Spend 8 hours a day with children, and just about anyone will recognize the absolute need for frequent fresh air and movement. As educators, we undertsand this to another degree. Children need these aspects incorporated into their days for learning to effectively occur. At St. Catherine, all students have two recesses each day, and preschool through 5th grade students have a third recess. This free, unstructured play time not only helps them "recharge", it builds many skills equally important to their academic education. Kids learn to problem-solve, be bored :), play new games, socialize with peers in other grades, make choices, cooperate, be good sports, and so many other skills. Recess prepares kids to give it their all in the classroom and be the best learners they can be.
Kids are not meant to sit all day. Our Kindergarten readiness assessment, the Gesell Developmental Readiness Observation assessment, affirms exactly that. This assessment allows the tester to analyze everything from fine-motor to verbal skills, and acknowlegdes that we should not expect to observe students sitting firmly on a chair during the assessment for more than a few minutes at a time. A matter of fact, the developmental rubric recognizes that we SHOULD see the student sitting half on/half off the chair, balancing the chair on one leg, standing beside the chair, and even moving the chair awayfrom the desk to stand. The child may even wander around the space during the assessment. All of these are expected and developmentally appropriate.
While I won't bore you with research-based data about the importance of this through even high-school aged students, I will share that this philosophy is understood, believed, and fostered at St. Catherine. A few auctions ago, our Fund an Enhancement item was supporting Flexible Seating. We were able to purchase a wide range of flexible seating furniture pieces for all of our classrooms. This included multiple versions of wobble stools, sit-to-stand desk, floor cushions, and more. Some teachers keep cocktail-style standing options in the back of their classrooms all the time, and some give to students who need the autonomy to sit and stand throughout the day.
Not to say students are never asked to stay in their deks--they are. But as often as possible, students are given opportunities for choice and movement. This not only benefits individual student needs, but fosters student collaborative work. We continue to be grateful daily for this gift provided through your generosity. Please know our students utilize and enjoy these options at our school every day.
