As we enter the "dog days" of summer in this 250th, since our nation boldly asserted its independence, there is, as there should be, a good deal of reflection about who we are, what we truly value.As we look to the future there is perhaps no more important measure than how we educate our children so that they can be strong protectors of our country and our democracy deep into the decades to come.It turns out that a basic truth of well-being, getting fresh air and play time, plays a pretty big part in achieving that goal.
It’s simple.It’s free.
It stimulates and restores learning power, and, as it turns out, many of our children are getting precious little of it.From the earliest days of the republic, education was never intended to be merely the efficient transfer of information.Reformers like Horace Mann, whose vision helped shape modern American education, argued that schools should prepare children not only for work, but for democratic life.
Even the word kindergarten — German for "children’s garden" — reflects an understanding that young minds need room to grow, explore, play, and develop.NEBRASKA ENDS IN-STATE TUITION BENEFITS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS UNDER DOJ DEALOver time, however, our definition of educational success narrowed.Beginning with A Nation at Risk in 1983 and accelerating through the accountability era of No Child Left Behind, schools came under increasing pressure to maximize instructional minutes and standardized test performance.
One of the first casualties was often recess, treated as expendable time rather than an essential part of learning.Today, modern neuroscience has confirmed what America’s earliest education reformers understood intuitively: children learn best when schools develop the whole child — not just the test taker.In many ways, the science has finally caught up with the philosophy.
Earlier this summer, the American Academy of Pediatrics released its first updated policy statement on recess since 2013.Rather t...