributed by JC Boushh
A 2009 study by Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University researchers published in Pediatrics links recess with better behavior and increases in student’s ability to learn. The study looked at approximately 11,000 third grade boy and girl students, who were enrolled in the National Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. What researchers found was that children who had more than 15 minutes a day of unstructure…

Contributed by JC BoushhThe human brain is a miraculous organ, and over the last two decades we have learned more about the brain than we have in the entire history of the human race. Advancements in brain imaging have allowed researchers to discover a vital link between brain health and physical activity. The effects of physical activity increase the brain’s ability to learn and make vital neural connections throughout our lifespan and especial…

Educators and neuroscientists are beginning to understand the importance of recess. Years ago kids went to recess as it was good for their health to get outside, experience the fresh air and get a break from sitting inside classrooms for extended periods of time. Today we are beginning to recognize the many other benefits of recess as well.


Sutapa Ray, a neuroscientist with the Bellevue children's software company Neuropath Learning identi…

By Andrea Bossenmeyer


If you've never seen a video by Common Craft I may first ask you if you've been living under a rock? But second, I highly recommend you visit their site! Common Craft They create these exceptionally simple videos to explain things.

I believe Common Craft is a great resource for teachers and schools! A really easy way to make learning interesting and fun, with video.

They just released a new video, this one explaini…

I ran across this interesting article from the Huffington Post called,
Attention Deficit Disorder: Ritalin Or Recess?

It explores the relationship between recess and ADHD and reviews the CDC report that I referred to in my blog on April 20.

You might remember that I referred to the April 15 release by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new report on school-based physical activity and its association with academic performance.

Th…

CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH) released a new report, entitled The Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education, and Academic Performance, on April 14, 2010. The report indicates that school-based physical activity may help improve students’ grades and test scores and positively affect other factors that influence academic achievement. The report also concludes that adding time during …

"Some shortsighted people thought that cutting back on time spent on physical education to spend more time drilling for tests would improve test scores," says Howell Wechsler, director of the Division of Adolescent and School Health for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"But there are a lot of studies that show that more time for PE and other physical activity help improve academic performance."

He and colleagues …

Reading and math are important, but so are social studies, science, the arts and recess, Duncan said Monday on ABC's ''Good Morning America.''


Expanding on and explaining President Barack Obama's proposal to change NCLB legislation, Duncan said the new focus goes beyond math and reading to ''a well-rounded education,'' Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Thursday in the NYT.

NYT article: Duncan: More …

Study author Lesley Cottrell, an associate professor of pediatrics at West Virginia University, in Morgantown stated that, "Children's physical fitness is associated with their academic performance," according to a two year study completed recently.

In general, the fitter the student, the better the test scores, Cottrell's team found. The researchers evaluated almost 1,200 students, assessing their fitness in the fifth grade and…

The 2009 year was another successful and satisfying year at Peaceful Playgrounds. In the final two days of 2009 we will share a quick overview highlighting some of our activities and services.

Ten Tips to Getting Your Grant Funded. A grant is a monetary award given by a government agency, foundation, corporation, or other entity to another body in order to plan, implement or operate a particular program or fund a particular project. Learn how …

A new study has found that the greater the cardiovascular fitness, the higher the cognitive scores at age 18.

Further, "The study found that having better cardiovascular health as a teenager was linked to not only higher scores on intelligence tests, but more education and a higher income years down the road."

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

For some time, researchers have known that exercise changes the structure of the brain, resulting in improvements in concentration, fidgeting and creates new brain cells.

The body-mind link is well documented. But current thinking and actions (like eliminating recess and physical education) leads me to question if some decisions reflect the cliché that "our bodies exist to carry our heads around."Current thinking on the topic however, a…

The Express Star News
Story from the Chickashanews.com
October 30, 2009




Putting the Map on Grand

Teachers, students, and PTO members at Grand Avenue Elementary recently finished a Fifty Nifty United States project.

They produced a painted outdoor map of the United States.

The concrete was provided for this large outdoor map of the United States by the Grand Avenue PTO. Peaceful Playgrounds stencils and kit were made possible by the Chickasha School Fo…

Photo Leah-Anne Thomps

After school let kids play. Young kids shouldn't struggle with homework for academic purposes. Research suggests that kids better off playing than doing homework in early years.

The Sydney Morning Herald ran an interesting article on homework on Monday. The article points out something that teachers have know for a long time, "there is no evidence that homework benefits achievement during the early school years.…