Post by CurlyQ284 on Sept 21, 2023 12:37:17 GMT -5
My district has K-4th, 5&6th are at Intermediate, 7&8 are at middle.
For K-4 DS had a snack and 3 recesses per day. Last year he had 2 snacks because his lunch was at 1:40.
This year he just started at Intermediate, it seems he has 2 recesses and he can eat snack during recess but this is due to a lot of allergies in his class this year, I'm not sure if other classes with fewer allergies may do it differently but there is no food allowed in DSs classroom.
I'm in an affluent district (although I live in a blue collar neighborhood and am ML poor). I think that's probably a factor when comparing these things.
Most teachers build snack into their day, but it’s not required. Breakfast is available for free for all students in their classrooms, so many kids eat then. Recess is like 22 mins. No other unstructured time, although we are allowed to do some Friday afternoons, but no more than 30 mins. Even the pre K class only gets an hour of play time. Sucks!
My kids had snack time in K. It was community snacks donated by parents. Now there is no snack time, which I am fine with. Not all kids in our district would have the resources to bring in a snack. I think it is best to just not have it as an option to futher demonstrate the haves with the have nots. A good breakfast and lunch are normally sufficient to get my kids through until 3 pm. They don't even come home that hungry. My 6th grader just walked in the door and I haven't heard him grab a snack yet.
Free time? I am not sure honestly. There is unstructured time to work. And there are recesses. Lunch is freetime. But other than that I don't think it really is a thing.
Our elementary is set up to have two specials a day. Unless it is art day, which is an hour long. Gym is always one of the specials so I have always appreciated that they get extra movement outside of recess each day. That was especially helpful for my adhd kid.
Recess and movement and snack times seem to be a huge priority at our elementary school. There are two recesses but I’m not exactly sure of the times. We’re in SoCal so it may have something to do with good weather to play outside in most of the time.
There is also free breakfast/snacks for everyone who wants it on the playground before school and free hot lunch for everyone as well (I think that’s statewide in California). It’s k-6 public elementary in a small district made up of only 8 elementary schools in a suburban area. I know we are very lucky.
Our district went from 6.5 hr days to 7h days this year. All elementary kids can bring a snack. They get recess after lunch and a daily gym class. A lot of their learning time at the younger ages is stations they rotate through in small groups.
Prior to covid, kindergarten kids only were permitted to bring a snack to school. However, their lunch period was at 1030 every morning, so afternoons were not great.
From the other thread, it appears my kids’ elementary school is an anomaly.
There is never a snack. Kindergarten gets “station” time - the last half an hour of the day is basically free play (but they are told where to go and rotate daily - could be Legos, painting at the easel, imagination (aka play house).
No one else has any free time built in to the day beyond the half an hour of recess each grade gets (k-5). There’s also half an hour for lunch.
Official school hours are 9:15-3:45 but between leaving for the bus and walking home the girls are out of the house from 8:30-4:10.
What unstructured time and/or snack time do your elementary schools have?
This is almost exactly how Little Kids day goes, down to the timing (bus at 830, home at 405). She gets a snack the minute she gets home and we either go outside if the weathers good, but if shes not feeling it i let her have screen time. I am surprisingly ok with no snack in school cause shes one of those allergy kids.
The middle schooler gets 30 minutes for lunch and the first 40 minutes of the day are "flex" where theyre in school but not an offical class. The idea being they can use it for homework, projects, if they need help with a class, etc. She gets home almost as fried as the kindergartener.
Post by steamboat185 on Sept 21, 2023 17:33:55 GMT -5
Officially there is no free time built into the school day, but in real life there is a decent bit. Every teacher does “Fun Friday” where kids get to choose from various activities. Many teacher also breakup long blocks with a MUST DO\ MAY DO list- these typically have 2-3 must do activities and then they can choose from a list of about 10 options. I’m actually amazed at the amount of time the 5th graders have to choose what they want to do. My 2nd grader gets a bit less, but their blocks are shorter and it takes her longer to do her work
When I taught elementary, there was never a "snack" except the year we had a grant for fresh produce. Because of dietary and infestation issues, for several years we were "food-free" classrooms. Recess was 30 minutes, plus a 12-15 minute (depending on the year) second recess.
When I taught middle school (and now teaching high school), the only break kids get is a 45-minute lunch. We don't even have study halls. My kids are in a different district and have never had a designated snack time. I think some of the reasonings for not having them in the districts I've been in are 1) not enough minutes in the day as it is; 2) unless the school provides the food, it tends to highlight the "haves" and the "have nots"; and 3) teachers having to police food clean up and allergy-friendly foods makes life even more stressful.
Post by macmars45 on Sept 21, 2023 18:39:38 GMT -5
School day is 8:55-3:30.
TK, K and 1st grade get snack in the afternoon. After that it's teacher discretion. All of the 4th & 5th grade teachers let the kids eat a snack while doing classwork in the PM.
K and 1st grade get free play/choice time for half an hour a few times a week. TK gets lots of free choice time as they are PreK.
Recess is 15 minutes in the AM, 30 minutes after lunch and 15 minutes in the afternoon.
Lunch is 30 minutes (but more like 20 minutes in practice).
Our elementary schools are 8:30-2:30. They have a scheduled 30 minute recess, 30 minute lunch, and a 15 minute afternoon recess. Teachers schedule a snack break in the morning. At my school, some choose to take their class out for a quick 10-15 minute fresh air break at the same time.
In K and 1 there is at least one 45 minute block of play centres each day, although the first term in K there is usually a block before lunch and a block at the end of the day. A lot of our primary education is focused on play based learning. Teachers in older grades typically schedule 1-2 blocks a week of less structured time. My current classroom (grade 3) it’s all STEM focused. It’s learning, but the kids think it’s play!
Woah there's so many late start times! Idk what we would do until 9am my kid wakes up so early 😩
Anyways for OP. My kid is in K so that's all I have experience with. They have two recess breaks, and you can eat a snack during them. There is also lunch. She's only in school for 6 hours (8-2:10).
K and 3rd grade: everyone at the elementary school has a morning recess and lunch/lunch recess. At morning recess, the kids can choose to eat a snack, but I have no idea how many do. There are snacks in the office for anyone who is hungry but doesn’t have their own. My older kid’s teacher currently lets her kids out to morning recess 5 minutes early as a dedicated snack time, to encourage eating. I know my kid otherwise wouldn’t eat, so as not to “waste” his recess time. My kindergartner absolutely eats his snack before playing, but TK and kinder also have a longer break.
Kinder seems to have frequent choice/play time in the classroom, but 3rd definitely does not. Their days are packed and I can’t imagine they have much time to do anything but their work. His teacher does do a really good job of rotating through activities, usually not more than 20 minutes at a time, but there’s not much down time. They do have music once a week and PE twice a week.
We are out of school at 2pm - no HW for kinder and about 35 minutes for 3rd, so they have a pretty good amount of play time after school.
Post by honeydew1894 on Sept 22, 2023 4:39:27 GMT -5
The school where I work gives free play time that they call choice time, but they rotate through centers of legos, blocks, etc. I think this lasts for 30-ish minutes. They do have an afternoon snack while they watch a show. They definitely have recess for 20-ish minutes, usually after their lunch.