A reader writes:
I teach pre-k and every year more and more play time is removed for more “academics”. And every year I have more behavior issues in my class. At the end of the year our cots were removed because the “suits” determined that resting was a waste of time and we were losing valuable teaching time. We no longer go to the playground because “the teachers just sit around and get a break”.
Kindergarten is even worse.
I worked on Saturdays in a charter school several years ago where the students were expected to work through lunch. Their only escape was to ask to use the bathroom. Then the “suits” denied bathroom time because they were losing instructional time.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is such a sad time in education and a tough time to be a kid. It sickens me as a parent, and frustrates me as an educator.
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This particular charter school is a bad one.
When I attended a Montessori school as a child, we received a huge amount of recess every day. We played freeze tag outside on the playground. We played baseball, football, soccer, and other sports on a big grass field. And we did all of this with zero adult supervision. There was never any adult out there with us. We made up our own rules, and we settled our own disputes. And all of this playtime never hurt our academic performance, because we all scored in the 99th percentile on state-mandated standardized tests, which we all thought were ridiculously easy.
Unstructured playtime is extremely important for the intellectual, emotional, and physical well being of children.
Shame on this charter school for depriving their students of adequate playtime.
And what is this nonsense about requiring children to get permission to go to the bathroom, and then later on, denying the bathroom entirely? At Montessori, we never needed permission to go to the bathroom, and we were never restricted as to when we could use the bathroom. Instead, we were expected and trusted to make our own decisions – to think for ourselves.
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I have made this observation before, but I wonder if these people have ever met a child. I don’t think a person needs to be an educator to have common sense. That’s what is missing basic common sense.
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Probably books on this subject have already been written, but they’ve chosen not to go with the title of this blog post. For all I know, Eli Broad-trained superintendents and school board members are reading this very moment.
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Isn’t this child abuse? Seriously. If a parent was home-schooling using these tactics (and I’m no advocate of home-schooling), or even a public school teacher was doing this, I cannot believe they would be permitted to continue. And very likely Social Services would be called to investigate an adult refusing to let the child use the bathroom, nap, and play. Why is this allowed?
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“Let them eat tests”
Of course, if they tried to do this same thing in a different community, parents would be outraged.
We are moving toward a system where recess and bathroom breaks will be a privilege not given to the poor, instead the poor can eat tests.
Disgusting.
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Yes, no more free and reduced lunch–eat tests! Then, become ill and die–no health care for the poor!
Schools will be the new workhouses.
We are indeed living in the era of Charles Dickens.
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This removal of “play time” sounds like the Pre-K programs to be put in place in all public schools, not just charter schools.
Here’s why our Pre-K program is to exist and was unveiled to 750 school administrators, teachers and principals a couple of weeks ago in MO:
Click to access admin-nowforlater-2012.pdf
Notice page 2 of this presentation: “We must EDUCATE, GRADUATE, TRAIN every potential child born in Missouri to ensure the workforce needed in Missouri to attract companies.”
There you have it. The future of education. It’s for the workforce, pure and simple. And let’s start at birth tracking the children. They don’t have the time to be children any more. Who gave this presentation? Tom Rose, Columbia Board of Education and George Lombardi, Missouri Department of Corrections
Here’s the link for the entire conference:
http://dese.mo.gov/commissioner/adminconf/
Missouri is no different than any other state that adopted Common Core standards and assessments. You will probably see similar language and practices in your state to ensure compliant workers from an early age if it is under common core.
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If it weren’t so tragic it would be laughable. Who changes the child that has a bathroom accident? How does the child make up for a lost childhood.? When did play become a four-letter word that shouldn’t be uttered or allowed!
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We have to stop foisting adult ideas/concepts on our children. Where are the child development experts on all of this? Have they all been paid off? We are so screwing our kids!
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Honestly, I believe parents don’t fully investigate the notion of what great playtimes does for a child. They believe that playtime equates for lower test scores. “China doesn’t have playtime, neither should we.” If I can convince a parent this is bull, I advise them of three options 1.) A part-time pre-school/kindergarten in a public school and allow them to play for hours after/before school or a full-time program that allows for a great deal of play and downtime. 2.) A private school that believes in quality play. 3.) Kindergarten is optional in Indiana, homeschool them until 1st grade. In my area, 2 and 3 are the only options. I taught at a public school in my area, and kindergartners were expected to do worksheets for 5 or more hours each day. Yuck.
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