Don't Turn Recess Into A Multiple Choice Question

I think recess needs to be 25 minutes of free play for these kids. They need that freedom...

To the Play Works Dad 1.) I am sorry YOUR children have anxiety about something MY children DO NOT. - DO MY CHILDREN have an EQUAL RIGHT to enjoy to recess? It's the ONE TIME MY CHILDREN FEEL LEAST ANXIOUS. 2.) When your girls aren't the "cool" girls in junior high let's say - a gym class or at the lunch room table, how will control & micro manage their anxiety then? When the "cool" children don't include your girls in birthday parties or the "cool" boy didn't ask them to prom - should that end also? OR is it also a great idea to TELL THEM who to take to the dance & what they will do? Maybe explore other angles, than what the "cool" children do at recess. I thought, in the very PLAYING OUT SIDE, it is in part, to leave much energy or time to note the "cool" group...... And you do WORK FOR this Playworks company? Your comments - sort of sounded like more of a sales pitch . Really? We have pockets of "cool" children in Elementary Recess? Is it ONLY at recess? As I have stood in volunteering for MANY recesses at Cornelia. And now live, RIGHT across the street from Concord.....and visit often...... BECAUSE, I HAVE a more anxious (in general) child in our home too. But - I don't really see the high pressure "cool" group pockets.....ANY MORE OR ANY LESS THAN WHAT HAPPENS IN THE CLASSROOM, lunch room, hall way, after school, out of school but at school activities...... I found your comments so obnoxious & selfish - it over shadowed ANY good - you might have indented or said. IN ADDITION; It seems reading the comments; The very people who speak up FOR this New Recess Plan..... End up convincing me even MORE why it's so wrong for this district. This "plan" is so wrong, as politely stated in the comments, for this district SIMPLY BECAUSE Our children currently GET structure & direction in the home environment & at the great schools we proudly have and in our supportive community.

I agree with the move to end the Playworks trial at Concord.

This has been an interesting dialogue to follow. And frankly I am baffled by all of it. I am not sure if I am just totally confused by the new recess model or not understanding what all of the fuss is about. 1) It is my understanding that this program does not make all kids participate but is an alternative option if some children want to participate. My son probably won't participate in it but that doesn't mean its not an okay idea if some kids want to participate. In addition, if it serves helpful for some, I think that's great. If that is true, then why is it such a problem for so many people?? 2) I've heard a lot of complaining about Trent. This whole program has nothing to do with Trent. He left on his own so I'm not sure why this keeps coming up. 3)The last thing I keep hearing is about a field that their kids cannot use because Playworks is using it. Well, so what, if the school wants to use a field that's their choice. Concord has so much space to play. I am not for structured play for everyone because I don't think it works for everyone. Playworks is saying that if you don't want to participate you don't have to....So why all the fuss??? It is my understanding that Playworks was approved last Spring when we all received a letter on it by our former principal. We all had the information then...but have chosen that when we should be offering our help and kindness to our new principal, we have spent the last week bombarding the district with our complaints. I wish we could have have let the program work out its kinks for a month before passing judgements on what we need. Obviously the district and Mr. Sansted approved of this before summer and I think at some point we need to trust some of that process. To be totally honest, I am in awe of all of the complaining. If I am missing something, please let me know. But, I am just not getting all the craziness around such a small issue. Frankly, I think we have really left a bad impression on our new princ

I can't stress enough how poor a fit Playworks is for Concord. Our children are already so scheduled, they need more unstructured time to imagine, play and have the opportunity to work through conflict resolution to grow and learn. Even with the 'changes' last week my 5th grade son has been extremely depressed about recess and doesn't want to even go out. This is not an 'adjustment' period, this is a wholesale change that does not work.

recess isnt gym class!!!

Hate to a one size fits all solution to recess issues. The Playworks program doesn't seem to be necessary/appropriate for Concord.

Mr. Crosby, We confirmed in a meeting we had with Meg Barrett of Kids' Club that there was no other program other than Playworks researched or considered. I wanted to be sure you saw my response to you, so I am posting this again. With all due respect, no. Teaching conflict resolution skills of 'paper, rock, scissors' isn't doing anyone any favors. The 'fairness' that Playworks teaches is hidden under a pretense of fake playground games -- no winners, no losers, no accountability. Not only will it NOT protect them from real life decisions or from 'good-talkers' in Middle School, it will give them the false sense of security which knocks down (instead of building up) their self-confidence. By intentional adult intervention -- before they need it -- it says to them, you know what, we don't trust you guys to handle it on your own. This is a dangerous lesson and with a hefty price tag to boot. What is baffling is that recess at Concord didn't need any fixing. An additional staff member/recess monitor or 2, yes. But fixing? No. There was no need for this at Concord, so it seems very wasteful of our community dollars for a program that frankly, goes against the mainstream research on how very important 'free play' is for a kid's brain and development, especially during the school day. Some kids (one of my kids) like to play games. Some kids (one of my kids) likes to make up games. Some kids (one of my kids) like to be alone at recess so they can recharge for the afternoon. Some kids (one of my kids) just runs around. Your observation that ALL kids were playing games at your visits to Playworks schools and your confirmation that this is one of the program's goals is disconcerting. I am curious about you visiting the schools with the Playworks recess model. Did you visit them as a board member or representing EPS? I ask this because if it was on behalf of EPS, I'd love to see the data behind the differences you noted while observing Concord vs. the other

I am fairly certain a contract is straightforward when costs are outlined. Regardless of which line item it falls under in a large budget. How about you give us an estimate. All the information we could find says $23,500 per school to upwards of $65,000 per school. So multiply that by 6....

I know the cost of the training, but I think you should address Tony Washington on that issue. How it was paid for, with what funds etc I am not sure. I do know the school budgets are moving parts and very complicated and I do not have that knowledge. More than one option was looked at for Normandale. Yes kids need to learn that the world is cruel, mean and unfair, but maybe not in Kindergarten, or elementary school. Recess right now is not this free play organic Lake Wobegon experience where the kids play without rules and all goes well. The last time I checked soccer at recess has rules, so does basketball, baseball, football and every other game they play. So it has 'structure' right now.....I really feel there is confusion on what playworks is offering. If kids want to choose to do nothing they can, if there are conflicts they are handled in a fair way for ALL kids.

I think Mr. Crosby is living in a fools paradise thinking he can shield his children from the realities of the world. At some point kids need to learn conflict resolution on their own. At what age Mr. Crosby is appropriate for them to deal with the realities of the world? Bullying should not be tolerated but the sooner kids learn that life is not fair the better. It also distresses me that Normandale only looked at one play ground solution at the tax payers expense. Why did the parents and playground supervisors not have input on this decision?

Mr. Crosby, With all due respect, no. Teaching conflict resolution skills of 'paper, rock, scissors' isn't doing anyone any favors. The 'fairness' that Playworks teaches is hidden under a pretense of fake playground games -- no winners, no losers, no accountability. Not only will it NOT protect them from real life decisions or from 'good-talkers' in Middle School, it will give them the false sense of security which knocks down (instead of building up) their self-confidence. By intentional adult intervention -- before they need it -- it says to them, you know what, we don't trust you guys to handle it on your own. This is a dangerous lesson and with a hefty price tag to boot. What is baffling is that recess at Concord didn't need any fixing. An additional staff member/recess monitor or 2, yes. But fixing? No. There was no need for this at Concord, so it seems very wasteful of our community dollars for a program that frankly, goes against the mainstream research on how very important 'free play' is for a kid's brain and development, especially during the school day. Some kids (one of my kids) like to play games. Some kids (one of my kids) likes to make up games. Some kids (one of my kids) like to be alone at recess so they can recharge for the afternoon. Some kids (one of my kids) just runs around. Your observation that ALL kids were playing games at your visits to Playworks schools and your confirmation that this is one of the program's goals is disconcerting. I am curious about you visiting the schools with the Playworks recess model. Did you visit them as a board member or representing EPS? I ask this because if it was on behalf of EPS, I'd love to see the data behind the differences you noted while observing Concord vs. the other Playworks schools. I have 4 kids in the EPS -- two of them in middle school, two at Concord. The free play recess over the past 9 years has been essential to my kids' development. It has been organic play. And when t

Maybe Mr. Crosby can clarify how much this program cost the taxpayers since he serves on the Board and conveniently offered a solution to the playground problem at Normandale? Can't find that anywhere in Board minutes, etc.

I second that. Playworks is completely aligned with the AAPs policy statement, The Crucial Role of Recess in Schools: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/1/183.full And here's just one (can't include all the data here) study showing the benefits of Playworks: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-does-better-recess-equal-a-better-school-day-207345271.html Let's give it a chance before proclaiming it is not a fit for our school.

We are raising adults, not robots

There needs to be unstructured time - yes we need adults out there to keep things safe, but not to run another session of gym. I do not want this to come to Highlands.

Well said.

This is their only time of the day where they can do what they want. I think that that allowing them to do so might improve behavior during the rest of the day. I think being able to use the baseball fields is an important item as well.

Slater I could not agree more, thank you for posting your thoughts on this and educating me on Playworks.

I will politely but strongly disagree with this petition. As a father of 3 girls all in the Edina school system the one part of the day they get nervous about is recess. Will they get included in the “cool” group? Will the get left out? Will they get teased? Will the best ‘talker’ win at leading games? Will the strongest child decide on who makes the teams? Recess and the bus are the two parts of the day they hate. So I was excited to hear about a program that specializes in recess and that can make our schools even better and teach the kids to resolve issue on their own. I am also on the board of directors at Playworks Twin Cities. So before you throw me under the bus for commenting on this please read. Here are some facts that need to be shared. Two years ago I was approached by Gerry Lukaska (at the time Normandale Principal) about recess and how it was not working and she wanted options. The idea about fixing recess came from a principal wanting to make their school better not from another outside factor. Recess problems were not made up to allow Playworks into the school, a problem had been addressed and Playworks was a possible solution. “Free play” as is stated in this petition is not working and Playworks still allows free play but with does it after teaching them conflict resolution tools. As a parent I agree with your goals of the petition, that all kids need to play, make their own choices and be creative during recess and Playworks encourages this by teaching them a few tools. The first tool is conflict resolution. Playworks teaches kids to resolve things on their own by the old fashioned game of rock-paper-scissors. Year one the kids learn and accept that all disputes are handled via rock-paper-scissors. So when it comes to “who kicked the ball out?” the kids rock-paper-scissor and move on. No arguing on who kicked out, no delay of game, etc, the kids get back to playing faster. This way of conflict resolution is used in any game or