For parents of Boys:

So I guess this is one thing my school system is doing right. We have a full 30 minutes of lunch followed by 40 minutes in recess - and gym for an hour 3 times a week. I suppose now I'll have to stop complaing about the sports-crazed culture.

I was thinking I should probably stop complaining about our public schools here, but I still have a hard time getting gung-ho about a lot of it.

My full day K daughter gets 10 minute morning recess, 35 minutes for lunch and recesss (with about 15-20 for eating), and a 15 minute recess in the afternoon, 30 minutes of gym once a week. I'm pretty sure that the first graders have the same schedule. Kids are encouraged to take as much time as they need to to eat and a fair number stay behind to finish lunch after the others leave. But Angie, your school gets a gold star! If my daughter didn't have that much time, I'm sure I would be hearing about behavior issues. She needs to blow off energy.

[mommax3]

I agree with the article and what has already been posted. I have referred to the "Bringing Up Boys" book by James Dobson (of Focus on the Family fame) here before and I imagine that his name and the political stands he has taken have turned people off from his book, but before he got on his soapbox, he was a trained child psychologist, and the early chapters of his book that deal with prenatal and early child development of boys vs. girls are spot on. I think they should be required reading for anyone with a little boy.....get it from the library or skim those chapters at Barnes and Noble. It is eye opening.....and explains why OF COURSE boys struggle more in early elementary. What we are asking of them is developmentally out of their reach.

My oldest son has always been extremely active and struggled in a traditional school setting.....and it isn't always peaches and cream in a private school, either! He improves his organizational and attention skills each year, and I think he will be fine, but he is not the type of kid who fits easily into a pigeonhole! Some kids struggle with math or with reading, and I have one that struggles with paying attention and with organization. Why is that so unacceptable?

I never dreamed I would send my kids to private school, (I was a teacher, my sister is a teacher, my mother is a teacher, my father was a teacher, my step-mother is an asst. supt of a school system here, I could go on and on.....) but after the experiences we have had, I don't have ANY regrets that they are in private school now. They may eventually go to public school for junior high or high school, but for elementary school, I have found private school (and smaller class sizes!) to be a much better fit.

The schools are between a rock and a hard place, I know, but as a parent, I choose not to place my kids in that environment. Most of my friends have their kids in public school, and it is working great for them, but that has not been my experience, in three school systems in two different states, and I just have had to follow my instincts on this one.

About recess....my oldest son doesn't get recess anymore, as a 5th grader, and he could really use it, so that is a bummer. He does have 45 minutes of P.E. twice a week, and has been on a sports team since school started, so that gives him an outlet. Lately, he has been complaining of not having enough time to eat, but I think it has been due to him messing around instead of truly not having time. My middle son still has recess once a day, for 15 or 20 minutes, as well as P.E. twice a week. He has never been as active as my oldest, although I think he is still a little more active than average from what I observe. All I know is that taking care of him as a baby and toddler was like a vacation compared with taking care of his older brother! The thing that I feel like we have lost, or at least compromised on, by choosing private school are the extras like music and art. I am trying to make up the difference through private lessons, but I have such fond memories of the music classes I had (and taught!) in public school that it makes me sad my sons won't have the same memories. But that really is the only negative (aside from the cost! ) that I have encountered so far.

Interesting thread!

Sally