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Here's something to think about for those of us with energetic boys. This was in the Washington Post last month. My children spend more time in the classroom than I did as a student and is it improving their performance? My 8 year old spends hours playing outside after school and has a lot of pent up emotion after spending so much of his time on structured, quiet activities. As I've visited his classroom, I've watched him wiggle around the circle during circle time, unable to remain seated in one place for very long. He also wanders around the classroom for far longer than his peers, putting things away or tidying up, while the teacher has the rest of the students gathered in a circle. Luckily, he has been in a gifted & talented classroom with teachers who are accommodating and are willing to tolerate his wanderings.

What are your experiences with energetic boys in school? I'm worried that one of these years he'll get a teacher who's not so tolerant.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/07/08/why-so-many-kids-cant-sit-still-in-school-today/

Comments

Laura said…
Do you think part of the problem for kids is too much tv or video games or whatever else electronic device they use? Lots of kids come home from school and spend all their time in front of electronics instead of playing which probably makes them more fidgety in the classroom the following day.
I like that the German schools get out much earlier so that there's more play time for the kids. I'm not sure the exact schedule, but all the kids in our neighborhood are walking home from school by 1:30.
July 20, 2014 at 10:13 AM
Redford Writes said…
Wow Laura, that would be so great for Mark! He gets up in the morning and literally jumps on the trampoline for an hour. When school's in session, there's just no time for that. And in winter, it's colder and it gets dark so early that there's not much time to play. Are the German schools like that for high school too? It's amazing that they can outperform us spending less time in school.
July 30, 2014 at 12:45 PM
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