Recess, or as I like to call it, Early Entrepreneurship Lab, is a very important part of the school day.

I may have mentioned this in an earlier log, but recess still seems to be getting the short end of the stick when it comes to time in the school day as the public school emphasis continues to be on testing and meeting test quotas. This was true several years ago and is still true today!

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This doesn’t stop kids from identifying recess as their favorite part of the day. I hear that and I see future entrepreneurs!

Entrepreneurs need to know how to take an unstructured portion of their world and provide structure. Ultimately it is up to the market place if that new structure has value to the broader community or not, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that the entrepreneur is the one, who designed something that wasn’t preexisting, and acted to make it happen. Recess has also been shown to result in students with improved memory and focused attention. Recess helps develop more brain connections along with enabling students to be more physically active outside of recess time periods. Finally, during recess students learn negotiation skills, exercise leadership skills take turns, and solve conflicts as they make up and teach each other games to play. These map nicely to entrepreneurial skills; we conclude that many needed entrepreneurial skills are actually learned during recess while playing!

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Thus, my claim is that recess is an early entrepreneurship lab.

Beyond my personal orientation onwards recess, others have noted that taking recess actually makes kids smarter! Caralee Adams’ article, “Recess makes kids smarter”, reinforces this point.  She provides examples of teachers bringing the case for recess to their schools. Some have been able to prevail against the growing tide of removal of all parts of a school day not directly related to a test outcome.

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Adams also quotes, Olga Jarrett, from Georgia State, who stated "There is this assumption that if you keep kids working longer, they will learn more," says Jarrett. "It's misguided." Dr. Jarrett goes on to note that recess and gym class or P. E. are not the same thing and have different objectives.

Dr. Jarrett is quoted as pointing out that, "(w)ith recess, children have choices and can organize their own games, figure out what's fair, and learn a lot of social behavior that they don't learn in P.E."  Adams also quotes a poll of principals from 2009 where 8 of 10 principals linked recess with stronger academics.

Recess is important academically.

The Renaissance Preparatory Academy has a strong recess program. Its two shorter times helps with the fidgeting child and to refresh the minds of all.  The longer lunch recess allows for the development of those entrepreneurial skills mentioned above. Check out our entire program on line (www.RenaissancePrepaMB.org) or come and visit our campus! We rent space in the Hall at St. John's which is located behind the Greek Orthodox Church at the corner of 33rd Ave. and Hwy 17 Business. Come and visit!

Thoughts by Janice Black, Founder & Chair of the School Board

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