Tuesday, March 8, 2011
How much is too much?
Living in a city where winter can last up to 5 months, I believe taking time to appreciate a good weather when it comes is necessary. Today, I caught myself thinking about how much time I should let the children in my room play outside. The weather was great - 36 F. Well, after a lot of snow, rain and temperatures close to 0 F I thought we could all benefit from a good time under the rare sun. However, asking my children to put their works away was a hard decision. Most of them were really focus doing their works and I felt "kinda" bad for interrupting their concentration and finishing their work cycle earlier than usual. Of course they had a great time out. Of course they have had days their work cycle was long and productive. But, if at the moment that I interrupted their cycle, one child was about to have an "ah moment," what now? Is it going to come back? I believe it will but probably with less intensity or less excitment. How fair was I with that child? So...how much is too much? How much time is too much outside time? How much time is too much for the work cycle? How much time is too much without the sun?
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Great questions that we need to consider as educators. There is always the safety and proper clothing issues that arise during the cold season. At the Xavier Lab School, we had the opportunity to take a small group outside for lessons. All of this was possible with the help of parent cooperation and we benefited from the design of the play area being so close to the classroom to make our decision.
ReplyDeleteWe limited the: area, the number of children, and gave a focus to the outdoor time. We could be seen collecting snow for a mini snowman in a tub, and later watching the melting process and asking "where does water go?"; gathering snow in a container to inquire, measure and make predictions, taking a walkabout in snow to see sizes and shapes of footprints and then furthering the activities in various science, math, art, practical life and language units.
But of course, there is nothing like free play time in the sun and snow.
The children are actively using their "mathematical mind" to gauge their choices and explore. You can trust your intuition to know that children are as eager to participate as we are in a little sunshine. Sun activates the pineal gland and promotes growth and development. The fresh air and natural light will certainly rev up the brain for more cycles of work in the classroom. Love this new blog, Regiane