Changing Recess and Lunch

Hello,

Our school board seems to be changing from a schedule of 15 minute
morning and afternoon recess plus 60 minute (30 minutes eating + 30
minutes outside for kids who stay at school) to one of two 40 minute
"nutrition breaks" (20 minutes eating + 20 minutes outside). Does
anyone have any experience with this type of schedule?

My kids thrive with a routine, so I'm a bit concerned about moving
around their mealtimes, and it also means that they won't be getting a
break by coming home in the middle of the day for lunch since the time
is too short to make the round-trip.

Carol Hulls

In article , Carol Hulls says...

Hello,

Our school board seems to be changing from a schedule of 15 minute
morning and afternoon recess plus 60 minute (30 minutes eating + 30
minutes outside for kids who stay at school) to one of two 40 minute
"nutrition breaks" (20 minutes eating + 20 minutes outside). Does
anyone have any experience with this type of schedule?

My kids thrive with a routine, so I'm a bit concerned about moving
around their mealtimes, and it also means that they won't be getting a
break by coming home in the middle of the day for lunch since the time
is too short to make the round-trip.

Well, any change will impact some families' current schedules. Are all the kids
are your childs' school within walking distance home and have a parent at home
during the lunch hour? Probably not.

Do you know the rationale for this change? What does the school board say?
Also, are they planning on serving hot meals for one or both breaks?

For my family, since I work and it would be too far to come home for lunch in
any case, to have two nutrition breaks would actually be beneficial. More
frequent, smaller meals may be better for growing bodies anyway. For my son,
some years he had aa too-early lunch schedule (the school did lunch in shifts),
and that meant he'd not be hungry enough for the lunch (we always have
breakfast), and he was starving during the latter part of the school day. If it
were much later, though, he'd be on low fuel for the latter part of the morning.

So it depends. It would be interesting to hear what the reasons are for the
change.

Banty

"Carol Hulls" wrote in message
...
Hello,

Our school board seems to be changing from a schedule of 15 minute
morning and afternoon recess plus 60 minute (30 minutes eating + 30
minutes outside for kids who stay at school) to one of two 40 minute
"nutrition breaks" (20 minutes eating + 20 minutes outside). Does
anyone have any experience with this type of schedule?

My kids thrive with a routine, so I'm a bit concerned about moving
around their mealtimes, and it also means that they won't be getting a
break by coming home in the middle of the day for lunch since the time
is too short to make the round-trip.

When the fall comes, they will have a totally new routine, anyway. So, as
long as they stick the new routine all year, they shouldn't have a problem.

It looks like they are adding 10 minutes to the school day + there is less
disruption with putting coats and away (going from thrice a day to twice a
day for this).

Jeff

Carol Hulls

Carol Hulls wrote:
Hello,

Our school board seems to be changing from a schedule of 15 minute
morning and afternoon recess plus 60 minute (30 minutes eating + 30
minutes outside for kids who stay at school) to one of two 40 minute
"nutrition breaks" (20 minutes eating + 20 minutes outside). Does
anyone have any experience with this type of schedule?

My kids thrive with a routine, so I'm a bit concerned about moving
around their mealtimes, and it also means that they won't be getting a
break by coming home in the middle of the day for lunch since the time
is too short to make the round-trip.

Carol Hulls


You don't say your kids' ages, but I'll guess elementary school.

One whole hour of lunch seems like an awfully long break to me.
The times I've gone to DS's school for lunch with him, he is
invariably finished eating in 5 minutes. After eating the kids
go outside to play. As I recall, the total break is maybe 35
minutes?

I suspect the move will disrupt your kids' schedule routine for
a grand total of 1 or 2 days. It doesn't seem like that big
of deal to me -- now, they'll be eating with peers instead
of at home. They might like it -- I know I did when I
switched from going home to eat (K-4) to eating at school
(5), when I changed schools.

Scott DD 11 and DS 9

In article ,
Scott wrote:
Carol Hulls wrote:
My kids thrive with a routine, so I'm a bit concerned about moving
around their mealtimes, and it also means that they won't be getting a
break by coming home in the middle of the day for lunch since the time
is too short to make the round-trip.

I suspect the move will disrupt your kids' schedule routine for
a grand total of 1 or 2 days. It doesn't seem like that big
of deal to me -- now, they'll be eating with peers instead
of at home. They might like it -- I know I did when I
switched from going home to eat (K-4) to eating at school
(5), when I changed schools.


I'd prefer not to go into too much detail on the net, but I will say
that unfortunately for one of my kids the transition time is likely to
be measured in months. They've unfortunately not been too successful
with staying for lunch in the past, so changing meal times, plus
staying 5 days a week is likely to be quite a change.

In article ,
Banty wrote:
In article , Carol Hulls says...
Our school board seems to be changing from a schedule of 15 minute
morning and afternoon recess plus 60 minute (30 minutes eating + 30
minutes outside for kids who stay at school) to one of two 40 minute
"nutrition breaks" (20 minutes eating + 20 minutes outside). Does
anyone have any experience with this type of schedule?

My kids thrive with a routine, so I'm a bit concerned about moving
around their mealtimes, and it also means that they won't be getting a
break by coming home in the middle of the day for lunch since the time
is too short to make the round-trip.

Well, any change will impact some families' current schedules. Are all the kids
are your childs' school within walking distance home and have a parent at home
during the lunch hour? Probably not.

In my neighbourhood, very few kids actually go home for lunch. I
can't say how things are for other schools in the board, but I suspect
the number is quite low. Unfortunately in my case, one of the reasons
we'll be affected is that my kids ran into difficulties when we tried
lunch at school five days a week. In the end the solution for my
family was for me to adjust my working hours so that I could return
home for lunch - fortunately I work very close to home.

It was our earlier difficulties that have me concerned for the fall
and wondering how the transition can best be handled. Maybe I should
be asking how does one get a shy child who needs a break from their
peers to actually ingest food at school....

Do you know the rationale for this change? What does the school board say?
Also, are they planning on serving hot meals for one or both breaks?

The rationale is to adjust the teachers' schedules so that all get one
continuous 40 min break during the day and to try and give the
teachers more prep time. There is also the expectation that the
students will be better focused later in the afternoon with the two
food breaks. The school doesn't serve hot meals except for pizza day.
Otherwise it is bag lunches.

For my family, since I work and it would be too far to come home for lunch in
any case, to have two nutrition breaks would actually be beneficial. More
frequent, smaller meals may be better for growing bodies anyway. For my son,
some years he had aa too-early lunch schedule (the school did lunch in shifts),
and that meant he'd not be hungry enough for the lunch (we always have
breakfast), and he was starving during the latter part of the school day. If it
were much later, though, he'd be on low fuel for the latter part of the morning.

Did you find a way to solve things with the too early lunch or was it
just something that you had to survive with until the end of the
year? If so, what did you do?

Carol Hulls wrote:
It was our earlier difficulties that have me concerned for the fall
and wondering how the transition can best be handled. Maybe I should
be asking how does one get a shy child who needs a break from their
peers to actually ingest food at school....



This is something I would discuss with the teacher.
Perhaps they can eat in a quiet unused classroom
rather than venturing to the mayhem that is the
cafeteria. Maybe you could join them for lunch in
the unused classroom? Or maybe there are other
kids who need a break from peers who can club
together in a quieter corner of the school.

Scott DD 11 and DS 9

In article ,
Carol Hulls wrote:

Unfortunately in my case, one of the reasons
we'll be affected is that my kids ran into difficulties when we tried
lunch at school five days a week. In the end the solution for my
family was for me to adjust my working hours so that I could return
home for lunch - fortunately I work very close to home.

It was our earlier difficulties that have me concerned for the fall
and wondering how the transition can best be handled. Maybe I should
be asking how does one get a shy child who needs a break from their
peers to actually ingest food at school....

Hmm, would it be possible for you to arrange your hours so that you can
pick your child up at school during one of the breaks? Even if you
can't get home and back in a reasonable timeframe, maybe you could
picnic somewhere nearby in nice weather, and even just eat together
in the car in poor weather. I know it's not a great solution, but
perhaps something you could do sometimes during the transition if it
seems necessary.

Otherwise, I imagine that even a reluctant child will be hungry enough to
eat during the second break, so the two breaks may work to your advantage
in that respect.

If there's a serious problem with the child not eating and being hungry
all day, perhaps the school guidance department could step in and work
out some way of helping him/her. In my children's last school some
children had a "mentor" who came to spend lunch time privately with the
student, eating and then playing games or whatever, which could give a
child a needed break from peers (though in most cases, I don't think
that was the primary goal). For some kids the mentor would sometimes
have them invite a friend or two, which might be used to help
transition a child into eating while socializing, in a less
overwhelming environment, and with an adult advising as needed.

As far as routine, you might try eating at those times during the
summer, to get the child's body used to the physical aspects of the
new routine.

Good luck,
--Robyn

..

"Robyn Kozierok" wrote in message
...

(...)

As far as routine, you might try eating at those times during the
summer, to get the child's body used to the physical aspects of the
new routine.

DOH! Excellent idea! Why didn't I think of it?

Jeff


Good luck,
--Robyn

.

Carol Hulls wrote:
Hello,

Our school board seems to be changing from a schedule of 15 minute
morning and afternoon recess plus 60 minute (30 minutes eating + 30
minutes outside for kids who stay at school) to one of two 40 minute
"nutrition breaks" (20 minutes eating + 20 minutes outside). Does
anyone have any experience with this type of schedule?

My kids thrive with a routine, so I'm a bit concerned about moving
around their mealtimes, and it also means that they won't be getting a
break by coming home in the middle of the day for lunch since the time
is too short to make the round-trip.

Carol Hulls



Wow. I am amazed at having that much "break" time. At the elementary
level (K-5) my kids got about 20 minutes of outside playtime and about a
25 minute lunch. In middle school, lunch is 25 minutes and the sooner
they finish the sooner they can get some outside time. Leaving campus
for lunch is not allowed, so going home for a break is not an option.

So what you're going to is the norm for us.

Lesley