Today at lunch we were talking about how each of our sons spends their recess. Our second son was concerned that some of his friends were playing a dangerous game he didn't want to play, so he didn't always know what to do during recess. At that point our third son interjected with, "In case I don't find my friends at recess, I have emergency friends I can play with".
I get to see so many different recess experiences everyday; boys who are just hanging out, kids who have the time of their lives, girls who face ostracism, games of foosball and chess, kids reading, kids talking, groups playing instruments, others studying. Every recess experience is a new world, sometimes a brave one, sometimes a meaningless one.
For some kids, going to recess is a moment to face their worst fears. Will I have someone to play with? It just terrifies them. For others, recess is the center of the universe. I have students who show up to school just to be able to be there at recess; there they're the focus of attention and they hold their own. At recess is where they shine.
Maybe our third son is right; you need to have a backup plan for recess. I read somewhere that you'll always be the person you were when you graduated high school. So if at school someone wasn't able to figure out how to fit in or invite others to join them, maybe they never will. A backup plan could just be the answer; plan for when what usually works doesn't. But, how do you teach that? How do you put that into a kid's firmware?
No comments:
Post a Comment