Thoughts on Missing Recess

[Justinsmama]

Hi,

I would like any input on how reasonable this situation is. My 8 year old Cf'er (2nd grade) has been kept in from recess all week and several days last week because of falling behind in writing assignments. This is our first year of public school. While I understand the importance of teaching him that he must complete his work (writing is difficult for him as he has a fine motor delay being addressed by the OT at school) I do not think it is in his best interest to miss both recesses (opportunity to play outside and clear his lungs on a beautiful day) to do so. Please let me know your thoughts before I seem unreasonable in my request to the teacher. I have asked to have late work sent home to be completed at home but was to "we do not allow that" eventhough his 504 allows for extra time when he has been sick (explains some of his dragging behind).

Thanks,

 

[Ratatosk]

It's happened to ds a couple times, but for the most part they send his school work home with him and we do it at night with any other homework he has. He LOVES recess, so I don't mind as in his case it's a reminder to him to get his butt in gear, pay attention and do the work or there are consequences. I do think if it happened all the time though, it wouldn't be an incentive to get work done -- he'd just start resenting school. He also has writing issues and was in OT for awhile, so it takes him longer and he gets frustrated about it. His recess is only 20 minutes long, plus he gets about 2 hours of outdoor play time at daycare after school.

 

[jshet]

Oh this sounds so familiar. I dealt with this whe my son was younger. He is in special education and also receives OT. When I found out he was not receiving playtime 3-4 times a week(recess), I spoke to his teacher. She said he was not getting his morning work done and had to stay in. I asked if he was misbehaving, nit paying attention,wasting time, ect. She said no he is working hard he just isn't getting it done. I tried other things like let him bring it home, lessen his work load, she refused. So I went above her, I spoke to the principal and had him call an emergency IEP meeting. I refused to leave until they put it in his IEP that they were not allowed to take his recess if he was trying to complete his work. This may sound extreme, but my son also has autism and thought he was bad because he could not get his work done. All kids need play time weather they have cf or not. Your child should not be punished for trying his best. I know I E P's are being written now and if he receives OT, he should have one. Have them put it in. If they say no, refuse to sign it. They will cave. The last thing they want is an unsigned IEP that will will require them to get a meadeator involved. Good Luck, Janelle

 

[nmw0615]

My opinion may not be a popular one, but as long as this is not happening every single day, I'd say let him miss the recess. If it is the teacher's policy that work must be done before going to recess, then if one day he does not get his work finished, then he should not be allowed recess. I work with a teacher and she has this same policy. Completed work is the students' recess pass. They still get a recess after lunch that all students get. She has one student who misses every single morning recess because he does not focus and get his work done.

This may just be how my parents raised me, but I was not allowed to use my CF as an excuse in any way, shape, or form. The only time in my 12 years of public school I was able to excuse myself from something at school was right after I had my gtube put in. My gym class was doing gymnastics and I couldn't roll over the uneven bars.

It is my belief that from an early age, CFers shouldn't be treated differently. We shouldn't learn to use Cf as a crutch and an excuse. So I say let your son miss a few recesses if he doesn't complete his work in the future. In your current situation, I would say push to have it put in his plan that schoolwork missed comes home the day he comes back to school, maybe even arrange to pick it up from the teacher while he is still out, that way he can stay on top of things while he is sick. I agree that the school should be allowed to send his missed work home, but I also believe for the work he does not complete in class, he should be treated the same as the other students who must stay in to complete it.

 

[Beccamom]

A chbild should never be punished for something they cannot control and should always have a consequence for what they can control. If your son is gettingt OT because of a writing difficulty then his work should be modified to meet his current skill level. If your son is not getting his work done because the teacher has to keep reminding him to get started or because he is playing around, then he should miss recess to complete his work.

I would ask for a meeting with the teacher and OT for the adults to discuss with you what is causing him to take so long to complete his assignments. If the OT feels he is not yet capable of writing at the speed required to complete the assignment his assignmentsz should be modified because this is not his fault and he shouldn't miss recess. If the OT feels he has the motor skills to complete the assignments, then this should be dicussed with your son to ensure he understands that the consequence for not finishing is missing recess.

I think children really need recess in order to focus the rest of the day. I would explain the befits of recess to your son's health and work out a plan with the teacher and try to get the OTs support.

Best wishes.

My opinion may not be a popular one, but as long as this is not happening every single day, I'd say let him miss the recess. If it is the teacher's policy that work must be done before going to recess, then if one day he does not get his work finished, then he should not be allowed recess. I work with a teacher and she has this same policy. Completed work is the students' recess pass. They still get a recess after lunch that all students get. She has one student who misses every single morning recess because he does not focus and get his work done.

This may just be how my parents raised me, but I was not allowed to use my CF as an excuse in any way, shape, or form. The only time in my 12 years of public school I was able to excuse myself from something at school was right after I had my gtube put in. My gym class was doing gymnastics and I couldn't roll over the uneven bars.

It is my belief that from an early age, CFers shouldn't be treated differently. We shouldn't learn to use Cf as a crutch and an excuse. So I say let your son miss a few recesses if he doesn't complete his work in the future. In your current situation, I would say push to have it put in his plan that schoolwork missed comes home the day he comes back to school, maybe even arrange to pick it up from the teacher while he is still out, that way he can stay on top of things while he is sick. I agree that the school should be allowed to send his missed work home, but I also believe for the work he does not complete in class, he should be treated the same as the other students who must stay in to complete it.

 

[nmw0615]

Of course he should only have consequences for the things he can control. From how I read the original post, it sounded like his writing difficulty was being addressed and the missed recess was due to assignments not being finished anyway. I also read the post as saying that even though this was being addressed, he was still missing recess. If this is because of something completely out of his control, then his plan needs to be reworked to make school work best for him. That is not how I read the original post, though. I read it as Justinsmama wants her son to get two recesses (which is wonderful) when he currently isn't completing the work necessary to get those recesses and was thinking of using CF as an excuse for that. Using CF as an excuse is the part I don't agree with.

If he is being held in for recess because of his writing difficultly, then that is the issue that should be taken care of. Not the CF side.

A chbild should never be punished for something they cannot control and should always have a consequence for what they can control. If your son is gettingt OT because of a writing difficulty then his work should be modified to meet his current skill level. If your son is not getting his work done because the teacher has to keep reminding him to get started or because he is playing around, then he should miss recess to complete his work.

I would ask for a meeting with the teacher and OT for the adults to discuss with you what is causing him to take so long to complete his assignments. If the OT feels he is not yet capable of writing at the speed required to complete the assignment his assignmentsz should be modified because this is not his fault and he shouldn't miss recess. If the OT feels he has the motor skills to complete the assignments, then this should be dicussed with your son to ensure he understands that the consequence for not finishing is missing recess.

I think children really need recess in order to focus the rest of the day. I would explain the befits of recess to your son's health and work out a plan with the teacher and try to get the OTs support.

Best wishes.

 

[Justinsmama]

Dear NMW,

Either you totally misread my post or I completely misspoke. I do not "want [my] son to get two recesses" when he "is not completing the work and was thinking of using CF as an excuss". As someone who has had to endure CF and everything that goes along with it, I am shocked that you would even say that. First of all, I too have a degree (MA)in elementary education. I do not work, but am educated in the field. Secondly, we are fairly new to the CF world (diagnosed last year) as well as new to public school (private prior to this) for this year. My belief was that it is very important for CF kids to have exercise throughout the day to keep their lungs healthy. That is my point and also my question of reasonableness. I do realize that he falls behind for many reasons that are both related to CF and other issues. He misses school and therefore falls behind in the ongoing writting assignments - CF related. He has both a fine motor delay and possible attention deficit (not willing to consider treating at this point due to weight issues) that should not be considered in my question as well as being (thank you God) a very social child that prefers to talk sometimes that doing work. Again, I am not trying to let my son use CF as an excuse. He is my biggest hero in life. He has NEVER complained about having CF or any of the number of health issues that he has had to deal with for 8 years and has never considered using it as a crutch. Every day that he is home sick, when he is able, he does all the work provided and then the supplimental work I give him. I just don't want to allow anything that will jepordize his lung function and overall health and realize I have to be his advocate.

I thank you for your interest and comments and hope that this will clear up any misunderstanding that may have arisen.

 

[jshet]

I did understand yor first post. I know it is difficult to watch your child struggle with fine motor skills on top of everything else. I wish you luck and hope it works out for your son. Janelle

 

[nmw0615]

Justinsmama, thank you for clearing that up. It can be hard for tone and all the nuances of speech to translate over the Internet.

I read your post as two different problems. One being held inside during recess for not completing his work and the other for not being able to completed missed work at home.

My point was to say if it is his writing difficulties that are resulting in his being kept behind during recess, then it is that area that needs to be addressed in a way that better helps your son. To me, it appeared as though his problems with getting work done were not a CF related problem and therefore it would be better to find a solution to that difficulty without bringing CF into the equation.

It is important for CFers to get exercise and if finding a way to get him out there means coming to a new working arrangement for him, then that is what should be done. But you had also mentioned not being able to get the work he missed sent home and that is the area I read as being affected by CF directly. For that, I personally found that getting my missed work directly from the teacher, even before I was ready to go back to school, gave me the time to work on it so I didn't fall too far behind. I always suggest trying to find a way to do that.

I hope this clears up my end of the conversation. No offense was meant; it looks to me like there was miscommunication on both ends.

 

[Justinsmama]

I agree!! Difficult to read posts Thank you for your time and input!

 

[Rebjane]

Justinsmama,

In my daughter's 504 plan it specified, that if she is sick and misses 3 days of school in a row she is allowed a tutor. We have not utilized this yet but it shows how easy it is to fall behind, especially when you are not well it makes it even harder to keep up.

If my daughter is sick for even one day, I make them send home the work she missed. We make every effort to try to do her reading and math ect while she does her nebs/vest at home. If it is a high fever and debilitating sickness than I wouldn't push the school work that day.

I think your son should have recess. It is very important for him to get exersize like you said clear his lungs as well as play/socialize with the other kids. Boys tend to need to burn off that energy and it may help him focus more to get the tasks done at hand at school. Could you request to the school to send the work home? Are you willing to use time at home to have him catch up? That may be a compromise?

I just reread your original post; and I saw that that they "do not allow " work to be sent home. I absolutely disagree with them on this. I do not understand the reasoning behind this as education actually Begins at home. Is this their blanket policy? I would delve much further in this issue. Hoepfully I am making sense because I am quite tired this morning

 

[AmalynRose]

I think that your son should get recess no matter what. CF or not, it is extremely hard for children to sit still for 7 hours a day learning things they have little interest in with only 20-30 minutes to run around and burn some energy within that time. It's one of the many flaws that I believe public schools have, but that's a discussion for another place and time. If he is already having issues paying attention, it will only get worse if he cannot burn off some of the energy on a daily basis. Kids need breaks from their work, just like adults do.

If your son is having problems completing his work as fast as other children he should not have to miss recess. The teacher needs to give the child the opportunity to complete the rest of the work outside of school time and give you, the parent, the opportunity to help your child. You may be able to explain something in a way that makes more sense to him than how the teacher explains it. As a result, it may not take him so long because he suddenly understands what he is doing better. Ask him if there is anything you can do to help him. He may surprise you and ask for exactly what he needs to learn better.

 

[TICMOMOFF1]

At this age so much is going on. He should not be missing anything for things that he cannot help. Our children with CF gets tired quicker and if my daughter could not finish an assignment and then was punished for it I would be so angry. I want her to not miss out on learning opportunities but her health is more important but also is her mental health. At this age they want to be like everyone else and they have anger because they have an illness that causes them to miss out on things even though you work so hard to prevent these occurences and you plan for them to do an activity maybe a little later than others they still feel cheated. They get overwelmed with all they have to deal with and some start to having concentration issues especially if they are having feelings of being punished for things they cannot help. I would talk with your son and see if he is getting depressed about the situation that he is in, if he is then I would definitely step in and this is how I would make a decision on how to handle it. Because if he feels down and out about it then more needs to be done differently and work with the teacher first but if she is negative about it, it may come to where he would have to move to another teacher that is more accepting of the situation. Good luck

 

[Justinsmama]

Thank you all for your kindness and support. I am not sure we would get through this journey without you all!!! We do what we have to do, but it is a lot easier if there is a village of supporters along your journey!!