Walking to School

[Thirteen]

DS only has 1 20 min recess a day, and PE 3x week. I've decided walking to school and in the mornings is a good way to get energy out.

It's 1.5 miles one way -- is that too far for kinder? We are learning bicycle safety, so I am uncomfortable taking one yet.
We both get sweaty, but it's not intolerable, and he's wearing dry fit. (High 70s and shady/breezy).


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[Deebs]

As long as your school doesn't start too early (where you'd have to wake him up), I think it's great. We moved to our neighborhood so that our kids could walk to school - a little over 1/4 mile. Obviously, it's a lot closer, but I think it's helped all of my kiddos be able to focus and squeeze in a little more activity. The lack of exercise in most schools is no joke.


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[ladymoreta]

Ours is 3/4 of a mile, but no sidewalks. :-/ I think we'll start walking when DD starts going there. For now, I have to drive her across town to preschool, so I just drop DS off on the way.

[spotty_dog]

You know your kiddo best! Do you Pokemon Go? I think at that age we required incentives to get past the one mile mark, which was when we started geocaching for hikes. Finding Pokestops along the route and letting him spin them would probably be similar.

[Thirteen]

We don't Pokemon Go (only because I don't want him hounding me about my phone &#128514, but that's a good idea.
Today he found a palm frond and pretended to be Captain Hook, swashbuckling along the way.

I push DS2 in the stroller, and even when walking very slowly, sometimes DS1 (because of things like swashbuckling) falls behind. I thought a small collapsible scooter would help (?), and then I could either collapse it into the stroller basket, or teach him how to lock it up.

FWIW, I pick him up in the car after school, so he can quietly decompress.


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[GrayMatterWife]

DS only has 1 20 min recess a day . . .

oh my goodness. that makes me kinda sad...where has childhood gone?

[Thirteen]

oh my goodness. that makes me kinda sad...where has childhood gone?

Kinder is so different now. I remember hands-on centers, and three recesses a day.

He comes home with homework every night.
It's ridiculous.


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[GrayMatterWife]

Kinder is so different now. I remember hands-on centers, and three recesses a day.

He comes home with homework every night.
It's ridiculous.


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That is nuts.

Look, I'm a totally hardcore academic person. My second grader studies Latin. My sixth grader is memorizing Horatius at the Bridge. We are hardly academic slackers.

I am not one of those unstructured, touchy-feely radically progressive educational types.

But that is just completely and totally stupid. Giving a K homework.

[ladymoreta]

Kinder is so different now. I remember hands-on centers, and three recesses a day.

He comes home with homework every night.
It's ridiculous.

Yes, it's pretty much the equivalent of our first grade. I'm so grateful we were able to send our kids to preschool to give them a positive, play-focused learning environment before entering serious public school.

[MrsK]

We walk if it's over 40* , under 90* , and it's not a day that Lambie has school. On the days she has school, I have to be in 3 places within 30 minutes so I sometimes slow down the car as I shove them out.

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[scrub-jay]

Walking to School

Our *former* district introduced a no-homework policy for K-2. But the lack of recess issue was huge...(especially with a teacher who regularly took away recess as punishment) I thought the no homework was a good policy, these kids were tired as it was.

[ides]

I wish we had no homework in elementary or a shorter school day. I don't recall having homework until middle school as a kid. I also recall three recess breaks (one with lunch) and pe everyday. O's last school and current one has pe everyday and 2 recesses (one combined with lunch). His last school had a spread out campus which had quite a bit of walking built in. His new school is much more compact. We will be walking to and from school this year but it's not much exercise - we are 2-3 blocks from school. I am looking forward to it however!


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[HouseofWool]

DS13 has ridden his bike to school solo since about 4th grade. DD7 wants to, but she is not skilled enough yet.

We also see a fair number of scooters.

One thing I do like about the school she attends is that there is little to no homework. Generally, if there is homework, she was screwing around in class and didn't finish it during the allotted time.

[houseelf]

There is no evidence that supports the benefit of homework in the early grades. It's ridiculous.

[Thirteen]

There is no evidence that supports the benefit of homework in the early grades. It's ridiculous.

It's homework for parents. 😄 That's how I feel: random silly tasks added to my plate.


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