Is this normal in Montgomery County?
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Anonymous
| My DD informed me today that she didn't have recess. It was raining and she had PE at the end of the day today. I asked what happened after lunch and she told me she had to go back to her classroom. I asked if she played in her classroom and she told me no. My DD is in K. Is this normal that on days when it's not possible to go outside that recess is canceled? And, why would they double up on PE and call it recess? We are new to public school and I really do want to know if this is normal or not. |
Anonymous
| Yes, God help us, is true. |
Anonymous
| OP again. Ok, does this mean that pretty much all winter (if there is snow on the ground) they don't go outside and recess is canceled? I just assumed they would have kids bring their snow gear in so they could go outside for a bit during the day. |
Anonymous
| At our school they have indoor recess when it rains or is too cold (or too hot). Perhaps your DD did have indoor recess today but couldn't discriminate? |
Anonymous
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Yes, recess gets cancelled ALOT. Kids spend the time inside in their classroom playing games, etc. I think it varies by school but if its < 35 degrees no recess. Reasoning I heard is that some kids don't have good coats.
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Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks. It's not what I wanted to hear. This was the first time it's happened. I'm going to wait and see what type of down time is given over the colder months (I would hope it's indoor recess of some sort instead of nothing). My DD may be equating going back to class with working at school (I don't know). I may email the teacher just to ask. |
Anonymous
You are clearly new. If we're lucky there will be maybe 2 days with snow and school open. Last year there wadn't even that much. |
Anonymous
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Sometimes it's too windy, sometimes it's raining, sometimes it's still wet from raining earlier, sometimes it might start raining during recess and heaven help if there's any chance of snow in the next 36 hours. I'm sure some kid somewhere once almost came close to thinking he would get wet during recess or something.
Amazing that my kids only missed one outdoor period in their years of private preschool (OK, so winds were over 50 mph that day). |
Anonymous
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well they are definitely getting some kind of "recess" since this is when the teachers take their lunch break. In K it may just seem the same as the regular part of the day.
I wish they would go outside for recess more. At preschool they are out all the time. I'd guess on average during the winter recess is probably indoors a good 25% of the time. |
Anonymous
| My child had indoor recess on rainy and very cold days. We were told to dress them properly because all efforts were made to take them outside. A skipped recess was very rare. I would check with the school. During the snow you have to be careful of ice so they might opt to keep the kids in. |
Anonymous
| Op it's called indoor recess and there's really no other option when it's pouring outside. There was a petition a few years ago to make MCPS aware of the need for outdoor time even on cold days, which I happily signed, but the truth is that my son's school is very good about getting the kids out whenever it is reasonable to do so (they don't keep them inside simply be case the temperature drops below freezing for example.) Indoor recess at my son's school usually means the kids get coloring pages or have the option to play board games etc. |
Anonymous
| At my ES they also double up for indoor recess..which means 55-ish kids jammed into one classroom. 1/2 at desks and 1/2 on the floor. They usually play a movie. It is however unlikely that it was cancelled because as PP noted, it is the teachers planning time. |
Anonymous
Perhaps we're in the same school my DD in K told me the exact same thing. She had PE but no recess and she did not have indoor recess as I asked her. Since she already had indoor recess another day this year that was the first question I asked her and she said not they did not. |
Anonymous
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Pease take what these kids this age say with a grain of salt, and be aware that the teachers also are going to assume not everything the kids tell them is true either.
Ds is now in 1st grade but he told his k teacher I had hit him in the back with the care door that morning-she knew it wasn't true since he is a walker If you have a question then email the teacher, but don't start out with an accusatory tone because a lot of times it's a misunderstanding on the child's part |
Anonymous
Similar experience here. School responded very positively to parent complaints (and I think we referenced the petition) about more time outdoors So kids came in only if wind chill was below freezing and heat index above 95 and rain. Unfortunately, the gym was already in use so they can't have a good run inside. In the upper grades, it seems less of an issue. DD says one classroom has silent activities (reading, drawing) and another has board games (age appropriate). While this worked in the upper grades, I remember the frustration that my son didn't get a chance to run around more during those lower grade. I remember volunteering and that created real fascination. Sometimes I'd play board games; draw with them; lead a mad libs and all the stuff you might do on long car rides. We donated games as we grew out of them. And I must have bought Trouble 3 times when it was on sale  Good luck. It can be quite hard if the school isn't creative or cooperative or staffed.
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